A HUGE PIG FARM

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

A HUGE PIG FARM

Cheltenham Co-operative Dairy Company’s Enterprise ABOUT 1400 FAT PIGS PRODUCED ANNUALLY In Makino. just north of Feilding, is situated the largest problem has been overcome by feeding the nnlk P*g’ on company’s own farm, lying immediately behind the fact y. Ti e farm has proved profitable, as approximately 1400 fat m-p turned off each year. Considerable enterprise has been shown in pig management and this lends venture, quite apart from the large scope of the undertaking.

I paid my first visit to this farm about three years ago and, alter meeting the manager, Mr. 11. E. Thurston, I was much impressed with his ideas upon pitmanagement. Through succeeding sea sons, I have followed with keen interest the many feeding trials carried out and also the show successes achieved bj stud pigs from here. , Upon my first visit I was, as are farm pi's "Cnerally, greatly impressed by the of the operations. But on my most recent visit interest was more cen; tred on “the finer points of the o am , ’’ F “«Tb"v b e t M »' ni-s appears to cover fully dJ to w acre’s of'good ground The erinite own run, houses ale of Mr Thurston's own very sound des.gn, and have the added good .. <=ature, of not for young°store

PI Ti le Danish fattening house is a large m7b"T. Keiife’r in Dinton, described in t"idin g s noted plus feed houses, P um ping sta ion fo S“Sa ?“' us S'«a",L S. r>i”i ” d Jg* tention - Pigs Carried. U’l.p hnsie stock here is SO breeding sows, from which it reckoned to secure 1000 pige a year. To handle tne of the season’s milk, d^ se lo pi^ in t ge “ a a te, g°o U forth in the proportion of 800 baconers and 600 Porkers Aside from fattening, the farm carr stuVof three breeds of pigs, lamworths Berkshires and Large B lack. The two 5S Wft ’B" ! S biABladf °-owrwith\’amwo^ in boars as an La r r a ge h ßlack b s aC °are r Yaffil da ßt et ’’eneral SO p°ur“o£ r wiiere e .pork oXoi? be the Berkshire sow and Tamxvortn dim are favoured. Having once had a splendid run with these two, crossed the verse way, I inquired father" ui this point. The reply was that a Btrksh r boar of ideal type was harder toseen than the Tamworth. good one, use him, sai >. . r ;<,h'’•There is no objection to one of the n o iu ty nu the stud runs some really hrstcl7 Pigs of each breed were seen. They were splendid type and well cared io . The Fattening System. Pi p-lets are creep-fed as early as they will take food, generally at about three weeks old. Weaning takes place at et weeks The weaners then run nee “ pig paddocks for four to five weeks, h ing a normal average pig-h£e' »t th period and attaining about 901 b. Ine weight at three months— equivalent t thiseta-e thev enter the fattening pens, either in the big stye or ce in be thereTffi L n ,,5 is to -et all possible up to the 1601 b. so as to "secure Pig a are weighed on scales, a , Tsound Brae'S most businesslike and profit-producing. Drafting is done at V maintain high -ratling, for quality, certain types of pi»s are sent off as 1351 b. baconers. These

are “dumpy” pigs, mostly Berkshires of nondescript breeding, and are from bought-in lines. Pigs bred on tin place, even pure Berkshires, can be safely put up to 1601 b. and still go through as first ° r 'The fattening diet is buttermilk alone. But to maintain health these pigs are given a run-out on good grass two or three times a week. Mr Thurston does not consider Into fattening system as really sound, bin space limitations preclude his doin = wliat he believes would be best. He believes strongly in slow nniMiin'- ” For the last month he would like to’take the pigs out of their styes an houses and return them to open nns Pigs so finished would then be better baconers. Knowing Mr. Thurston, I feei sure that it is only a matter of time before lie will be doing something on these lines. The principle he speaks ot is thoroughly sound. Meal Feeding.

Is it mere coincidence that almost invariably one finds higbly-suecesstul pigfarmers are meal-feeders, and that one seldom finds meal-leediug followed u.l : those who complain that •'there is uu money in pigs”? That experience has been mine over many years. Here in Makino one finds ineal-feediu o very much appreciated. Mr. Thurston has" a ••rule” to tell whether or not it i» pavable with meals and meat at various prices: "Meal-feeding pays so long a.. ■Jib. of bacon (carease) will purcaasc 151 b. of meal.” \m au example, take present returns and'eosts thus: Bacon is worth bd. to., 41b. at 6d. equals L’-ld. .'leal cos.s £l6/5/- a ton, of ’20001b., equalling Ud. lb. Fifteen pounds cost Ibid. 1 lieiefore, feeding shows a good margin. £l3/10/- a ton it would just break even. Meal-feeding is used on this larm for breeding sows, suckers (tn the creep), and for young stores.. Taking these as a practical example, it ts decJarcr 1 that clean safely and profitably iced 1 ,b. meal to 1001 b. live-weight. ( I his w u.-.ht pig is equivalent to a 151 - porker, deeded) If a .pig goes SOlb. live-weight, be gets ijlb.; as he grows his ration is increased. , , , „ In feeding out meal, a good handy ru.i to bear in mind is that a double-hand.ul equals approximately 11b. For a J>en of eight stores just weaned, two double-handfuls each feeding is given; rising to three by the time pi r s are ready to go to styes. Frequent feeding is a rule here, turite daily for stores and four times daily tor fattening pig* Lnquestionabb, finmake better use of nnlk when fid often \n example of what can be done in this regard was seen last season. «hen the factory's output declined about one-ei-lith Bv efficient feeding and m.ana ? em’ent the pig output was fully maintained. Three-Man Job.

The whole working of thia big undertaking is handled by Mr Thurston and his two men as-sistants. The output of 1400 ui"s a year really under-indic.ites the size of the undertaking, as tnree studs are maintained and many experiment carried out. Giving an allowance of 200 pigs for this would be, only fair, and probably too modest. Me can certainly ’•all this a 1600-pig f arn .\’ I tll |yj°the troof three men is responsible or .„ duction of 530 fat P’S 5, • ‘ L'L. should, however, be made for 400 4uO stores purchased. On an or(llnar 7 ‘ , these would be reared from poms kept, tn most cases. ~, fi , Granting this as an offset, uc st . 15 a .that the production a man w f be about 4SO pigs. It appears, Uien.to.c, that to produce a baconer requires about 11/- worth of labour, and one would allow 8/- for a porker. In each .case the. sheer labour cost equals a ’T ro ' inl Y7into' acI have taken management xan e into count, also insurance an 7 h r v interestin’Altogether, this is a 'erj intere. i , farm, not only as a "big shoxx. but as a nro-ressive. well-managed concern.. It is one" that performs a useful only to Cheltenham suppliers, but to tne pig industry generally.