INCREASING THE SIZE OF PIG LITTERS

Te Ao Hou, December 1957, Page 52

INCREASING THE SIZE OF PIG LITTERS Many pig producers will have young maiden sows which they intend to breed from next year, and the way in which these gilts are managed can have a big effect on the size of the litter, states The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture”. Though there is a general belief that a gilt's first litter will be small, at least in numbers, attention to a few simple points in management will increase the number of pigs farrowed. Gilts should be selected from a mating of proved parents, they should be penned separately from fattening pigs when they are at porker weight (4 to 4½) months old), and they should be fed a limited ration that enables them to grow without getting too fat. For 3 weeks before mating they should be fully fed and should be mated twice at, say, 12-hour intervals at the second or third heat period. After mating they should be fed to maintain growth and condition without becoming fat. Two to three weeks before farrowing their food should be increased These methods of management will help secure good first litters and improve the sizes of litters.