MODERN PIG-KEEPING.

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19125, 9 December 1933, Page 19 (Supplement)

MODERN PIG-KEEPING.

The Sow. Sows vary as milkers as much as cows, and it Is the sow with heavy milking capaolty that gives the great start in life to her progeny, a start that means so much to rapid maturity and ■therefore to economical production. The day Is coming when proper attention will be directed to milking ■oapaoity of both sow* and ewes. As with dairy cattle milking capacity is an hereditary factor. To disoover the milking capacity of Individual sows and of .different strains plg-reoording is, of course, necessary, the litter having to be weighed at three weeks, when the weight of 'the litter is entirely due to the sow. The pig 'breeders of the country badly need a lead In regard to the most economical methods of keeping pigs (in which the sow’s milking capacity is an important phase), 'and the only means of obtaining the desired knowledge is through pig-recording, which is Just as necessary to pig-keeping as group herd-testing’ is to be profitable dairy farming.

* * • • Disease. In Germany 11,000 carcases of pigs were subjected to critical post-mortem ■examination in the two years 1930 and 1931. The edentlflo men who made •the examinations expressed the opinion that improper feeding and management have a greater bearing on disease than the bacteriological factor. This is what one would suppose. Troubles for which germs are responsible axe too often the aftermath of poor methods of management and feeding, so that directly or indirectly nearly all disease Is tracable to management.

Many of the troubles affecting pigs, especially young pigs, are due to their being reared in sties. English authorities are realising this, and are now advocating the rearing of pigs in the open, so that they may enjoy the natural conditions which are so necessary to good health. iQf course, this means the provision of a good house. This • may be a very, simple cheap structure as long as it h&3 a good dry floor and is absolutely draught proof. At the Moulton Experimental Farm In England it was found that turning a sow and litter out on fresh clean ground, with access to an open shelter, has in almost every case cured outbreaks of scour among the little pigs that had arisen when they were kept in sties.

Reoently, extensive investigations in Denmark have shown that the haemoglobin content of the hlood of little pigs confined entirely to sties fell In the first three weeks of their life to one-third of the content at birth. The result is a more or less acute state of anaemia hy that time. The pigs were pale, weak, short of breath, and generally unthrifty for some time. Many of them developed more or less severe diarrhoea, and finally died. Fortunately it was possible to prevent and cure the disease by giving one teaspoonful of a 2.5 per cent solution of ferrous sulphate daily. It was also found that by allowing the pigs to root In the soil out of doors, or alternately, by giving them a daily supply of fresh earth to root In in the sties, the little pigs were apparently able to obtain a sufficient supply of Iron from the natural source.

In providing the necessary iron through the eating of soil reminds one of the Interesting experiment conducted by tho Cawthron Institute in Nelson. Iron treatment was tried on some sheep In a mineral deficiency area in the Nelson (Provlnoe. Some of the sheep were dosed with iron, but the others were given a drench made by merely adding water to a soil having a good natural iron content brought from another district. The drench of dissolved soil was far more effective than the pure Iron treatment.

* * • * lodine. The results of lodine defiolenoy are well marked In countries and districts deficient in that element. So much so that, unless it is provided artificially, profitable pig-rearing becomes almost Impossible. The sows aro of low fertility, producing weakly, unthrifty, and hairless pigs, whose thyroid glands are found to be greatly enlarged (goitre), and of which only a small number ever reach maturity. The addition of even quite small amounts of iodine, in the form of potassium iodide, to the food of pregnant sows during their gestation period is sufficient to avert the above consequences of iodine deficiency. Even in districts where there Is no pronounced iodine deficiency the addition of iodine to the food exerts a marked influence upon fertility, the stamina or tho litters. and in raising the bodily resistance to di-sea.se, and to the effects of parasitic infestations. * * * o

Salt. In writing of salt for pigs a British veterinarian writes: (ionitnon salt, the source of both •sodium and chior■inn, usually present 'in t tie foods in sufficient quantity. But when larking it is well to add a small amount to (Continued in next column.)

the ration, or want of appetite, digestive troubles, and unthriftiness may toe the result. Salt promotes tooth appetite and digestion by serving as the basils of the secretion of the gastrio Juices. Its addition to the food it Is especially necessary when the ration consists largely of boiled potatoes, roots, and relaxing foods such as bran, beet pulp, eto. Excess of salt, however, may prove poisonous, brine being particularly dangerous In 'this respect. The dally allowance should not exceed one-sixteenth to half an ounce.”

A Cold Weather Tip. A member of the Waikato Pig Recording Club says that during cold weather he feeds his young pigs, after the weaning stage, five or six times a day instead of the usual 'three times, using the same dally quantity of food, and with the most beneficial results, the cold weather having had in consequence no adverse affect on their rate of development.