FEEDING OF PIGS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 April 1938, Page 3

FEEDING OF PIGS

IMPORTANCE OF RATIONING RUAKURA EXPERIMENTS With the introduction of the grading of pigs, the present method of “fullfeeding” over the whole (especially the latter part) of the fattening period is not in the best interests of any section of the industry, states a special writer in the Otago Times. By imposing some restriction on the quantity of skim milk fed each day a very marked improvement in the quality of our baconers can be quickly achieved. Backfat can certainly be reduced by selecting long pigs, but it can be more speedily done by feeding them not more than three-quarters of the amounts now used over the last month. This process is in operation in most European pig-producing countries, in Canada and in Ireland. A number of demonstration trials have already been completed at Ruakura, and results will be published in the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture before long. The main findings are as follows:— “Out of 25 pigs wintered at Ruakura, but finished on a commercial buttermilk farm, and full-fed, only 40 per cent were No. 1 prime. Ten others of the same group finished more slowly at Ruakura, all graded No. 1 prime. These 10 were Jin thinner on the shoulder than the 25 above. All were killed at> the same weight, 190 to 2001 b live weight. Three further groups of 10 each were finished -oil at Ruakura with G 1 gallons, 41 gallons and 41 gallons of buttermilk daily respectively. All were killed at 2001 b live weight; seven of the first group graded No. 2, belgn too thick on the loin. Had they been killed at 190 to 1951 b alive, they would have graded No. 1 prime. The whole 10 of the second and third groups graded No. 1 prime.” These trials tend to show that 80 to 100 per cent of the ordinary TamworthBerkshire crossbred pigs can be made into No. 1 primes by restricted feeding, where only 40 per cent is obtained by forcing. Finishing baconers more slowly over the last month means keeping them longer and having slightly more pigs to use the milk. Winter feeding trials, therefore, fit in very well with restricted feeding trials. The wintered pigs could be carried on and used for the purpose of demonstrating the effects of ‘-restricted” versus “fullfeeding” to carcass quality.