THE PIG INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 213, 9 August 1937, Page 12

THE PIG INDUSTRY.

THE FEEDING OF PIGS. (Notes by M. J. Scott, 8.A., B.Sc.) Minerals or Vitamins or —? —One of the most striking happenings associated with pig feeding is the wonderfully sleek appearance of pigs that aro being fed on lucerne. Whatever their ago or stato, after weaning, pigs that receive lucerne, green or as chaffed hay, aro always sleek and healthy, provided, of course, that lucerne is not their solo feed. Whether its value lies in tho minerals contained in it, or in tho vitamins, or tho protein value, we will never know, because of tho difii.cully of separating these things; but the fact remains that lucerne puts a shine on the coat not excelled by any other class of feed-stuff. Next to lucerne, ordinary green pasture, provided it is young, keeps pigs quite healthy, and although not so universally excellent as lucorne, nevertheless it is quite valuable. Next, the oil bearing feeds such as linseed cake, oats, and meat-meal fed in small amounts make pigs healthy-looking, and here again it is impossible to fasten with any assurance on the ingredient that •is most useful. Pigs fed on offal —boiled meat scrap —aro always remarkably healthy, and one is almost forced to the conclusion that animal fat is most beneficial. Finally, there are the well-known benefils that so many have obtained from using mineral mixtures such as wood ashes, charcoal, slack coal, licks of various kinds containing salt or sulphur, or iron or iodine, or lime and phosphates. It seems impossiblo to make any authoritative statement on the question of minerals. Tho question was investigated by Shcehy in Northern Ireland some time ago and over a period of five years, after trying every kind of mineral mixture, he found that salt and limestone, 1 part to 4 parts, used at. the rate of 3 per cent, of the dry weight of fed. was the most useful mineral. A pig of 10011) weight, eating 41b. of feed or its equivalent, would want daily about liqz; of minerals. A useful way to feed minerals is to have the supply handy and with a known measure, such as a bakingpowder or other tin, put the calculated amount in the trough daily. It sounds very complicated, but it can be done quite easily if it is worth while.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL. From what has been said it is apparent that in spito of tho supposed advisability of knowing how much a pig should receive per day and how much protein, fat, carbohydrate and minerals there is in his ration, it is seldom that tho good _ results obtained by a feeder can bo ascribed to this knowledge. More usually success is associated with attention to some or all of the following details: (1) Feed regularly as to time and amount. (2) Feed just as much as tbe pigs will clean up. (3) Don’t leave stale food in troughs. Movable troughs can be profitably turned over, fixed ones could profitably have a hinged lid that keeps the trough clean. (4) If pigs fail to thrive after attention has been given to the above, then the quality of the feed supply is at fault or the pigs arc unhealthy. It always pays to correct the trouble and the improvement of the feed supply is either a matter of adding green grass to the ration or half a pound of any grain or one-quarter to half a pound of meat-meal; or perhaps an ounco of lime and salt _ mixture. Experience usually decides which of these gives results.

QUALITY USUALLY GOOD. It is rarely that the feed supply itself is of such a quality that it can bo blamed for poor pigs. On any place where pigs are kept thero may be a dozen healthy pigs for every sick one. It is a fair assumption that the sick one is tho result of some chill or setback such as wo humans experience from time to time, and that the dozen healthy ones aro a striking advertisement for the excellent quality of tho feed supply. This is generally correct for those months of tho year when skimniilk is tho chief source of feed supply. When skim-milk is in short supply it often happens that most of tho pigs gooff either because they have too little feed or else because the quality of their feed is below standard. The feeds in use are usually home-grown, varying from grass through any kind of fodde/ crop to roots of all descriptions, plus at times a little grain. There is one addition, viz., meatmeal, that can be made to every feed supply (skim-milk included), that- will always bring feed quality up to a standard that enables'piga to thrive.