“CREEPS” FOR LITTLE PIGS

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1682, 5 November 1925, Page 7

“CREEPS” FOR LITTLE PIGS

EASIER ON THE SOW. /

One of the most useful—and, indeed, almost indispensable—of appliances on the pig farm is the “credp” for little pigs, within which they may feed while still with the sow. It has been suggested before now that small pigs do not need anything up to the age of seven or eight weeks old beyond their mother’s milk, but in view of the fact that even at so tender an age as thr v ee: weeks they will begin to hunt about for themselves and pick up anything that the sow drops, it always seems advisable to offer the litter a small -■meant of food other than milk. This can do them no harm if it be of the right kind, but even if ? t does them no good, it will, at any rate, relieve the sow to some extent, and this is a matter of no small importance. A sow with a ’arge family is apt to get pulled down very quickly, and the more she is pulled down, the longer she will take to recuperate. It cannot do any sow much good to remain in low condition any appreciable length of time. The “creep” can be made by any handy man, and the framework of it should be constructed of good sound wood of 2in. by 2in. section. The dimensions should be about 6 ft. long 4 ft. wide by 2 ft. high. Vertical bars should be placed at intervals on each side so as to allow of entrance on one or both sides, these entrances being at first about 9in. wide. Round dowels are preferable to square bars, as they may be more easily removed, being let down through round holes in the framework and fixed by meaps of a long nail or peg through the top bar of the frame. Every other bar can then be taken out later if necessary, but it is better to have alternative holes in the framework so that the bars can be so arranged that the pigs can just pass between them. Round bars are also more easily cleaned than square ones. If the creep is to be placed outside, a roof should be provided so that the pigs can always feed under cover. The end bars may be fixed, though one or two at one end should be removable for taking out and putting in the trough without lifting the whole apparatus.