The Weaning of Pigs.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 131, 15 February 1909, Page 3

The Weaning of Pigs.

The time of weaning pigs varies from eight to ten week? old, as a rule. It shoul i depend a gorxl deal on the time they have been feeding, and in the case of any that have been late before they commenced, they should be kept with the mother longer - in the summer time till they are nine weeks old, and in the cold weather till ten weeks old. They should then be good pigs and well able to look after themselves, and,as a rule, will do as well without the mother as with her. The state and condition of the sow should also, in a measure, be a guide to weaning, as sows that are pulled down very weak have usually done extra well for their pigs, and the latter should be taken away in fairly good time; on the other hand, if the a sow is strong and well, and the pigs are doing well al.-o, they may be left a little while longer. Some sows suckle their pigs well until they are six or se.en weeks old, and then they are useless through their milk drying up, then they are be?t away; but such sows should be rejected for breeding, as this fault will become worse the more litters they have. But if a sow has a cold, and gets off her stomach for a day or two, or is unwell, through any cause her supply of milk may be lessened; she should not be rejected, a; her milk will usually return all right. It is when the sow is hearty and feeding well, and yet appears to have no milk about her, that it is a fault. A profitable •«ov; should have as good a supply as ever, when the pigs are nine to ten weeks old. The gilt (that is, the breeding sow, so called until it has left its first litter) {should be judged by the way she suckles her first lot; if she brings up only a few well, it is all right; but, supposing she has five or six, part good pigs and part very small, she must not be looked upon favourably. If she brings, say, seven —six good level ones and one small one--then she may be put down as fairly promising; but seven or eight good, strong pigs is better. A gilt's pigs, although they may not be so well grown as an older sow's, should look well on the skin, when ready for weaning. A good gilt, if in fresh condition when she farrows and prings up seven or eight pigs or upwards, by the time the pigs arc ready to take away, should be pulled well down, or she is not good for business. A sow is usually at her best from the second to the fourth or fifth litter ; but there arc exceptions to this rule. Some sows will bring up the pigs well for about two litters, and then gradually get worse; while others will bring upeightor nine litters without any apparent depreciation in suckling qualities. But it is advisable not to keep them too long, for several reasons. As soon as the sow begins to get her pigs small or undersized, she had better be sold or fatted off, and even though she may do'well for seven or eight litters, there si always more danger of an old sow having milk fever or going wrong when farrowing than a young one. Finally, a breeder should keep the sows on whilst they do well, till they have had five or six litters, and then pass them out.

A writer in the "Australian" says: The wonderful results obtained from paspalum on warm country, favoured by a high rainfall, have tempted many experiments with the big grass under nearly all Australian conditions. These extended trials demonstrate that, while paspalum may have revolutionised dairy profits on our warm humid coast, it is easily beaten by a number of native grasses in either cold districts or districts with only a moderate rainfall. Small areas I have seen given a sympathetic trial on the Darling Downs, and on good wheat country on Upper Riverina, have failed to justify their existence. The grass kept alive and grew fairly well for brief periods of the year. But it is badly cut up by frosts, and recovered so slowly th?t it made poor showing later in the year.