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Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18946, 16 May 1933, Page 10

Big Litters. —To pig breeders the size of the litters yielded by their sows is a matter of prime importance, and the question is often asked whether litter size or prolificacy is inherited. Now, as a result of Investigations carried out at the Research Institute in Animal breeding at Edinburgh, it is satisfactory to learn that the answer is decidedly in the affirmative. There appears to be no doubt that prolificacy in pigs is definitely transmitted from one generation to the next. So also is a sow’s ability to breed regularly it wo litters each year. As to the boar, it appears that he does not, as a rule, affect the size of the litters he sires, but his influence in regard to prolificacy will be evident in his daughters when they come to breed. In ordinary farm practice in England 10 to 12 are looked on as the ideal litter-size. Few sows can rear 14 successfully, and two litters of eight each must be considered a good year’s work for any sqw. A Very important point demonstrated by modern experimental work Is that the ration of the breeding sow should contain sufficient mineral matter, especially lime. When piglings are born dead it is frequently due to the fact that there has been an insufficiency of lime in the ration.