ADVANCED FEEDING

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12078, 23 June 1932, Page 2

ADVANCED FEEDING

MAKING THE PIG SHOW A PROFIT meat meal ani> minerals. j i mi- to keep pigs in winter, feed them artificially and still make them pay was the subject of an interesting address given by Mr lv. W. Gorringe, Government expert in swine husbandry, in the Commercial Hotel on Tuesday afternoon. The address was given under the auspices of the Pahiatua branch of the Farmers’ Union, and the president of that organisation, Mr G. H. Hodd, presided. The attendance was rather disappointing but no doubt was affected by the weather. | a introducing the speaker, Mr Hodd said it used to be said that the pig paid the rent but he doubted if it was so to-day. Mr Gorringe said that times were very hard as his listeners knew, only too well. The sheep and dairy farmers (particularly the former) were going through their periods of distress and the question arose how could they hold their heads above water. The farmer just had to battle along to hold on. Tie was foolish, too, in having all his eggs in the one basket and he should remember that the pig was a far better line of production than the cow insofar as pigs would produce far more per acre than the dairy cow. He would illustrate his point by describing the operations of two farms in the Manawatu district, one of 53 acres and the other of 50. One farmer made a specialty of his pigs, the other simply kept pigs, and the difference showed in the yearly returns. The first man, with a fine herd of 53 cows, just kept pigs and he lost §d per lb for every pound of butter-fat he produced last year. The other man, who kept his pigs properly, added 2d per lb to liis butter-fat. That was a difference between the two of 2Jd. If the farmers were to bold their heads above water (the dairy farmer he referred to particularly now) they had to have two side-lines—pigs and poultry. He did not mean these sidelines to be farmed on a big scale but sufficient to bring in an amount of revenue that would mean that a dozen eggs would equal the return for a pound of butter-fat. This money would serve to keep the house going at any rate. Unfortunately, the price paid the farmer at present for his energy in rearing pigs was smaller than for many years. Nor could he see any big prices for pigs lor some time to come. The whole thing would be controlled by the English market and the farmer had to make the most of it. Rut that was no reason why he should go out of the pig industry. If it came necessarily to what profit would be shown, tTTen it did not pay to keep cows either for the labour expended. The fact remained, pigs had to be kept as part and parcel of the farm. It was necessary to persevere with them year in and year out, but on the right methods of course. First of all the farmer should give liis pig department sufficient land to work on, but if he still adhered to the small incomplete types of piggery seen now all over the country, where the pigs merely sucked swill, then he did not see much hope for that man. It was essential that he should rear liis pigs under healthy conditions, and when the sow does her share and farrows eight or nine pigs it was up to the farmer to see that he did not let one die. When pig recording was first started in Hamilton under the direction of the Department of Agriculture it was thought to be able to produce 201 b weaners. When the breeding standard was raised and a 401 b weaner was produced it was thought that the top of the tree had been reached To-day the Department was out to show how the farmer could produce a 601 b weaner. It meant only a week or so’s feeding after that and an TQlb porker would be ready for the market. The methods to bring about this result were not expensive. Of course, a little extra food had to be bought hut still, after doing so, a margin of profit could be shown. Science had made rapid strides in developing the industry. Two and a half years ago the advent of meat meal as a feeding unit for all stock was suggested, and particularly for pigs. It was the finest thing that had ever been promoted. Mr Gorringe said he was associated with the first feeding tests in this direction in the Wairarapa. With root crops were led -Jib of meat meal per day per pig. Tests over 75 days were also carried out in Taranaki and other provinces under all conditions. Results showed that through this method of feeding each pig gained Jib, sometimes over lib, per day through meat meal feeding. Look what that meant to the farmer. 1 he best way to look after the pig then was to provide nice clean paddocks to run in, sufficient water, a warm house, and crops such as mangolds, swedes, carrots or chou mollier and half a pound of meat meal fed dry in the trough each day. This system had Tleen tried under all conditions in all provinces. The first essential to-day in pig keeping was to know what to do with the autumn litters. Farmers knew what to do with the spring litters hut few could manage to get their pigs through the winter with no check The secret of meat meal in winter feeding was the fat content in it. about 20 per cent. This fat content kept the pig warm all the time, it helped him to deal with his food more effectively, and put on a daily gain in weight. But if the pigs shivered and packed close at night for warmth those pii's were cold inside and were in a leautiOi! state to catch pneumonia at 1 t leurisy. which killed most of th,- pigs. One man in Carterton started feeding 22 pigs of cross breed with meat meal and he began to notice the different attitude of the pigs each morning as he went down to feed them. At first the [ would not use the straw put down for them but huddled close to one another for body warmth.

But later the pigs would stretch out on the straw because the fat in the meat meal kept them warm jand they sucre able to sleep in comfort. Soft turnips were the only feed this man had to use With the meat meal and still these pigs put on Jib daily. Farmers should prepare each season to have some good root crops for the winter. And melt meal was getting cheaper and would continue to do so once it became more generally used. For every £1 invested the farmer would get £4 in return. From this type of feeding he would get better and stronger pigs too, with no deaths resulting. That was the most pleasing feature of the whole lot of the tests. Some farmers who carried out tests were absolutely convinced that Jib grain added to roots and meat meal should produce another Jib in weight per day. Mr Gorringe said he had his doubts on this point so lie put it to the test and found that the gain was nothing like to the extent anticipated and did not pay for the extra expense of the grain.

