MODERN PIG-KEEPING.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19462, 29 December 1934, Page 18 (Supplement)

MODERN PIG-KEEPING.

Produce Baco,ners. In view of the liberal bacon quota with Britain and -the oversupply of the pork market pig keepers in general should aim at taking their pigs to baconer weights. Of -course it means increased feeding when the pigs get beyond porker weights. As a pig weighing about 100 lb. live weight -will be receiving -about three gallons of separated milk or from five to -six gallons of whey the allowance should be gradually increased till at 150 lb. weight the pig wil be getting four and a-'half gallons of 'separated milk or seven and -a-hal/f Do nine gallons of whey. The allowance of meat meal (.1 lb. a day -at 100 lb. -weight) can be gradually reduced and grairf meal (barley meal for preference) can be 'increased till at 150 lb., 1 i lb. a day of this will toe supplied. More grain meal •seems to be required with -separated milk than wilh whey. Men are carrying -pigs very .successfully to light baconer weights on 1 lb- of -meat meal and § lb. of barley meal in the final stages on whey as the bulk folod. But with separated milk it is well to eliminate the meat meal in the final /two months and give up to if lb. of barley meal. • * * # Misleading Statistics. In the 1934 -copy of the New Zealand Year 'Book -a table.is published show■ing the pure-bred pig stock of the Dtomin-ion. ‘lt is to he regretted that such a table has been published, as it is absolutely misleading. It it based on the return of 1928, since when for -reasons of economy particulars as to breeds have not been collected. The

table shows that there * are 78,758 pure-bred ißeckshlres in the Dominion, 8555 Yorkshire (by which is meant Large White), and other pure-tored-s 15,556. The Tamworth is not mentioned. Why the table is particularly •misleading is that probably to-day there are more Tamworths than any other -breed. It would be well for the Government Statistician to publish in -future issues of 'the Year Book the annual registrations cf pure-bred stock made with the Pig Breeders’ Association. Some indication of how misleading the figures af the Year Biook are is contained in the fact that last year ■no less than 1344 Tamworths were registered against 458 Berkshires (and -the -registrations -of these showed an increase), Large White 423 (down), ■and Large Black, 207 (down). , * * * * Value In Grass. In English calculations of the food requirements -of a -pig it is stated that where the grain allowance is 4 lb. a day this can bo reduced to 3 lto. if the pigs have access to good grass. This rather bears- out an investigation of the value to pigs of grazing made by tiie Waikato Pig Recording Club. In nine trials 88 pigs that always had good grass required- only 298 lb. of food to produce 100 -lb. of live weight, or well under 3 lb. of food to make 1. lb. of gain in weight. On eight farms where the grazing was fair to poor the 59 -pigs tested required just on 390 lb. to produce 100 1-b. 'of live weight, or just on 4 lb. of food to make 1 1-b. of gain in weight. These figures clearly indicate the great importance ioif grass in reducing the cost of production, quite apart from the -undoubted value of grass to the general health -of the -animal. * * ** Quality Flesh. While it is most Important -that the pig carcases exported from New Zealand should- be -standardised, that they should be as uniform as possible, it is even more’ important that the flavour -should be standardised. The flesh of no other animal is so affectedly the food upon whi-ch it lives. A ration should- be decided upon—the class iof food to supplement skim-milk or whey —and this should toe universally recommended. It could be' three -parts barley and one part pollard as the supplementary Ifood in the final stages of fattening, /or 'the combination that will give the finest result. It would be reasonable -to put a bar on the export of any pigs that are not properly fed, on pigs fed in sties on hotel swill with no grain meal -or green stuff in the diet, and on pig-3 fed on animal carcases, too often not properly cooked. New Zealand -has a great ■opportunity in developing a trade in bacon carcases, but the pigs must -be -piioperly fed or the trade will be killed. • * • • Pig Reqording. The methods of pig recording in several countries have been given in these columns. A correspondent wants to know something about the methods of Denmark and Sweden, where pig recording has been longest in operation. Statements appearing in Home papers variously give credit to Denmark and Sweden as originating the idea. According to the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, Denmark was the first in the field. Denmark .attaches principal importance to breeding . and testing stations, whereas Sweden relies more on -recording societies, in order to

test Hie .breeding capacity of the sows of the country. It is the Swedish method that is favoured in England. According to the International Institute the work was begun in Denmark as early as 1896. The records are taken at the “Breeding Centres,” which are recognised toy the State arid supply most of the selected breeding stock to the pig farmers lOf the country. These Breeding Centres are obliged to sell to one of the stations established for fattening tests, 2 male and 2 female pigs from each litter of a selected sow. The pigs are fattened on a uniform feeding system from tne age of 8 weeks until they reach a weight of approximately 90 kilograms (a kilogram equals 2.2 lb.). Every 14 id-ays they are weighed, and 'the gain in live weight is determined. On the basis of these figures the feed consumption in food units per (kilogram of gain in live weight Is calculated..

The -carcase is also judged for value. Note is taken of the loss at slaughter, the quality of the meat and fat, the thickness of fat on the back and -belly, the shape and thickness of the liams, the fineness of the 'head, etc., and all these records are classlfld into a system of points. In the system of points and in the method of judging the requirements of the English bacion market are taken into special consideration as England is the main market for Danish bacon. The Danish performance tests have little or no reference to the “mothering qualities” or “breeding capacity” of the sow, but ■are limited to judging the fattening capacity of the phogeny. In Sweden pig -recording methods only.in part resemble those of Denmark. The breeding capacity of the sow is tested. and this test is supplemented by a test of the fattening capacity. In Sweden the recording of breeding pigs began in 1923, in Malmohus Lan, and the 'first fattening test 3 were undertaken the ; same year at the Astorp Institute- Since 1931 there has been a second .station -for fattening tests at Hallsberg, working on the same •lines as that at Astorp. Testing of the breeding capacity of mothering qualities of the sow is carried out in Sweden by the milk recording societies, who mark the pigs, determine their weight at birth and after three weeks. These data serve as a measure of the breeding capacity of the sow. From each tested litter 2 male and 2 female pigs are sent at the age of 8 to 10 weeks to the Institute for fattening -tests, which are carried out on the Danish system until a weight of 90 or 95 kilograms is reached. In the Swedish experiment -stations which undertake performance tests -the -value cl' the boars and their importance in transmitting the characteristics of productivity are also studied.