FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1928, Page 23

FARM AND DAIRY

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY. ad'vice regarding shearing. (By the Department of Agriculture). When shearing is in progress quite a noticeable number of ewe hoggets, ewe lambs and sometimes older ewes are accidentally damaged in what is really a very serious way by one or both tests being clipped off through accident or carelessness. Usually the fact of this having occurred is not noticed at the time, and it is only when the ewe bears a lamb or twin, lambs that it is realised that as a consequence of the loss of one or both teats she is unable to rear the lamb or lambs. It is advisable, when wether and ewe hoggets are running together, to draft the sexes into two separate mobs for shearing; then the ew-e hoggets can be culled for breeding purposes, and the shearers having a straight line of females to work upon will be likely to exercise more care in avoiding damaging the teats. In the same way more care in avoiding damaging the pizzlo of the males when covered with - very thick belly wool will be likely to be exercised. As pig raising is becoming more and more prominent in dairying districts, the care and management of the sow and litter is at all times most important. It too frequently happens that a number of the young are lost annually from causes which with more care and attention could be prevented. The pregnant sow requires to be well fed during the last few weeks before farrowing to enable her to start the suckling period with some reserve. The all-important factor in the rearing of the young litter is the provision of a proper farrowing pen for the sow. A suitable pen to meet all requirements should be at least eight feet by eight and at least six feet high. The advantages of having such a pen are the better ventilation and cleaning facilities it offers over the low-roofed type. If the farrowing pen is intended as a permanent building, a concrete or other impervious floor is most desirable from a sanitary viewpoint. The walls for about three feet from the ground should also be impervious for a permanent building. The provision of a yard of equal size to the pen is necessary when the structure is a permanent one. The advantages of a concrete or other impervious floor, even though the walls are not concrete, are many, and wooden floors of the leaky, draughty typo cannot be too strongly condemned. Such wooden-floor-ed pens are conducive to dirt and disease, in fact, are true breeding grounds of infection. Iron roofing is not very satisfactory, as it renders the sty too cold in winter and too warm in summer. A good roofing can be provided with timber covered with felt, the latter to be regularly coated with tar to keep it waterproof. If iron sheeting is used for roofing, a big improvement is effected if a layer of felt is used underneath.

A very necessary addition where concrete floors are used, is the provision of a wooden platform. Moveable platforms permit of easy cleaning. The farrowing pen should have a pipe railing around three sides, eight inches from the floor, and an equal distance from the walls. This simple provision prevents the young from being crushed against the wall, and as a consequence, larger litters are roared. The farrowing pen should be in good order, weatherproof, well cleaned, and sanitary, and provided with short straw. With young sows the usual number of young reared does not exceed six, and only too often the same occurs with a more mature sow capable of rearing at least ten to twelve young. In many cases it is not due to lack of numbers that small litters are reared, but due to the lack of sufficient protection from the weather, such as can easily be provided by a farrowing pen as above stated, also by insufficient feeding of the sow during the pregnant stage, litters born being small and weak. In the early spring the young pigs require warmth and shelter more than anything else. The farrowing pen should, therefore, be built (or if a movable one) placed in a dry, well-drained paddock facing the sun, protected from the prevailing winds, in proximity to a shelter belt of trees, or a ground hedge. Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the necessity of such protection and care, as it is during the first few weeks that the biggest number of losses occur. The section of grass allotted to the sow requires to be clean, and free from mud pools caused by other pigs. As the young pigs are always susceptible to parasites, and the eggs of parasites are carried into the pen on the sow’s udder, clean pasture and cleanliness of the pen and feeding troughs is absolutely essential to succes.

The young sow should be put into the pen about a week before farrowing, so that she may become accustomed to her surroundings, and easier to handle. A domesticated sow rarely, if ever, shows viciousness or bad temper, and makes a better mother if kindly treated. Where a number of sows are kept with an attendant the whole time, looking after the pigs, a practice sometimes adopted is the provision of a shallow box, in which the young are placed as they are farrowed. If the afterbirth is removed from the sty at once, the young placed in a box until sickness has passed off, there is as a rule no danger of the sow eating her young, especially if she is in good health, and her bowels arc in good order. By adopting these suggestions there is no reason why our pig returns should not be considerably increased, and all, or nearly all, of a litter reared, instead of only a portion, as is too often the case under wrong treatment. With a very little extra feed, and care and attention during the early life of the young, a sow will rear eight to ten young per litter, as easily as four or five.