11l the meantime, however, another food had been proposed, and it was likely to revolutionise ideas on feeding. The idea was advanced by a Hastings chemist, Mr Bates, who was farming formerly and lost a lot of stock. This chemist concocted licks, doctored his stock, and saved them. He still runs a small place and has started to mineralise his pigs, with astounding results. He got his neighbours to conduct experiments on the lines of his research. He found a cure for aborting sows, and then went a step further in the matter of growing pigs, weaners and runners, and this man was now showing the industry how to get 601 b weaners. What he used was a mineral that went with the food, fust a dipper full, that was all, and it gave a pig the maximum growth in a given period. Tests on these lines were being carried out by the Department in Hamilton now, the addition of mineral foods in the winter given with roots and meat meal. It was not the quantity of food that did the animal good, but what he could easily digest and assimilate. It was the minerals that helped him to digest his food. The country, in fact, was suffering from a mineral deficiency in regard to all stock but the pig was easiest to feed it to. The bacon from these Hamilton pigs was even now being examined by experts as to quality. It seemed to the speaker that as time went on science might help to such a degree that New Zealand would probably produce more in the pig industry than any other country in the world because climatic conditions were all in their favour. The speaker instanced the case of pigs that grew from 561bs to 1651bs in a period of nine weeks three days. And all they were fed on was skim milk and a mineral mixture, just a daily dose. The carcase was given a severe test and showed not a blemish, being a nice normal side. It was not possible to arrange a balanced ration for every pig. Pigs were like humans—not two of them were alike in appetite and powers of digestion. The only thing to do then was to give each pig as much as he wonted, keep him warm and dry, and the results would be the same.

No man should be guilty of going into the saleyards and buying another’s pigs, said Mr Gorringe. The farmer should breed his own and specialise in it and save the money tho-t he would be otherwise paying out to someone else. The cost to feed a pig for eight weeks at weaning time under the very highest feeding was about 10s 6cl. Under the raw New Zealand methods the cost was nearer 7s. Yet the price asked for a 251 b wearier these days was [ hi the vicinity of 25s so the va’r of rearing one’s own stock con 1 1 be seen. The farmer could do it if he was prepared to go to the trouble. T?ut if he chose to go along in the same old way he would not get very far. He shduld he prepared to give over a little section of his land and map it out into suitably-sized paddocks. Tt only meant, say, cutting out the two worst cows in his herd to allow him the lan 3 to commence his piggery on a proper system.

„ 7. - :■ ■ ; > ■ V Mr Gorringe pred ieted th'at iff the near future he would come into his own as with the Government’s small farm scheme for unemployed the pig was going to play an im- 1 portant part. With the aid of meat meal and minerals and green forage these small farms would be very profitable to the man who reared pigs. He mentioned, too, that a good top-dressed pasture for the pig was every hit as valuable as to the dairy cow. Winter feed was scarce at present but it did not matter much now that pollard, meat meal and a little mineral was recognised as giving such beneficial results and ensured that the pig would show a margin of profit, provided of course that he had not been stunted. It should be remembered, also, that a sow had to be fed according to the amount of material she was preparing inside. Then if her pigs were born at good weights they would go ahead thereafter. It was very essential that the sow. during the farrowing period, was fed properly and hygienically. The speaker at this stage exhibited a special trough recommended for use in feeding pigs. It was an ordinary Vshaped trough 9ft. by Ift. bu t was divisioned off to provide for ten pigs only to feed at once, five on either side. This particular trough was ingeniously designed to prevent crowding or waste.

Mr Gorringe expressed the belief that a farmer could make money out of pigs at a return of 3d per lb if he followed out the advanced feeding methods described above. By breeding their own pigs and cutting out the breeder’s profit, by producing 40 to 60Ih weaners within the same period and then having more coming on, the farmer could make it pay on a return of £1 per pig, equivalent to 3d per lb. The English farmer, with all the trouble he went to in adopting a most expensive course of feeding was perfectly satisfied to make £1 per head on his pig. Of course the first outlay of the special equipment in paddocking, etc., would be the worst for the farmer. Reverting to the small farm scheme, the speaker said there were plenty of applicants, but not enough land being offered. He was prepared to show a man how to take £5 per week off his ten acres by keeping pigs. Then he had his' casual labour round the neighbourhood to supplement this, and he could also keep poultry. While on the subject of poultry, he firmly believed that the same improved results would be obtained by feeding minerals to poultry as in the case of the pig.

Questions were invited and several were forthcoming. Mr J. H. Bremner said he had used the mineral in connection with his pigs. He happened to know Mr Bates and an address by him here would prove highly interesting. Mr Bremner said he also happened to be a director of a Palmerston North company which were sole agents for the mineral licks, etc. Without wishing to boost the article, he had to confess that he had tried out the mineral on two sows in farrow and as a result the sows produced the two best and most regular litters he had ever known on the farm. There was no question but that the mineral was going to lie a distinct success. The pigs had cost him 7s 9d per litter and as events proved they would have been well worth the expenditure of £1 or 30s. 'The mineral was on the market now at 17s 6d per 561 b hag; that was the complete mixture, with pollard base. He believed also that there was quite a future for poultry meat meal feeding. Mr G. H. Brown said he had used meat meal in feeding his fowls for several years and found it a paying proposition. In answer to Mr Bremner, Mr Gorringe said that better results would be obtained from mangold feeding in preference to swede or chou mollier. Carrots were good if they could he grown equitably. Skim milk was best fed a few hours after separating. Mr Brown thought that mangold growing would be profitable for the small farm scheme holders. On the motion of the chairman a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the speaker for his interesting address and Messrs G. H. Brown and J. H. Bremner supported the motion.