BREEDING SOWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22046, 28 February 1935, Page 4

BREEDING SOWS

FARROWING PERIOD MATTERS FOR ATTENTION The proper treatment of the breeding sow before, at and after farrowing is of more importance than any other phase of pig keeping. Many thousands of young pigs are lost every year solely owing to lack of knowledge or to neglect on the part of owners. 1 have heard over and over again the same old " hard luck " stories: " She farrowed, twelve nice pigs, but the brute killed all but three;" or " It was just my luck for her to farrow when that storm was on and lose all her pigs," and so on. But I have never heard an owner say: " She farrowed twelve nice pigs, but owing to my neglect they all died;" or "It is solely my own fault she did not rear a good litter." Yet in 19 cases out of 20 these losses are due, directly to neglect or want of knowledge on the part of the one caring for the sows at farrowing. It would be enlightening to know the average litter farrowed in New Zealand and the average number per litter weaned. I can safely say that provided well-conducted pig farms were excepted, ihe losses would be not less than 25 per cent. This enormous loss can so easily be avoided. It requires only a little knowledge, a little care, and a little common sense, together with proper arrangements to produce good litters of healthy vigorous pigs that would be a credit to the owner. Considerable profit is undoubtedly lost at present. Symptoms and Results The chief cause of the enormous losse? in newly-born pigs can be summed up in one word —constipation—not constipation of the young pigs themselves, under-sized weaklings which form a large proportion of the pigs produced will be noted that she will not drink, of fever and is only semi-conscious. It callousness is that she is in a high state i to death. The reason for this apparent j in the thousands of under-nourished, but of the sow., The combined losses from all other causes would not total one tenth of those caused by constipation of the breeding sow both before and after farrowing. If all owners would take the very simple precautions necessary to prevent constipation, not to cure it, they would soon realise that all the iroubles for which they had been blaming the soavs were traceable to faults of their own. When a sow is put into the breeding pen a week or so before farrowing and fed with milk only she is almost certain to become constipated, with the result that when tho pigs are born she has no milk for them. Her quarters are inflamed and she is in constant pain, very often to such an extent that every time the little pigs attempt to suckle she squeals and jumps up, turning round and round, treading on her newlyborn pigs, killing or maiming them. She lies down again, probably on one or more of her little ones, and often will not get up in spite of their squealing while being smothered or crushed but crouches down with her legs under her to prevent the younger pigs from touching her highly-inflamed and most painful udder. I have had sows in this state when the little pigs did not get a drop of milk for days, and were reduced to mere skeletons. I have treated such sows with purgatives and in an hour or so there was a total change. Instead of crouching down and taking no notice of her litter, the treated sow was calling to them, stretching out and feeding them, making the bedding comfortable and in each careful and gentle movement doing everything a good mother could do. Proper Procedure I will now go carefully through the things to be done and not to be done, in the care of the breeding sow at this period. The sow should be put in the farrowing pen as already described. A liberal quantity of bedding should have already been ' provided, sufficient to cover tho whole of the inner half of the floor to a depth of several inches Straw is the best material for this purpose but it should not be too long. If straw is not available, hay can be used, but if very long, such as paspa lum or cocksfoot, it should be cut in half. This can be done by doubling handfuls over a sharp knife and cutting through. It takes a little time, but is well wort.'i while as the sow will make a better bed with short hay or straw, and it lessens the risk of the newlv-born pigs becoming tangled in it. Newly-born pigs have very long naval cords —anything up to 2ft —and in trailing this through very long bedding in their first journeys round the sow they are caught up and sometimes hopelessly entangled. From the time the sow is put into the pen she should be fed a good handful of bran with each feed. She should be carefully watched and at the first sign of constipation, that is, hardening of the excreta, a liberal dose of raw linseed oil, (a good half breakfast cup), should be added to her food.