Spent brewer's grain and whey ferment for PIGS?

Walter Jeffries wrote:

Ian Mack wrote:

Walter Jeffries wrote:The mycotoxins can kill small pigs and cause miscarriages + dead piglets in gestating sows.

Ah, okay, so it's fine for larger pigs but can upset the smaller ones?

I wouldn't say "fine" but rather "less bad" instead. It can reduce growth rates in sufficient quantities.

VERY important topic! I am glad you made this answer! Only ruminants are less affected by fungi.

Molds can also lower the quality of the meat for US to EAT, or even make it toxic. The difference between "less bad" and "deadly" is the quantity. In all cases, it gives a lot of work to the liver and the lymphatic system, and some mycotoxins will be in the meat. Some people are genetically less apt than others to clear mycotoxins, thus the issue of "toxic balck molds" in buildings that can affect some people more than others.

Molds in food is definitely an issue, and this is why people from the wet tropics invented the WOK for cooking! As long as they stll use coconut oil, it helps sterilize the affected food even before the molds get visible. And mycotoxins are the worse, they are invisible. By the way, alcohol is the MYCOTOXIN produced by the fungi used in fermenting. Not all mycotoxins have the same toxicity. Some can even be favoring cancer.

I more and more considere that molds are an under-stated threat for all living beings, plants or animals. And the use of fungicides can lead in the future to the same type of problems as antibiotics did.

Kris Hoffman wrote:Greetings from north central WI -home of beer and cheese.  We currently run 20-30 feeder pigs (Berkshire and large black) in a pasture setting- rotationally grazing them over the summer/fall.  I am currently feeding organic feed ration plus whey.  After a good look at the pig's bottom line and feedback from my customer base- I am investigating other sources of local feed.  I can get spent brewer's grain from a craft brew pub once weekly-think a pickup load of 70% moisture, high fiber material with most of the sugars pulled out in the brewing process.  I can also get nearly unlimited amounts of whey each week, I pick up in that same old dodge pickup truck in a 300 gallon tote.  
anyone have experience in fermenting slop for pigs- would these make decent substrates?  the spent grains aren't that valuable for a monogastric digestive system-would fermenting bump up the availability?  
alternatively considering using the spent grains as a substrate for wine cap mushrooms.  
Thanks!  Kris

Kris, are you by chance near Stevens Point/Wausau?  

Curious how this went for you.  We're going to be getting pigs in the Spring of 2022 and looking at the same options

Not sure how you brew your beer over there, but here the grains are removed from the ‘wort’ before hops are added and before any fermentation has occurred. So there is zero alcohol, yeast or hops in spent grain. Your steers will benefit more than your pigs from spent grain because they can digest the cellulose that the pig can’t. Spent grain should only be used in small quantities for pigs.
For storage you have to exclude air. I’ve successfully stored it for months using 1ton tote bags with a polythene liner. Fill, compress with a loader bucket, top up the bag and tie the neck of the bag. If you sit a sheet of plywood on top and weight it (or sit another filled  bag on top) it will help compress and exclude the air. If you do this while the grains are still hot you’ll have very little spoilage.