FATTENING PIGS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21573, 8 February 1940, Page 3

FATTENING PIGS

THE BARLEY RATION CAUTION NOT TO OVERFEED A retired Taranaki farmer who has successfully farmed pigs for many years has suggested to the “Taranaki Herald” that a word of caution to those who are using barley for pig feeding may save loss.

The point he is most emphatic on is that it is quite easy to overdo the amount of barley added to a pig’s daily ration. “Barley,” he said, “is not a complete food. It is the finest possible addition to other foods, but pigs do not thrive on barley alone.” Asked as to the amount of food required by a pig he said that the animal’s appetite was the best possible indicator. “Pigs should never be given more food at a time than they will clean up” was his formula and that meant that food should never be allowed to remain in the trough between regular feeding times. Profit in Pigs In his experience he had found that pigs were the greatest moneymakers in Taranaki farming and he had also learnt that food must be given regularly and in moderation. He also was convinced that pigs thrived better on a varied diet and for that reason he advocated that barley should be regarded as an addition to the diet and not the whole diet. If pigs were given too much barley he had found that while they would eat the food they would not thrive so well as when they were given barley as a supplement to a diet of skim milk and roots. It sounded like an anomalous statement but he said that pigs which were well fed, but not thriving would often show a great improvement in general health and development if the amount of barley which they had been receiving daily were cut down by half.