TOPICS OF THE WEEK

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28158, 22 December 1956, Page 9

TOPICS OF THE WEEK

HEAVY WEIGHT PIGS THRIVE BEST

What relationship is there between the weight of a piglet at birth and its subsequent progress? Records kept at the British Pig Testing Station. Selby, suggest that, speaking generally, the heavier the piglet at birth the more desirable it is. Compared with lightweight pigs, there were fewer deaths among the heavyweights at Selby, and they maintained their advantage at three and eight weeks. They also grew more quickly to killing weight, with a consequent reduction in the food required. The weight of a pig at birth is, of course, an inherited quality, but it can be influenced by the feeding of the sow during gestation. The in-pig sows at the Selby Station receive l|lb of sow and weaner nuts for every cwt live weight, and the target is a piglet weighting 3A-41b at 24 hours old. The rations fed could be reduced by, say, a third, if good grazing were available. Individual feeding would be difficult on some farms, and the results quoted leave aside such considerations as the individual milking qualities of the sow. Nevertheless, they offer one method of checking on the efficiency of the management of the in-pig sow.