WATER FOR PIGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21328, 1 November 1932, Page 16

WATER FOR PIGS

HARMFUL EXCESSES " I am a great believer in giving all animals, including pigs, plenty of water but I do not agree with principle of making pigs drink a lot." says Mr. Tlieo A. Stephens, in the Farmer and Stockbreeder (London). "Two examples of what I consider bad feeding have just been brought before me. In each case the pigs were being given large quantities of watery food. Excessive consumption of water with their food, if practised continuously, leads to all kinds of digestive troubles. If the digestive juices are subjected to overdilution they cannot do their work properly. I believe in feeding a very thick food, only just liquid, and then giving pigs access to water. " In the cases I have mentioned the food certainly had three times the amount of water I mix with my food, and I estimate that at each meal the feeder was carrying over 2501b. of water which was unnecessary. If this is reckoned up ovor twelve months it represents a lot of labour. In winter, of course, the feeding of surplus water is far more harmful than in summer, for the heat required to warm the water to the temperature of the body means that the pig is using its food for this purpose instead of for making flesh." ,