PIG RAISING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 227, 7 September 1933, Page 11

PIG RAISING

ECONOMIC PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN ENGLAND. N.Z. PRACTICES COMPARED. Apart from the fact that farmers in New Zealand are in an incomparably better position to develop the various branches of the pig-raising industry than are those in Great Britain, there is much that is associated with this undertaking that has a common application. This at least is the opinion that one forms after reading closely a number of broadcast talks delivered by Sir Daniel Hall, K.C.8., chief scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Agriculture. These were recently re-published in the Journal of the Ministry of Agriculture. By no means the least important aspect of these talks is the frequently implied suggest’on that pig raising, if it is to be succesful, must be conducted as a specialised industry. It depends for its ultimate success upon its continuance over a term of years; the intelligent breeding and selection of sows with a capacity to produce large, quick-maturing litters; sound feeding practices and constant oversight to ensure the marketing of the stock to best advantage. In no small measure some of these deductions may be made from Sit Daniel Hall’s brief account of his own experiences gained during a period of eight years in keeping a farm ou which from 12 to 20 sows were run, and from which 120 to 250 pigs were sold each year. In this he remarks: "The business was profitable over tho whole period, but not specially so, since, after a nice herd of selected sows had been built up, there was an outbreak of disease, so that the stock had to be cleared out and a fresh start made. This break came just when the herd had grown into its best profit, but as such accidents are incidental to pig keeping, the average results of good and bad years together pretty fairly represent what may be expected with good management.” PIG AS MACHINE.

Getting down to sound business principles, this authority is disposed to regard the pig merely as a machine for converting food into meat, and in order that its work may be carried out in a satisfactory manner its feeding should be on a scale such as is calculated to keep it growing continuously until the end of a five-month period, when it should have been brought into an ideal condition for marketing. If it has been properly bred and reared and kept under decent conditions nothing short of some unforeseen factor should prevent it from being ready for market at this age. There should be no such thing, it is said, as a store pig, an animal building: un a constitution and a frame ou which to put flesh later. Loss of time means waste of food, so that for every day of its life that the pig is utilising food in merely living without adding to his weight is actual loss to the farmer. Thus an ordinary maintenance ration is wasted if, at the same time, the pig is not converting some further food into flesh and so putting on weight. Dealing generally with costs of production, which are essential if the farmer is to know whether it is more remunerative to dispose of his pigs as porkers or later as baconers, two rather important matters are referred to. The one deals with the actual food costa up to the time of selling, and the other to the influence which the good breeding sow exerts in reducing these costs. The elements which enter into these costings are not numerous, for their chief variations are in the cost of the foods, but the list should also include overhead expenses, such as rent or interest on capital, expenditure involved in the replacement of boars and sows, food and labour. Labour costs, it is suggested, can be calculated on the basis of one man being required to look after about 40 breeding sows, and one man for about 200 feeding pigs. Whilst feeding costs are a fluctuating factor, based to a large extent on the relative cheapness of the feeding stuffs at the time available, this item by no means compares in importance with that of the prolificacy of the brood sows constituting the herd. In that portion of the talk relating to costing, it is strikingly shown that the overwhelming importance of the prolificacy of the sows is most deserving of attention. STRIKING EXAMPLE.

The varying prices of feeding stuffs may shift the cost a few shillings one way or the other, but during this eiglityear period it is shown that the number weaned per farrow in different years of itself altered the cost from as low as 24/- to as high as 44/- a difference of 20/- a head, an amount representing a reasonable profit on each pig sold. This affords striking evidence of the value of breeding, selection and the rigid culling out of sows producing only small litters. Although some allowance should be made for difference in conditions, such as natural and climatic, the view of this authority is that when the aim of the pig raiser is meat production the young pig should be grown as rapidly as possible, and need never leave tho fattening sty until it goes to the slaughter house. In such circumstances the sties should be kept reasonably warm easy to clean, so that they can lie kept dry, free from draughts and generally dark, though it is all the better if the sun can be let in for a few hours each day. They should be of a size to accommodate six pigs, in order to secure level feeding. In such circumstances it is but | natural that the main objection to out ■ of door pig keeping, even for a part ol the animals' lives is the loss of time ■ it involves in getting the pigs up to the desired weights. A young pig of from 100 to 200 lb. 1 live weight will consume about 21b. pt barley meal or some similar ration

a day for maintenance alone, so that a month’s delay in preparation for market means a waste of half a cwt. of food. Apart from this it is suggested that tho exercise indulged in by the outdoor or open method of pig keeping again means food used up in working instead of in putting on weight. Further it is contended the pig is not an animal that can turn grass and rough fodder crops to good advantage. His digestive power for such food is inferior, and a large part of the nutritive value is used up in the work of digestion. Again, it is important to realise that the capacity of the pig’s stomach is limited. If an effort is made to feed him on roots and greenstuff he cannot hold enough during the day to give him the quantity of real food he could utilise.