PIG MANAGEMENT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 4, 29 July 1946, Page 3

PIG MANAGEMENT

RECENT RADIO TALK THE LITTER Following is the third in the series of articles constructed from a talk given recently from IYA by a junior Young Farmers’ Club member, Bruce Mundy of the Whakatane District High School. The subject is Tig Management on the Dairy Farm’ and was written entirely by the speaker. 11l Until the litter is three weeks old it will normally experience very little trouble except from “Diarrhoea” which is more liable to affect younger pigs than older ones. It has been known to be caused by improper feeding of the sow, and damp, close quarters with insufficient warmth and protection. Treatment of the sow is probably most satisfactory. A dose of salts to check the milk supply for a day and so give the litter a mild starve isprobably quite useful. Attention given to pigs from birth to weaning time returns more satisfaction to the owner then at any other time. When suckling a litter the sow requires good food and plenty of it. Big sows require more than little sows, and it is only when sows are well fed that it is possible to produce a fast growing litter upon which largely depends economic production. Weaning A “creep” should be used so as to relieve the strain of feeding from the sow, and this creep should be erected where the pigs can obtain their feed without interruption from the sow.

A little new milk and mollasses will often tempt them to start using it. The idea of the creep enables the sow to recover and the litter will thrive better and so be ready for weaning at eight weeks of age. When weanirfg it is of greatest importance to move the sow away from the pigs, not the pigs from the sow. Moving the pigs away to a new home causes them to fret. Well weaned pigs rarely suffer a setback, for creep feeding enables them to fend for themselves. Many owners at weaning turn the sow out into a bare padock and reduce her feed supply, and then expect her to have another litter. If this is done, the following litter will be very small and of poor quality. To get full details of litter production a book well worth reading is “Pigs for Profit” by H. M. Pierson who is the Superintendent of the Pig Industry. Parasites One of the most common external parasites is lice. The pig louse is large, easily seen, and easily destroyed. It is a blood sucker and also causes severe irritation and loss of condition.

Young pigs are affected more than older ones. A dressing of oil along the back will kill the lice as they hatch from the eggs. This is to be applied on one or two occasions as required, and is almost sure to eradicate the parasite. Badly affected young pigs should be hand dressed.

Be sure, however, to put the oil thoroughly on the back of the ears, and the underside of the legs. When well fed, the milking qualities of the sow can be ascertained by weighing the pigs at three weeks, and by this time they should be at least six times their birth weight. It is very difficult to obtain wellgrown weaners unless they have had the advantages of a good-feed supply in the first three weeks of their lives. The amount of food required for an average sow is roughly four pounds of feed or four gallons of milk per piglet, while suckling the litter. This may be a useful guide, but not a “hard and fast rule.” Successful feeding depends wholly upon the intelligent observation and experiment of the owner. “