FARMING NEWSLETTER by W. J. PETERSEN

INCREASE THE PROFIT FROM YOUR PIGS In this issue I am going to try and tell you something about how you should rear your pigs. It has been said that every pig born on a dairy farm represents a potential £10 note in the farmer's pocket, but to actually get this £10 note the farmer must use the best and most economical methods in feeding and caring for these animals. Dairy farmers must accustom themselves to the fact that pigs can be a profitable sideline that can easily be turned into ready cash, and not just a means of disposing of their surplus skim milk. Pigs if reared correctly can raise the farmer's income by up to 25 to 30%. As said above, it is most important to give great care and attention to your pigs at this time of the year. Your sows should all have farrowed by the end of June, or early July, so it is most important that they have sufficient food to keep them in good condition, thus allowing them to do their litters well. A sow needs 4 gallons of milk per day for herself plus about 2 gallons for every 3 pigs that she has to feed. That is, a sow with a litter of 9 pigs will require 10 gallons of milk per day. At this time of the year there is usually not much milk available, so a substitute will be necessary in the form of meal. One pound of meal is equivalent to 1 gallon of milk. So to feed the sow properly she will require 10 Ibs of meal mixed with water each day. Her nose should be rung properly and she should be given free access to grass if that is at all possible. The little pigs or suckers should be taught to drink as soon as possible. This can be done when they are a week old by placing a small dish or trough of fresh whole cow's milk as close as possible to their sleeping quarters. The aroma from this fresh milk will soon attract the little pigs and they will start sipping at it. As soon as they have learned to drink, this whole milk can be substituted by skim milk. This milk should however be brought up to blood heat for the first few days, as cold milk is liable to cause digestive upsets. Once these little pigs become accustomed to drink-ink from a trough, meal should be gradually introduced to their diet; this plays a most important part in the growth of young pigs. The quantity of meal should be gradually increased until the pigs are weaned from their mother at, say, two months old. By that time they should each be receiving 1 Ib of meal per day in their skim milk, and this ration should be continued until they reach four months old, after which skim milk only will be sufficient. It is most important that meal should be fed to the young piglets, as the feeding of skim milk alone is insufficient to promote healthy growth. The boar pigs in the litters should be castrated as soon as possible, preferably before they reach the age of 6 weeks. The younger a boar is when operated on the more readily the animal recovers from the operation, and at a young age they are much easier to hold and handle. Before castrating, the boars should be separated from their sister pigs, and they should be starved for at least 12 hours. This starving reduces the strain on the abdomen when they are being held. After the operation they should be placed in a pen that has been washed out with a bluestone solution. This solution mixture should be a large handful of bluestone crystals dissolved in a gallon of water. Clean bedding should be placed in the sleeping area of the pen. Little pigs soon grow tusks and these tusks often lacerate their mother's teats, which sometimes become infected and cause the sow much discomfort, making her loath to lie quietly to enable them to suckle. These tusks can be snapped off quite easily when the little pigs are only a day or two old by using a pair of ordinary pliers. Care must be taken to ensure that these pliers are effectively sterilised by plunging them into a solution of disinfectant. Oft-times little pigs are found dead in the pen with their mother, probably by being trampled on or laid on. It is most important that these dead pigs should be removed as soon as possible, otherwise the mother may eat them and this may encourage her to start eating some of her live pigs. To conclude, let me say that well reared and well grown pigs always, command a ready market, whether they be sold as store pigs or fattened for pork or bacon.