“FOOD RATIONS FOR PIGS"

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14091, 24 March 1939, Page 2

“FOOD RATIONS FOR PIGS"

PORKERS AND BACCNERS. LECTURE TO YOUNG FARMERS. A lecture on ‘‘Food Rations for Pigs,'’ illustrated by a pig lent for the occasion by Mr R. A. Burke, . was given at the Young Farmers’ | Club field day on Wednesday by Mr j E. P. Neilson, Supervisor of the Pig • Recording Club. Mr Neilson pointed out first that the trend during the past fifty years had been for leaner and leaner meat, especially in cities, and this was giving a great deal of worry to producers of all winds of meat Type and breeding had to be considered, and, of paramount importance, stock feeding. The proportions required in carcases were the same—a preponderance of lean meat where the cuts were of the most value. The foreend was of the least value, and it should be the aim of the breeder to get this into as little space as possible. ... ! Beginning with the hind end, he remarked-that this was probably the weakest section in New Zealand, especially in pigs. In countries such as . Denmark they had got development in the hind end that we had not here, where the shoulder was generally wider than the rump—a bad type. i If a perpendicular line were drawn behind the shoulder it would be from there back that length is j wanted. The valuable cuts lie in the upper portion of this part, and were three times the value of, for example, the. shoulder. The ham weight lay in the length from hip to tail, and the thickness through the thigh and its width were also of importance, giving deep, fleshy cuts on the joint. Danish pigs, for example, even when farrowed, were wider across the hips than the shoulders. A full ham often produced too fat a joint, and it was preferable to have a long and lean ham than one from which perhaps an inch

of fat had to be stripped. A view over the top of a pig should show almost parallel lines. The ribs should be well-sprpng (not barrel-ribbed, which should be avoided as it tended toward fatness) but should come well out and straight, down. The loin was important as being one of the most valuable cuts, and also from the point of view of the constitution, as the kidneys were there. A weak loin was bad. The flank of the pig should not necessarily be very deep, as the bellycuts" were of little value. The legs should be short. In Denmark, Holland and Sweden they had got the long body on short legs, but in Can- , ada and New Zealand this type had not yet been reached. Three aspects of the shoulder were important, with a, view to using as little weight as possible in this portion of the animal. First, from the j side—the width of the blade from 1 front to back was a better indicator | of the weight than when the shoulder was examined from the top. A sloping shoulder was not necessary on a pig—it was better to have it perpendicular so as to make as little weight as possible. Secondly, the shoulder should not be too round, nor too broad seen from the top. Thirdly, there was the depth of chest." It was often argued that without depth of chest there was no constitution. This was not true, as was shown by examples. The Danes had got pigs shallow in the chest with no great width between the legs. A deep-chested pig was inclined to make weight at the foreend where it was least wanted. The neck should be round, and free from any suggestion of “crest,” which made a short and stocky type with rounded shoulders—a bad type. In the head, broadness was wanted everywhere, in the nostrils and between the eyes and ears. Outlining the general conformation and differences between porkers and baconers, Air Neilson said that all these general points applied to both, but one was up to 1001bs and the other up to 2001bs. It thus became a matter of feeding. It was found in the past few years that the time to feed was in the baby stages, when

it was almost impossible to overfeed a pig. Pigs should be weighed up at eight weeks, and the grower should get a forty-pound porker at that age. If lie had not got a good pig at birth he could not get this. The margin of difference increased as the pig grew bigger—with only three or lour pounds difference at three "weeks there might be up to 201bs difference at eight weeks. The baby stage was also the most economical time to feed pigs, especially when it was remembered that we had not only to put on flesh, but to maintain a body. The nearer to maturity the less was put into building the frame and the more to putting out energy. Therefore baby pigs should never be neglected, even if it meant buying : meal for them. It was impossible to ! put in what had been lost by under--1 feeding in the baby stage, j There were two other points in favour of good feeding at this age. | Firstly, with well-developed weaner used to creep-feeding apart from .the sow, the sow could be taken away and the weaner would never worry. The pig would have resistance to disease and weaning would be no trouble. Secondly, feeding in the baby stages had an important influence on the formation of flesh. The “eye of meat” at the big end of the chop was impossible to develop after the early stages. Also, experiments on the feeding of pigs had shown that an animal on a low plane of nutrition developed bone out of all proportion. •‘lf wo are ever going to make the New Zealand porker type into a baconer.” Mr Neilson concluded, “we must feed in the younger stages. At present the method is often to develop a frame and then put on top of it a layer of fat which the trade does not want.”