Modern Piggery At Kaikoura

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31304, 25 February 1967, Page 10

Modern Piggery At Kaikoura

One of the most modem piggeries in Australia and New Zealand has attracted farming visitors to Kaikoura not only from throughout New Zealand but also from Australia, America and Britain.

The farm Is that of Mr H. E. Mackie and his son, Mr R. Mackie.

The standard of hygiene and the care of the pigs is hard for the layman to believe, and it is a far cry from the old fashioned pigsty, where the pigs wallowed in filth.

Three years ago Mr Mackie erected what was then the latest in pig accommodation, but such has been the progress that this has been made out of date by the latest finishing and farrowtag houses. Completed about three months ago, the new building provides the latest in luxury quarters for pigs. A concrete block building of about 1900 sq ft, the finishing house is insulated against temperature change and is airconditioned.

The galvanised iron roof is insulated by two inches of fibre-glass wool, and the ceiling is lined with asbestos cement sheeting. The concrete floor is damp-proofed and insulated against heat loss by a one-tach layer of polystyrene embedded in the concrete.

The concrete block external walls have cowled ventilators near the top and in warmer weather additional air circulation is provided by two 24in fans in the roof ridge. A central aisle runs the length of the building between low concrete block walls, which give further protection from low ground level draughts and lateral isles give access to the glazed earthernware feeding troughs.

The lateral aisles are fenced by galvanised piping and steel lattice work grills. Automatic drinking nozzles, operated by the pigs, are above a slat-covered dung

race, which the pigs quickly learn to use as a lavatory. The dung channels drain to a sump from which the liquified manure is distributed by tanker to the pastures with extremely beneficial results.

The pig was a very clean animal if given the opportunity, said Mr Mackie. The cleaner the facilities the keener the pig became to keep itself clean. Grade dairy herds of about 40 head of Jersey and Friesians are carried on the farm, but the bulk of the summer milk is obtained from the Kaikoura dairy factory by an alkathene pipe line about half a mile long. The butter-milk is pumped to a holding tank and then through a heating vat to raise the temperature to between 65 to 70 degrees before being taken by hose to the feeding troughs. The same hose conveys the water for the daily washing down of the pens.

Pig production in the Mackie farm is organised on the pattern of the production flow lines of a modern factory, with the pigs progressing through the "factory” from the “maternity ward” to, finally, the topping-off pens The farrowing pens are a feature, with adjustable galvanised tubular steel cages for the sows. Again, hygiene has been taken in to account in the planning, and dung gratings, with sumps beneath, have been placed at the rear of the cages. While the piglets have access to the farrowing cage, they are housed alongside in separate miniature pens enclosed on three sides, with galvanised iron lift-up lids. The separate housing for the piglets give both extra

warmth and protection from being rolled on by the sow. The farrowing pens are washed daily also and disinfected after each litter.

After the farrowing the piglets are transferred to special pens for another three weeks and then after two weeks ranging outside they are brought back inside to special pens designed to help weaning. After weaning, the pigs are transferred to the new shed, progressing through the various inter-connected pens from one end of the house to the other during the next four months, until they are sold at about six months. Pens of pigs are dispatched for sale from the farm at about fortnightly intervals. Fortified Foods During the winter months grain meal fortified with proteins and vitamins replaces the milk diet To cater for this, two silos with a capacity of 42 tons of barley have been built The grain will be mechanically fed to a power hammer mill, now being installed, and the ground product will be blown through pipes to a meal mixer for blending with lucerne, minerals, vitamins and protein supplements. The blended meal product will be rationed to the feeding troughs by a special meal barrow. The latest additions to the piggery have been developed from a sifting and blending of ideas accumulated by Mr Mackie and his son as a result of reading about and inspecting similar projects here and overseas.

Probably the greatest stimulus was the inspecting of a £1,000,000 piggery conducted by a meat works at Bendigo in Australia. Mr Mackie, sen., inspected several pig farms during a visit to Australia and later his son made a short visit there also before they went ahead with their building plans. Most of the pigs are either pedigree Large Whites or Landraces, although some cross-breeding is done.