HANDLING HEIFERS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 September 1934, Page 8

HANDLING HEIFERS.

PATIENCE ESSENTIAL j Heifers are often troublesome to milk at the beginning. The udder is hard aud swollen; and milking is more or loss painful. 'Hence the tendency Io resent handling and to protest by kicking. Harsh treatment makes matters worse. Rub the udder so that the circulation is quickened. Knead it gently, and if the teats are chapped apply carbolized olive oil or marshmallow ointment after milking. After a time the heifer will come to realise that milking gives relief to a stocked udder. Then she will cease kicking, and will actually show a desire to be milked. Most heifers likely to become useful cows soon settle down to become milked if treated properly. The worst kickers however, at the outset, are not always the most unlikely cows. Patience is essential. Rough handling and abuse should be avoided. If a cow is given a pail of water with a handful of bran and a little salt stirred in., that may . distract her attention from the milking. An armful of green fodder or good hay also serve a similar purpose although it is not altogether desirable to feed during milking.

The practice of giving a pail of water at milking time has much to ■ recommend it. Heavj' milking cows consume large quantities of water; and the more frequently they have access to it the better.

THE CARE OF SOWS Heavy feeding of potatoes is not recommended for suckling sows, especially at first. For weaned pigs the potatoes are introduced in- small amounts, which arc gradually increased until at flic age of from four to live months the pigs are on full potato rations. For in-pig sows during the earlier part of pregnancy, potatoes may be heavily' fed, but the amount should be gradually reduced with the advance of pregnancy until they are practically cut out in the last stages and immediately after farrowing. The results that the swine producer gets from his brood sow herd will depend on a considerable extent upon the manner ih which they are housed. Brood sows should have roomy, • well-ventilated quarters free from draughts. They should he well bedded at all times, and should not be compelled to sleep in dusty quarters, us this is a very serious condition for brood sows. Brood sows should not be crowded, because where sows are crowded together in close quarters they will frequently injure each other, and occasionally these injuries result in the loss of their litter and occasionally in the loss of the sow herself. A sow' should not be permitted to sleep in a house that is damp, nor one that does not protect her fully from i the weather. As a general thing not (more than 10 sows should be kept in one house, and a much smaller number than this would bo preferred. In fact, it is advisable not to have more than five or six brood sows in any one i house. Observation has shown that where-brood sow's are housed under crowded conditions, ’flu and similar diseases are very prevalent. Where brood sow's are not crowded, but are given plenty of room, and the sows are of the right kind, this disease rarely attacks them. Best results will always be secured with the brood sow if a good house is supplied to her while she is carrying her litter.

PIG RECORDING There are some breeders who contend that pig-recording will not give the degree of reliability necessary for the desired confidence to be reposed in the figures as a guide to the performance of pedigree pigs. They contend that it is necessary to have testing stations to which all pigs to be tested must be sent, so that all records will be made under uniform conditions and be supervised and guaranteed by an independent authority. Litter testing stations are doing excellent work in Denmark and other Continental countries, but the tendency in Britain is to rely on pig-recording work, and to make this as watertight as possible. As a matter of fact dependence on the litter testing station would confine the important work of recording fecundity, rate of maturity, carcase quality, etc., to a comparatively few breeders, whereas pig recording, if. generally adopted, would bring the work of recording within the reach of everyone. Experience both in Continental countries.’and in England goes to show that the litter-testing station method costs about £7 a litter, but practically the same information can be obtained by means of pig-recording for about 7/6 a litter. ■ln breeding from unrecorded pedigree pigs a man is working in the dark, and the business of pig production is almost a lottery. Not. till all the pigs of the country have records Of prolificacy and economic production behind them will the business of pigkceping become permanently profitable?-. .