FEEDING OF PIGS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19375, 13 July 1937, Page 11

FEEDING OF PIGS

AMOUNTS REQUIRED RAPID GROWTH RATE HOW TO USE CHEAP FEED (By M. J. Scott. 8.A.. B.Se.. Dept, of Agriculture. > No. 18, In order to use a specialised cheap feed supply it is probable that slight departures have to be made from the usual routine of pig-keeping. It is probably convenient to have the winter stores ready to fatten the baconers when the milk first comes in, and weaners from the spring litters ready to use the milk somewhere in November.

For pigs that are not being fattened a small allowance of milk, not more than one gallon per day along with as much other feed ns they will eat seems to be the general practice. Where cheap feeds such as soft turnips, rape, lucerne or grass, are likely to taint or discolour carcases, they must be withdrawn during the last three weeks prior 1o slaughter. Where milk is not available durihg winter, meat-meal must be used along with roots, especially with younger P'gs and sows. Amounts of Feed per Day Much has been written about the amounts to be fed to pigs per feed or per clay. On most places pigs are users of all the skim-milk, and provided they clean it up each day no one cares whether it is 20 per cent too much or 10 per cent too little. Pigs can grow at rates varying from nothing up to 31b. per day, and from this it follows that the amount of feed given can vary over a very wide range. AH animals are most accommodating in this respect; they can over-oat for a few days and keep quite healthy, they can under-cat for many days and still appear satisfactory. ;

Eating Gib. of feed per day they may be bloated, eating 21 b. they may be hungry.

It is possible to state how much feed is required daily only when the weight of the animal, the growth rate per day and the kind of feed are also stated. A young, growing animal can eat a maximum of 6 per cent of his weight each day; a 501 b. pig can eat 31b.; an aged sow can live on a minimum of 1 per cent of her live weight, he., a sow of 4001 b. weight can live quite satisfactorily on 41b. of feed per day. Growth Rate There is, however, a satisfactory growth rate at which average pigs grow and keep healthy, and the J'eed consumed under these conditions amounts to about 4 per cent of the pig’s weight, slightly higher when young, slightly lower when old.

The following table sets out the average age in weeks, weight in lb., growth rate in lb. per day, and feed consumption in lb. per pig per clay. (Feed as lb. of barlcy-meat-meal mixture, or as gallons of skim milk.) Live | '

These amount have been calculated from first principles as laid down in Wood’s Animal Nutrition, page 163. The calculated amounts agree closely with those used in the most efficient, feeding trials where healthy pigs have been fed in suitable sties and under suitable weather conditions. Rate of growth, and feed for 1001 b. of live weight increase are the most useful items for purpose of checking. In general it is most profitable to feed pigs in such a way that they grow as fast as they can. It has been found, however, that where pigs fatten and grow at the same time their carcase tends to be short and to carry too much back fat. Consequently one has to strike a happy medium between efficient feed conversion and suitable carcase quality. Pigs that grow at the rate of about one and a third lb. per day over the last stages of bacon weights are usually not too fat on the -back, and their efficiency as converters of feed is satisfactory.

Ar;o Wfit Wgt | lb. food daily for wkslb. inc j Main! Prdt Total per clay | 1 (i 0.5) | Mother’s milk 2 9.5 0.5) | sole feed supply. 3 12.3 0.4) | 4 15.8 0.5 j 5 20.0 O.fi | 0.90 0.30 1.20 (i 24.9 0.7 i 1.00 0.40 1.40 7 29.8 0.7 | 1.20 0.4 fi l.fifi a 35.4 0.8 | 1.25 0.48 1.73 9 41.0 0.8 ! 1.30 0.50 1.80 10 47.3 0.9 I 1.40 0.54 1.94 n 53.fi 0.9 j l.fiO 0.55 2.15 12 (i0.fi 1.0 | 2.10 0.02 2.72 13 fi7.fi 1.0 | 2.30 0.G3 2.93 14 75.3 i.i i 2.50 0.72 3.22 IS 83.0 i.i i 2.70 0.80 3.50 Hi 90.7 i.i ! 2.80 0.90 3.70 17 99.1 1.2 ! 2.90 1.14 4.04 18 107.5 1.2 ! 3.00 1.23 4.23 19 115.9 1.2 | 3.05 1.32 4.37 20 124.3 1.2 | 3.15 1.38 4.55 21 133.4 1.3 | 3.22 1.5(5 4.78 22 142.5 1.3 | 3.30 1.09 4.99 28 151.fi 1.3 | 3.39 1.79 5.18 24 160.7 1.3 | 3.44 1.87 5.31 23 170.5 1.4 i 3.50 2.12 5.62 20 180.3 1.4 | 3.58 2 27 5.85 27 190.1 1.4 | 3.64 2.37 (3.01 23 199.9 1.4 j 3.70 2,42 6.12