YOUNG PIGS

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1928, Page 1

YOUNG PIGS

HINTS REGARDING FOOD. The young pigs should never be isolated front their mother until they

are at least from seven to eight weeks old. At this age their stomachs are usually sufficiently strong to begin to deal effectually with the more easily digested foods other than that provided by the mother in the form of milk. Until this age is attained they should be allowed to run with their mother. The foods which entere into (lie composition of her ration should bo of good quality and easily digested. It is a great mistake to feed the sow with a litter on coarse and illnourishing foods. The teeding oi a litter of ravenous pigs is a great strain on her constitution, and here strength should therefore be sustained by the use of suitable foods. The milk of a sow is also very rich and nourishing, and utilises a lot ol iood in its manufacture. A writer in the London Live Stock Journal recomcnds the following as suitable foods lor a brood sow:—Skim milk, buttermilk, whey, maize meal, barley meal, bran, linseed meal and pea meal. They may be fed either cooked or raw. A mixture of two or more of these ioods is preferable to giving any one of them alone.

The little pigs should be 1 given a trough to themselves from which to feed. When about six weeks of age they may bo separated from their mother in the day time, being allowed to run 'with, her again in the evening, and to remain with her through the night. After a fortnight of this treatment they should he sufficiently weaned to ho isolated together. The weaklings, of course, should he allowed to remain with their mother for a. longer period than the larger and more healthy ones. While the young pigs arc being weaned, great care lniisf be given to the feeding of them. Main are the deaths which occur through careless and over-feeding. They should be fed a little anil often—i.o., at least five to six times per day. All foods should be given at regular intervals, and no sudden or drastic* change in the ration made. Over-feeding often produces catarrh of the stomach, and if this occurs The diet of the animals should ho carefully scrutinised and altered if necessary. Plenty of exercise is imperative. Maize meal is a food which is remarkably deficient in mineral matter, and therefore quite unsuited as a staple food lor any class of young animals. Fed with, such food as oats, however, it forms a very valuable part of a ration.