FARING WORLD

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20833, 17 June 1939, Page 27 (Supplement)

FARING WORLD

CURD FOR PIGS

WINTER FEEDING M'-AKI*HA FARM TRIAL The feeding of curd to poultry has !)••• n practised for some time, but rese.trrh officers at the Ruakura Farm I'- ui to go a step further in the utilisation of curd by using it for the feeding of pigs during the late autumn and winter. Arrangements are now being made for the storage ,of curd during the summer. At the last meeting of the Ruakura Farm Advisory Committee it was pointed out that curd represented approximately half the food value of separated milk, and if a satisfactory, i.e., cheap, easy and safe means of saving and storing it could be devised the present difficulties associated with using curd would be overcome and with it many of the. winter losses of pigs that now take place. Further, it would tend to smooth out the supply of pig meats for export and relieve the congestion of storage space and the rush of work in killing plants. * Not a New Idea Mr P. \V. Smallfleld, acting officer in charge of the Animal Research Station, said the storage of curd and skim milk was not a new idea. The practice of storinig skim milk and buttermilk in brick cisterns had been mentioned as common in dairying districts at the end of the 18th century. Curd had been successfully saved by a few pigkeepers and poultry farmers. Poultry farmers had packed the curd in barrels and drawn off the whey from the bottom. Their experience generally had been that storing curd was not profitable; it was better for poultrykeepers to use all the separated milk at the height of the season and purchase meals for the off season ralher than preserve curd. Pt had been remembered that poultry keepers were favoured by a high winter prieo for eggs. When the Ruakura pig-feeding trials commenced, said Mr Smallfleld, the question of preserving curd was considered, but it was thought that other and more pressing problems should be dealt with first. However, the staff was now in a position to do this work and it was proposed to save sufficient curd in October, November and December to finish off a group of fen pigs for pork or bacon in the autumn. Possibly, the saving of curd might not be economic, and it might be better to grow a small area of roots for winter feeding along with meat meal and thus have sufficient pigs to use tiie whole of the separated milk supply in the summer.