MONEY IN PIGS.

Putaruru Press, Volume II, Issue 59, 11 December 1924, Page 4

MONEY IN PIGS.

THEIR CARE AND FEEDING, j Upper Waikato Experience, At the present time the most profitable branch of the pig-farming industry is the raising of weaner pigs to meet the spring and summer demands of the dairy farmer. This season it has not been at all uncommon for good six or seven weeks old pigs to sell at 28s or 30s apiece. Theso are high values and the intending pig breeder would do well to base his estimate of profits on a somewhat lower rate; also let him not be misled by rash statements often heard that a sow will live on anything, raise 10 to 12 pigs at a litter and two litters a year. THE LAW OF AVERAGES. It is true* that a sow under the right conditions can be very cheaply fed; also it is not uncommon for a sow to raise 10 or 12 pigs in one litter, but the farmer who bases his rate of profit on that one performance will be sadly disappointed. To raise 10 good weaners is a very great strain on the vitality of the strongest sow, and only the best possible treatment throughout could result in her repeating this within 12 months. Sometimes a particularly good young sow will raise one or two good litters but fail disappointingly with a third. Perhaps through weakening* vitality, half the young will be poor, small and worthless from birth, or through exhaustion or indifference the sow will smother most of the litter within the first hour. As in dairying (a man who can go into the open market and buy a herd of 25 cows that will give him under ordinary favourable conditions 2301 b to 2401 b of butterfat per head a year is fortunate), so the pig farmer who buys 15 to 20 sows that will average him 14 good weaners a year is also equally fortunate. Both averages can be raised by time and selection but both are exceptionally good beginnings in their respective lines. THE PIG A GRAZIER. As regards dairy farming and pig breeding the greatest profit on the smallest area can be made by a wise combination of the two. It cannot, however, be regarded as a wise combination when every blade of grass is monopolised by the cows and the pigs are crowded into a bare pen and fed on an exclusive diet of skim milk. The pig is largely a grazing animal. The sow that has been used to a wide range from birth is almost as much a grazier as the cow herself. The farmer who will set aside say six acres of his farm and divide this area into two paddocks, one larger and one smaller, would slightly decrease its cow-carrying capacity but greatly increase its sow-carrying resources. Healthier pigs, less labour at milking time and bigger profits will be the result. If there is one paddock more than another on the farm that will pay for topdressing it is the pig paddock. A luxuriant growth of cow grass seems particularly adapted to the pig. Sows in low condition, just after the weaning of the young pigs, put on to a topdressed cow grass pasture, grow fat and heavy conditioned before the coming of the next litter. In the matter of grass, in common with other animals they prefer that short and sweet. Again, pigs are very close croppers and when food is scarce will bite their pasture right to the ground and almost into it and it will take the encouragement of a good topdressing to bring* it away quickly with the first movement of spring. The ideal pig paddock should have several other things beside good pasture. A patch of scrub or rough plantation is very useful for shelter, also access to a creek or a spring.

A rough fern hillside where the sows can root for natural exercise and change of diet is also a feature that on many farms can be included without much extra expense. However, where ideal conditions are impossible a good pasturing paddock with water to drink and a rough open shelter shed is all that is necessary for the sows between the weaning of the one litter and the coming of the next. CARE AT FARROWING. When the time for farrowing comes many sows will manage best if they can go right aw*ay on their own and arrange their own quarters. It is here where the advantage of a rough plantation comes in. One risk of this procedure, however, is that a spell of cold wet weather may just happen at the critical hour and result in the death of the newly-born pigs from cold and exposure. Another risk is that the careless sow or the inexperienced young sow will not go further than the common shelter shed, that the young pigs are either smothered in dust or crushed by the crowding in of the disinterested soyty Especially is this the danger ojy / cold night. Perhaps under average conditions the plan with the least risk is to draft out the sow a tew dajjs before farrowing and put her in a .small yard with sneltershedof own. —.. i

To make this drafting easy, a rough yard can be built in the paddock corner, into which the dry sows can be attracted by a little hand feeding and as they run back through a drafting gate on the same principle as a sheep race the separation can be quickly done without rough handling for man or beast.

The farrowing shed should have an earth floor raised high enough to avoid flooding after heavy rain. Any hay given to the sow for bedding should not be much in quantity and should be short in the stalk and not of the tangling kind. Then the young pigs as they come will have freedom of movement and the better avoid being crushed as mothered. For 48 hours after farrowing the sow will require very little food. Just a drink or two of meal or milk and warm water if that is handy. After that she will take from 301 b, increasing to 401 b of skim milk a day, in addition to access to fresh green feed. It is here that the second paddock is of great convenience. As soon as the young pigs are a few days old and can run about freely the sow can be passed on to this second paddock common to all the sows with young and the farrowing pen freshened up ready for the next. GREEN FEED. It will be seen from this system of paddocking that the sow requires serious hand feeding only about one third of her time. Supplementary green feed or root crops have to be grown for the late autumn and winter. In many districts the swede turnip supplies the want. In others the mangold or cow pumpkin takes its place, but the heavily-topdressed pig paddock will do wonders in its feeding resources. Also it is here again that a good fern-covered hillside, where the sows can get shelter, exercise and food, is a great asset to the pig raiser. BOUGHT FOOD. There are times, however, when in spite of the best farm management it is necessary to buy food in order that a good weaner and not a poor one may be marketed. At such time maize boiled, not to a jelly but just enough to soften it through, is as high in nourishment and as economic in feeding as anything that can be got. Scattered on the clean paddock, both sows and young pigs, big and little, have an equal chance for a fair shave. A very young pig will learn to eat this soft maize even before it learns to drink milk from a trough. The writer once wintered a dozen sows and about 70 young pigs, many of them older than those classed as weaners. Their run was a rough 20acre paddock. Their ration of swedes, about half a ton a day, was carted to them, and when time allowed these would be cut open by a chop with a spade to help the smaller pigs. Towards the end of the winter they were also fed with two kerosene tins full of boiled maize a day. This does not seem much among so many, but the improved appearance of the young pigs, with the resulting readier sale and better price, amply paid for extra outlay and time. THE MATTER OF BREED.

What might be termed the foundation stock of most of our Waikato pigs is Berkshire. The Berkshire sow is usually of a quiet diposition, easily accommodating herself to circumstances, a good mother with a plentiful supply of milk, and an economical user of all food available. If she is mated with a boar of her own breed and good strain her weaners find ready sale at six to seven weeks old, especially among those whose object is to place on the market a porker of 801 b to 1201 b weight. Another class of weaner comingmore into favour among dairymen who sell to the bacon factory buyers the Berkshire-Tamworth cross. This weaner, if given good conditions, can be marketed perhaps a week earlier than the purebred Berkshire. It is n pig long in frame, quick in maturing, and most surprisingly weighty when finished, but to be successful plenty of good food is essential to this class. In dealing thus with pig* raising it may be as well to remember that the present high price for the weaner is in all probability but a passing phase of the industry and that in the long run the farmer must look to the fattening of his own stock, but even here the man who can most cheaply raise the right animal is at least one stage on the road to success.