Frozen veggies

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magicmoo

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:07 am


This isa ridiculous question, but it has been bugging me for a while. I read that you should not feed frozen veg to piggies. Does that mean not to feed it to them when it is still frozen, or even after it has defrosted?

The reason I ask is because my husband wanted to feed them some defrosted broccolli when they first came, and I went ape!

Just for future reference, please?

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rshevin

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:14 am


Freezing veggies breaks down the cell walls and cell membranes and makes them much less nutritious than fresh. I don't imagine it would be awful to freeze a baby carrot and see if they're interested (my Piggy eats ice so it isn't a weird idea to me that he'd like a frozen carrot in the summer), but that stuff that sits around in the freezer at the grocery just doesn't have many nutrients left.

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mmeadow
Supporter 2004-2022

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:52 am


Mine have had defrosted veggies. They didn't complain!

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sus4rabbitsnpigs

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:23 pm


No. They are too watery and they are not going to get nutrients from them. They also have preservatives and additives to them.

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MuffinFace

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:02 pm


Hold on a minute - I could have SWORN I saw somewhere that frozen fresh veggies didn't in fact lose any nutrients. And if you get a halfway decent brand, like Birdseye, they SHOULDN'T have any additives or preservatives - the freezing is, supposedly, what does the preserving.

Now I'm all kinds of confused. (This is mostly for my OWN intake, as if this all is true, I'll stop buying frozen veggies for myself!)

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Webs
Cavies 'n Cobwebs

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:21 pm


I think it depends on the veg, time of year and how far it has travelled.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2902223.stm

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MuffinFace

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:26 pm


Thought so. If you can't get it locally and in season, frozen stuff might actually be MORE nutritious.

I don't know how that affects whether or not we should be feeding it to our pigs, though. I would think that, esp if you have a stone pig or something, the additional water content would be a BOON, not a bane.

magicmoo

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:35 pm


I know that the frozen broccolli that I buy has more water then fresh, that is why I buy it-I feel it tastes better. Although I am struggling to think what veg would be frozen that would be suitable as an everyday food for them? Broccolli could only be a treat, spinach would be the same. How about frozen peppers?

All of the veg that I have seen has no added preservatives.

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Webs
Cavies 'n Cobwebs

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:21 pm


I can't even think of any of the leafy veg that's actually available frozen.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:25 pm


The collards, spinach, cauliflower etc. are available frozen but you don't want to feed many of them anyway.

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Feylin

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:37 pm


Also, frozen collards and kale are very limp after being frozen since the ice crystals pierce the cell walls. Lois (tortoise) refuses to eat limp collards or kale! Pigs could get just as picky about floppy vegetables.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:45 pm


Amen Feylin. Mine would be downright insulted and completely ignore anything like that. If it isn't in a syringe it had better go "crunch". lol

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