Systems of Pig Feeding and Management in New Zealand

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 81, Issue 3, 15 September 1950, Page 241

Systems of Pig Feeding and Management in New Zealand

Cheese and Casein Supply Farms (Whey Feeding)

IN this, the second of a series of articles dealing with the various systems of feeding and management employed in pig raising in New Zealand, I. H. Owtram, Extension Officer in Pig Husbandry, Department of Agriculture, Wellington, deals with methods used on farms supplying milk to cheese and casein factories. AVERY considerable section of the dairy industry in New Zealand is devoted to the manufacture of cheese and casein, a total of about 100,000 tons of cheese and 5000 tons of casein being produced annually. The dairy by-product from this manufacture is whey, and this forms the basic food for the production of a large amount of pig meat. Pig production from this source in New Zealand is unique in the same way that pig production from skimmed milk is. in that whey forms the great bulk of the ration on which the pigs are fed, small quantities only of meal and home-grown crops being fed with it. A difference in the routine of the cheese or casein supply farm compared with a home-separation dairy farm is that the farmer on the. former delivers the whole milk to the dairy factory once a day and brings back the whey on which he feeds his pigs; this supply has to last the pigs 24 hours. The whey is carried either in the empty milk cans or in a special tank; it is emptied into a tank or drums as soon as it arrives on the farm. The dairy farmer who supplies milk to a cheese or casein factory is faced with the same problem in fitting in his pigs to the feed supply as is the homeseparation dairy farmer. In fact the difficulty is even greater, as there is a tendency for the cheese and casein factory supplier to regulate the calving dates of his cows more closely than the home-separation farmer. Cheese factories cease manufacture for at least 2 months during winter and the farmer endeavours to have all his cows dry during this period and to bring them in as rapidly as possible after the factory reopens, which is generally at the beginning of August. The factory arranges to receive milk from cows that have to be milked during the winter and. this is separated at the factory, the cream being made into butter and the skimmed milk taken home by the farmer for his pigs. In the same manner as the homeseparation dairy farmer, the cheese supplier either breeds his own pigs or buys weaners and stores and fattens them; and results are similar as far as the profit made out of the pigs is concerned. The cheese supplier has one slight advantage over the butter supplier today in that, as a rule, he does not have to take home more whey than he requires for the pigs on hand, except in places where the factory

manager is having difficulty in disposing of surplus whey and insists on suppliers taking it. Today there are a number of suppliers to cheese and casein factories who do not keep pigs themselves but who in many cases sell their whey to another supplier who does; in former years it was often necessary for factory managers to station a man at the whey tanks to see that no supplier took more than his share of whey. ' This calls attention to a point in the organisation of cheese-manu-facturing dairy companies: Whey resulting from the process of cheese manufacture remains the property of the individual supplier and the dairy company has no rights over it. This has hindered the establishment of large-scale pig farms adjacent to dairy factories. System of Feeding Whey Whey contains approximately 6.5 per cent, of solids, compared with 8.7 per cent, of solids in skimmed milk, so that gallon for gallon it has about three-quarters of the feeding value of skimmed milk; 1J gallons of fresh whey are the equivalent of 1 food unit. But out of every 100 gallons of milk used for cheese manufacture only 75 gallons of whey is produced, whereas 100 gallons of milk separated for cream supply to a butter factory produces approximately 90 gallons of skimmed milk. Therefore, the whey from a herd of cows is about half as valuable for pig-meat production as the skimmed milk from the same herd would be. Five Feeds a Day Though whey contains practically all the sugar of milk or lactose present in the milk and most of its mineral content, it is deficient in fat and protein. For that reason it is necessary to supplement whey at all stages of

