Care of the Sows Means Profitable Pig Production

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 23 (Supplement)

Care of the Sows Means Profitable Pig Production

If the boar is: regarded as responsible for the conformation of resulting litters, it is to the sow that breeders look to transmit stamina, ability to grow, and other non-visible health characters. For that reason the female stock on any farm should not be bought lightly, but should be the subject of close study and careful investigation. Sows are often bought as weaners, and at that stage, the only means of judging their potential ability is by their parents. A good sow should have at least 12, and preferably 14, teats well spaced along her belly. She should be of .quiet disposition showing plenty of length, , good quarters, and well-sprung ribs. The thick, short-necked. narrow. leggy, or heavy shouldered sow should be passed over. Such a type is not wanted, nor are sows from litters whose boars dis-' play any sign of rupture or other • irregularity of testicle development. Rupture is an inherited weakness ■ that must be preserit in both parents before it is reproduced in the offspring. Age For Mating. If particularly well grown, sows may be mated at six months, but such a sow will remain small until about her fourth littler. Nevertheless, if bred from suitable parents and if well fed, she will produce just as good litters as her better grown sisters. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that such a sow will deteriorate quicker on a poor feed supply. Most pig producers prefer to mate a sow at eight months of age and some even later. As as rule, the younger a sow, the more careful she is to.rear all pigs born to her. As she gets older' she tends to become careless, and it : frequ'ently happens, that. after the sixth litter, this character is so pronounced, that the number of pigs reared per litter- gradual--ly falls off. Thus, although many good litters are reared by sows over four years of age, it generally pays to renew the breeding stock after their sixth litter. that is. when they are three and a half years old. It is, of course, possible to keep each sow until she acttially does fail, but, since sow-renewals can be arranged so that only a small cost is involved it is safer to keep only relatively young females. Attention Pays Dividends. Kindly treatrrfent of sows is as valuable as the best of feed and shelter but costs nothing. Where sows are abused either by man or circumstances trouble is generally experienced in young pigs being eaten at birth or overlain in the sty. A sow in harmony with her surroundings is a. profitable sow, and, for this reason, it is- a wike practice to confine her in the farrowmg quarters fully three weeks before she is due. Thus, she has time to adjust herself to possible changes of food, of temperature, of shelter, of noise, and of general outlook. Sows repay an owner good /, dividends for careful attention during the time they are suckling a litter and just prior to this event. It is well within the compass and ability of -most farmers to provide this attention.