CARE OF THE PIG

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 206, 19 November 1927, Page 25 (Supplement)

CARE OF THE PIG

DIET ESSENTIALS EFFECT ON GROWTH Even a pig won’t fatten on anything. Nutritional essentials in that profit producing animal’s diet are as follows: Carbohydrates, or foods composed mainly of starches, sugar and fats or oils.—To this class belongs the grains, root crops, fruits, and to some extent oil cakes and meals. They are used by the body to keep up the temperature, provide energy, and lay on fat. It may be pointed out that it is not necessary to feed fat and oil to animals so that they may lay on fat. The animal body is able to manufacture all the fat required from starches and sugars. Proteins, or foods containing nitrogen. —To this class belong milk, meat, and meat by-products, leguminous plants, milk offal, and certain cakes and meals. This class of food is required for the normal growth and development of the body. It is especially required in the case of brood sows and young growing pigs. The animal body cannot manufacture protein, it must be supplied as protein in the food. Minerals.—Certain minerals are required for the building up of the framework of the body, and for the chemical changes that occur in the nutrition and the growth of the body. Of these, lime and phosphorus are the minerals usually deficient in food. Necessary minerals are found in the legumes and growing plants, and in certain concentrates. Bonemeal will supply phosphorus and lime, while wood, charcoal or ash will usually give the other minerals needed. Vitamines.—ln recent years knowledge of nutrition has so far advanced that it has been found that there are minute quantities of certain materials in foods without which growth cannot take place and disease results. These substances have been called vitamines. Vitamines may be found in most of the foods raised on the farm, and are especially plentiful in milk, green vegetables, lucerne, growfing crops, animal fats (if not subjected to excessive heat in preparation), seeds, grains, fruits and root crops. Roughly in the case of growing pigs there should be four parts of carbohydrate food to one part of protein. Pigs grow so rapidly that a high protein ration is needed.