Feeding 1 hat Barley To The Pigs

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 60, Issue 4, 15 April 1940, Page 301

Feeding 1 hat Barley To The Pigs

By

M. J. SCOTT,

Superintendent of the Pig Industry, Wellington

JUDGING by the number of enquiries received, there are a number of people who have had little experience of feeding barley to pigs. On that account the field is very ripe for supposition, wrong conclusions, and the very strong opinions of the uninformed that rapidly amount to prejudice when first'. experiences are unfortunate. There is probably no aspect of grain feeding that has received more attention, particularly in U.S.A., than the ways in which grain should be fed. Henry and Morrison, the best known American writers on the subject, comment as follows: — “Crushed or ground barley is approximately ten to seventeen per cent, more valuable than whole dry grain; boiled or soaked barley is six to seven per cent, more valuable than the whole dry grain'” This, presumably, is for old pigs greater than 150 lb. live-weight, for in another place they say for pigs of less than 150 lb. live-weight no advantage is obtained from grinding, crushing, boiling or soaking. Little Advantage If crushing or grinding improves barley only by ten to seventeen per cent, it follows that the cost of crushing cannot be more than sd. to Bd. per bushel. It also follows equally logically that the user gets very little better nett returns from crushed barley than he does from whole barley which costs 6d. a bushel less. . Thus, on a reasoned basis there is little advantage to the user in buying ground barley at the higher price. Where it can be ground on the farm, grinding is well worth while. Don’t grind it too fine. It is best as a coarse meal showing plenty of husk. Husk is not digested, however finely ground it is. If ground barley had to bear only the increase due to actual grinding the prospect would not be so bad, but there is another aspect of buying ground barley! Barley can be ground cheaply only when large quantities are dealt with. This means that ground barley has to pay in-and-out-of-store charges, storage and wastage. A mer-

chant who grinds 500 sacks takes a risk of having to store it for some time, and must increase his charges accordingly. While the actual grinding may be done for 4d. a bushel, an increase in price of something like 9d. per bushel will have to be incurred 'to meet all extra charges. Farmers will thus be paying very dearly for the convenience and satisfaction of using ground barley, and if they insist on having it crushed they will convert a reasonably cheap feed supply into a relatively dear one. It is a point worth considering. Merchants will certainly supply, the ground barley if it is asked for, but are you helping yourself by asking for it? Instead of being ground, barley can be soaked or steeped until the kernels are soft, and in this way it is made nearly as good as ground barley. A couple of drums or cans are required, and very little extra labour is involved in the process. Common-sense Principles Consideration of the following com-mon-sense principles will help many to get better results from barley and meal generally: , (1) When animals are fed so that they will grow, or produce quicker than nature meant them, any grain in the ration will not be completely digested. When the animal is fed at slightly below normal growth rate, grain is usually completely digested. Hence, don’t force pigs which are getting grain in the same way as you do when you are topping them off on skim-milk alone. They might take a week longer, but they will grade all the better for growing slower and show a return for the grain. (2) When animals have to compete for their feed, and eat it quickly to get their share, either through hunger or insufficient trough room, grain will not be chewed and some will pass through undigested. Hence, feed grain after the pigs have cleaned up all their milk; they won’t be quite so ravenous. Have plenty of trough

room, or spill on the ground, in , a thin line or in numerous half-handful •.heaps, so that the pigs' can pick up only a few grains at a time. Unless the ground is very wet they won’t waste much of it. Pigs Must Eat Slowly If you do feed it in a trough, use a trough with a wide, flat bottom from which only a few grains can be picked up at a time. In a V-shaped trough the pig can get a mouthful at a time and bolts the lot. If you have a selffeeder put the daily ration in it and screw it down so that the pigs can lick out only a little at a time. Do anything that makes the pigs eat it slowly; that is far cheaper than using ground barley.