FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 132, 23 July 1941, Page 2

FARMING NOTES

CHANGE TO CHEESE POSITION REGARDING WHEY BASIS FOR PIG FEEDING ' In view of the fact that considerable numbers of farmers in the Whaliatanc, Rangitaiki, Taneatua and Ru.atoki areas are faced with the prospc?t of supplying milk for cheese instead of for butter thci value c f whey as a base for profitable pig feeding' i.s not full}' realised by many farmers. To give those who are interested and who have whey to feed an endeavour is here made to assess its value. Feeding little and often isi Itmportant. Pigs have to consume large quantities daily to obtain what food value there is in it. Whey contains

Average price cn hooks £13 15/ 2 gallons whey equals lib food< It will be noticed that one Berk shire and one Large Black died shortly after commencement of trial The best method used under trials was to feed five times daily and *lo not give more than pigs can cjean up in say 10 minutes. Never feed much that it stales in the trough, Meal is included in the whey in twr> rations daily, the first feed in th<: mornings to include half of the day'.- 1 meal ration —the other half of th fi meal ration is fed with the fourth feed of the' day. When feeding mix the meal in fa small quantity of whey in this fashion. If say eight pigs are to be l<e;d 41bs of meal is mixed with a cpuple of gallons of whey and given the pigs slo that it is eaten up quiclfy and cleanly and without waste. Carry on and feed rest of pigs then back to the first fed lot and givo them their full quantity of whey, ff tliisl is done there is no waste of meal on pigs noses, hair and head through them blowing bubbles in th« tiough meal is too expensive to waste. It is an advantage to mix the meal with that small quantyy

inly 1 per ccnl of proteins as against ;i.5 to -1 per ccnt in skim milk and it therefore becomes necessary to mnkc up tliis deficiency; by nsin.'i meat meal, a substance higli in proteins. To determine the cost of fattening pigs on whey and meat meal, a food ti ial recently carried out under the supervision of the> Waikato District Pig Council is of interest. Two purebred weancrs of four breeds from independent breeders together with two crossbred weancrs: of those breeds were selected and all tak;e,ii totho farm where trial was carried out. These pigs were fed until all were approximately 2001bs -live weight— this was reached at varying ages. Costs amounting to A/- per weaner (up to commencement of trial), were allowed, this included cost of me,nl used in feeding sow prior to farrow-

nf whey in the morning for the aft-* omoon feed and in the afternoon for the next early morning feecK In the Bay of Plenty .where every one has maize the- meat meal can h« reduced to half at 10 weeks and maize substituted. Following is a table of quantities of whey meal and grain as a guide: A.g'e of pig in . weeks 3 5 7 8 10 12 14 H> O'z of meat men! ' P.P. P. D. 2468 8 8 8 S Oz of grain P.P.P.D. 4 6 8 8 Amt' of whey P.P.P.D. 2 1 3 4 5 6 6 (> The Bay of Plenty Pig Council hps its headquarters in Whakatane. -Mi* Norman Carter is supervisor and Mi \l. Kent, Box 12, is secretary. Any messages can be sent or phoned. Information on any aspect of pig keeping will] be attended to either o-i your farm or by mail. The service is already paid for by the 2d levy and you are invited to make use of it. In discussing cost of meals Avith one local farmer he told t'he writer lie spent £40 in meals to pro duce 80 pigs for a return of £235 us>ing whey as a base. This was a sum sufficient to pay his wages account.

to > r . 'a h r "iS; : 3 tf=. " • > " si X "wEsCS2 ° EL 7 3 y 2. ? 2. o S . y ~ " gsnti'^ £ ? * 0 o £ ? i; M ' O ii </T t -~' , Cli* - *••' ° 3 Sa £. Berk 200 . 201 149 25.87 48G.5 112 1 4 ■ / - 18/T. Bork 237 195 147 24.(jI G52..1 1,17.5 19 7 23/7 T. Berk 237 201 148 26.3(, 6,12.5 157.5 19/7 23/7 L. White 191 200 140 30 ! 488.5 131.5 1(5/4 20/4 L. White 217 204 152 25.40 704.5 157.5 10/7 23/7 Tarn L.B. 19(5 200 146 27 f 502.5 119.5 15/- 1/0Tam L.B. 207 195 140 28.20 512.5 . 129.5 10/- 20/Taav 175 200 144 28 '308.5 93.5 11/7 15/7 Tarn 201 100 148 25.!>j 542.5 120.5 16/- 20/L. Black 195 191 138 27.74 502.5 115.5 11/4 18/4 Tarn L.W 180 204 143 29.v>() 502.5 118.5 1.1/- 19/Tnm L.W 191 189 135 28.57 524.5 129.5 16A 20 A Averages Per Pij£ 202 198.25 144.16 26.8-.> 543.16 129.95 16/3 20/ Average increase per pig per 'lay from birth .98 lb.