Feeding the Pig.

Mt Benger Mail, 16 September 1931, Page 4

Feeding the Pig.

UTILISING WASTE

VALUE OF REFUSE. V A RIA TIONS 1N CONSILMJPT lON . Wash' food material from hotels, icsUiurants and private homes has a definite economic value to the pig farmer. Comparatively large quantities f this class of refuse are used by peg eediTs in many towns throughout the Dominion- duieed there L on record he ease of a mode! piggery near A ink and the food supply of which comes . from a few large hotels in the city--vit a very much larger amount guv's mutilised, the ilestnielor taking that, vhich wisely snppiimenled, would pro- , ide lutiidreiis of suburban and near . ity .snialiholviers wth an excellent living at a small outlay. Little organisation, individual or collective, would be neeessaiy to divert tins constant flow into profitable channels, The scope for development in this respect is immense and brings in its train the prospect not only of greater production from near-city farm lands but also of increased employ meat in incidental services. The feeding of waste food material, oi garbage. a- i( is called in America, is practised mi a large scab- in that country. It is cla'incd that, omitting :lie garbage from cities with populations of under Id.tHH! inhabitants, and that of the suburban farm population which disposes of almost all of it.- ref use by feeding the waste food products of over 8,000,000 people are living fed to pigs, Tiie quantity is said to be -nttieient. if fed under ideal conditions, to pis vine-.' approximately sO.ooo 001! ili. of poi k per annum. Correct Utilisation, Th, correct utilisation of refuse a.-a stuck foot! seems so far to have escaped the attention of scientific investigat ors. The scope for variation is very wide and litiie reliable information in regard to its composition is obtainable. Hence the stock feeder who uses it Uu> to relv almost entirely on his own per--i aa! judgment and experience. Isolated feeding trial?- have been canned on! from tune to time ;n Great Britain, the value of the material used being estimated on the live weigh! increase. Hut the absence of information con corning jhe composition of live sjjJ used and the virtual impossibility oi the iecurience of an identical uonposit ion detract seroui-siy from the genera! significance of such n suits as have been obtained. in spite of considerable variations :u mean composition, however, swd.s iimv Re regarded broadly as foods ol the same type. Of course they are mil wel; balam ed and. according to English tests usually contain excessive quantities of oil. Boiling is sometimes pi act :.-ed as a means ut partial degreasing, and incidentally. ol sterilisation. The foodstuff winch remains after this process is staled by English investigators to be e<jual to a medium protein com-v ntiate. i) i, desirable shat s-une reference ■deoiid be made to the precant ions !ha! must be üb-eived in Us ug she uiuterial. Occasional losses do occur among swilfed pig'. Such losses are usually aser;lieil to the presence of soap, but there are a number of oilier possible cause'. The ei.-vurree.ee id sad in injurious quantities must not be overlooked although recent investigations in Britain indicated that trouble from this source is very unlikely. Question of Boiling. It is oidigatoiy under the British Foot and-Month I). sense -Boiling of \iilina! I'kiod-tnffs, Order vd ItLd, t•» boil ail kitchen refuse for ;tl least one 10-iir before use and during this pro cess a considerable percentage of the oil is usually skimmed off. In spite of boiling, however, the material may slid contain rather larger amounts of oil and care must be taken in tending it to young pigs or scouring may result. It is advisable to discontinue feeding this material to bacon pigs some time before slaughter. Although sterilisation is compulsory in Britain and is, on the whole, very desirable anywhere, it has certain disadvantages. Boiling causes partial disintegration of the constituents of the swill, with diffusion of possibly injurious constituents (of wh.h soap may be cited us an example) throughout the muss. Consequently, it is impossible for the pig to exercise any selection m eating. Glass, bottle caps and other foreign limbos which muy find their way into the swii! tub, and which are always apt to cause serious trouble, should . of course, be removed. Feeding troughs should be kept scrupulously clean and no uneaten material should be allowed to remain in them for any considerable period of time.