feeding with meat meal, which supplies both protein and fat, and also, for complete success, with good pasture, access to which must of course be controlled. This means that rather a different system of feeding is used from that employed for skimmed milk. The whey is carted back from the factory and placed in drums spaced at convenient intervals round the piggery or in a central tank from which it is conveyed to the troughs by pipes and tap. The fresh whey arrives on the farm after milking in the morning and the supply has to last until the next day. Owing to the lower food value of whey, larger quantities of it are fed than of skimmed milk, and, in order that the pigs may assimilate the greater bulk as well as possible, feeding is more frequent. Five feeds per day are usual: Before milking in the morning, after milking (when the fresh whey arrives from the factory), at midday, and again before and after milking in the evening. Because whey becomes acid very rapidly, a handful of agricultural lime is generally placed in the whey containers every day to counteract this and the first feed of the day, before milking in the morning, contains the smallest quantity of whey; at this feed up to half the daily ration of meal is given. Some farmers omit the early-morning feed and finish all the whey at the last feed at night to avoid any chance of the pigs getting stale or acid whey. Whey tanks and drums are cleaned out daily, as one of the most frequent causes of trouble is allowing stale and acid whey to accumulate in the containers. Basic Ration . The basic ration per pig per day of whey and meal is fed in the following quantities, meal being given in each case immediately after the quantity of whey: — Sows: Before farrowing, 6 to 10 gallons of whey and 2 to 31b. of meal;

PIG FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT

after farrowing, 10 to 15 gallons of whey and 3 to 41b. of meal. Suckers: 1 pint of whey at the commencement of feeding in the creep up to 24 gallons at weaning time and 2oz. of meat meal up to jib. during the same time: From weaning to. 3 months old, 24 to 5 gallons of whey and jib. to ilh nf meal ’ , ’, , , „ '• Porkers and baconers: 5 to 8 gallons of whey and lib. of meal. Today meat meal alone is generally used. Before 1940 barley meal was used as well, generally in the proper-

tion of one of meat meal to two of barley meal, but its high cost at present is restricting its use. , , , . , ~ , ™ , P must be emphasised that m this ar , as m ,|, he article in last month s Journal on the homeseparation dairy farm, the quantities of food stated are the average quantities given and the methods of management those used by the efficient pig producer. Observation of the feeding habits of each pig is of the utmost importance in achieving success.

Methods of Management

The farmer who supplies a cheese or casein factory adjusts the farrowing dates of his sows to the calving dates of his herd in the same manner as the farmer on the home-separation farm. He tends to farrow his sows a little earlier than the latter, generally in May and November; some farmers even farrow their sows from mid-April and again, of course, from mid-October. By doing this they have the maximum number of pigs on hand when the supply of whey is at its peak (November and December). May litters are put off as baconers without difficulty, and in autumn, when the supply of whey is declining, the same policy of disposing of pigs as porkers is followed as on the skimmed-milk farm. The last of the summer litters reach light bacon weight at the end of the season. Root crops are frequently grown for winter feeding and to supplement the falling supply of whey toward the end of the season. Good pasture is of great importance in producing pigs on whey and the layout of the piggery is such that controlled access to pasture paddocks can be given with the maximum ease. Because the value of the whey from a herd of cows is approximately half the value of the skimmed milk from the same herd, the sow-cow ratio, though varying with the type of production, is only half what it is on the skimmed-milk farm. In practice today, however, a large proportion of the cheese and casein suppliers who produce pigs use considerably more whey than that produced by their own herd; this extra whey is bought on a per-cow basis from suppliers who do not keep pigs. The production of pigs on whey from casein factories does not differ in any way from that from cheese factories. Lactose By-product A considerable quantity of whey is used in the production of lactose or sugar of milk, two plants for this purpose being in operation. There is a by-product from lactose extraction “mother liquor of whey”which can be used as a food for pigs. Its value is two-thirds that of the fresh whey from which it is the residue and it requires supplementing with molasses and meal, preferably a grain meal. Owing to extraction of sugar, it is relatively much richer in protein than fresh whey. It is a thick, oily liquid and has the advantage that it will keep for a considerable time under proper conditions. For that reason it forms a valuable addition to pig rations in winter when no other dairy byproducts are available. The method of feeding the by-product is to break it down with water at the rate of 6 parts of water to 1 of mother liquor and to feed it in the same manner as skimmed milk. Unfortunately at present a large quantity of whey which could be used for pig-meat production is being wasted. This is one direction in which a big increase in production could be/ attained. As pig raising on whey is not difficult and is very profitable, all suppliers of cheese and casein factories should produce pigs.