Principles of Practical Pig Breeding and Feeding

E. W. Brooks

Description

“Principles of Practical Pig Breeding and Feeding” is a classic guide to pig farming that presents the reader with all the fundamental information they would need to know about keeping and breeding pigs for pleasure or profit. It covers every aspect of the subject from stock selection to common ailments and how they can be avoided, making it ideal for novice breeders and owners alike. Not to be missed by collectors of vintage agricultural literature. Contents include “The Problem of the British Pig”, “Management”, “Breeding And Rearing”, “Principles Of Practical Pig Feeding”, “The Six Constituents Of Meat”, “Principles of Practical Pig Breeding”, “Principles of Practical Pig Feeding”, “Avoidable Ills and Other Diseases”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on pig farming.

Sujets

• Agronomie
• Agronomy for Sustainable Development
• Agriculture
• Engineering
• Technology
• Sciences et techniques
• Animal Husbandry

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781473381551
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The VITAMEALO Modern Factory at Hammersmith W.6 .
Principles of -
PRACTICAL PIG BREEDING FEEDING
by
E. W. BROOKS
and
R. BOLTON
Contents
The Problem of the British Pig
Principles of Practical Pig Breeding
Principles of Practical Pig Feeding
Recommended Vitamealo Pig Rations
Skimmed Milk and Vitamealo
Tag Labels
Advisory Service
Avoidable Ills and Other Diseases
The Problem of the British Pig
IN a booklet it is impossible even to begin to deal adequately with the many aspects of Pig Breeding, Management and Feeding as they affect individual farms. Instead our objects must be, first, to outline the principles which we have found to be sound and regard as essentials of success-second, to describe the VITAMEALO Pig Rations and their purposes as concisely and helpfully as possible.
Right at the outset we have to give this message:-NO RATION CAN SUCCEED AS IT SHOULD UNLESS CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT.
Unfortunately, it is too common and too easy a practice to blame the food when trouble appears. Sometimes it may be the food but our experience is that where a properly balanced ration is being fed, the trouble can nearly always be traced to other factors. One of the duties of the VITAMEALO ADVISORY SERVICE is to explore any complaint in order to trace its source so that the Farmer can be shown in a practical way exactly how his trouble has been caused, and how repetition can be avoided.
The VITAMEALO ADVISORY SERVICE is free to our customers and we do want them to use it freely. Whenever a Farmer asks us to investigate troubles we welcome the opportunity, as it is to our advantage to have troubles traced to their source and properly handled. Better still, neither the Farmer nor we want troubles at all and so it is invariably much to the Farmer s advantage to consult us first on any doubtful point so that he can be put right before trouble appears.
Pig schemes come and go, but recent events have shown the intention of the Government to take agriculture far more seriously than at any time since the war, and we feel safe in predicting that the latest Pig Scheme will be remodelled so that a permanent basis is found whereby the British pig can be produced at a profit. However unsatisfactory the original schemes have proved in practice, one factor nevertheless has been emphasized all the time, namely, that the Producer shall be paid according to the quality of the carcass he produces.
Gone is the day when a bad pig was paid for at the same price as a good one. For the sake of profit making and of justification of protection the Farmer must, to-day, breed and feed for the carcass in demand, if he doesn t, he can never expect the Government to continue its efforts on his behalf.
Great as has been the improvement in type since the inception of the Pig Scheme, there is still room for further improvement. Breeders should strive for length and more length, finer and still finer shoulders, and less fat at the collar and shoulder.
It must be realised that the fullest co-operation between the Producer-the Curer-and the Food Manufacturer is necessary if we in this Country are to produce the correct side of Bacon. Lack of any such co-operation in the past has been largely responsible for the greater popularity of imported bacon, because the foreigner has realised what is required by this market and has supplied it.
The Farmer is too busy and has not the resources to carry out detailed nutritional research, but continual work of this nature will always be necessary and it is for the Food Manufacturer and others to undertake it in order that the Farmer can have available rations which will produce the right product economically.
We deal in this booklet with some of the principles affecting general management and feeding of pigs under conditions which exist to-day. We are all rather apt to be conservative in our methods, wondering sometimes whether all this talk of Balanced Rations-Proteins-Vitamins, etc. is not all so much bunkum, and thinking of the old days when these things were unheard of and pigs did quite as well.
But one has to remember that this is an age of specialisation. There is a definite demand for a pig of a certain type, and if the British Farmer won t produce it, the Foreigner will. The importer is always at our door. By producing in bulk he cuts his cost. He controls his own market, keeping his prices at a level that enables him to send the surplus over here at any price it will fetch. That surplus is usually his best, the remainder is good enough for his own controlled and protected market.
We want to stress that our conclusions are drawn in large measure from our own practical experience, that before-and ever since-we marketed VITAMEALO we have had our Experimental Stations and Laboratories, that WE ARE COMPLETELY UNTIED AS TO ANY SINGLE INGREDIENT WE USE IN THE FORMUL OF EITHER OUR CONCENTRATES OR THE COMPLETE RATIONS, and finally, that our one idea is to market pig rations which will effect production at the cheapest cost. It is easy to produce flashes in the pan, but we aim at successful results measured over long periods, which, after all, can be the only true and permanent test of a ration. For this brings into consideration the health and breeding capabilities of the herd which definitely will suffer by ill-advised feeding designed to produce but momentary results irrespective of future considerations.
Principles of Practical Pig Breeding
-1 MANAGEMENT
Costs . Figures vary enormously, but the following are cost figures obtained from reliable sources. Roughly, the accepted figure for the cost of producing an 8-week old weaner is 25/- on to-day s prices. The West of Scotland Agricultural College say that their costs over the last few years have averaged at under 16/- per pig.
Under good management and using properly balanced rations it can be. reckoned that 3 1/4 lbs. of food will produce 1 lb. live weight. The National Pig Breeders Association take as their standard for Bacon live weight, 190-210 lbs., so that, taking the weaners as weighing 30 lbs., it is necessary to put on, say, 180 lbs. weight. If we take a price of 9 per ton for food (variations can be worked out from the Table on page 23 ), and reckoning 3 1/4 lbs. of food for 1 lb. of flesh, the cost of food required is 2 7s. 6d., which, with an allowance of 10/- per pig for labour and overheads, and 25/- as the cost of the weaner, gives a total cost of 4 2s. 6d.
If we take a price for a Bacon Pig at a round figure of 12/- per score nett inclusive of bonus, etc., an 8-score pig will fetch 4 16s. od., leaving a balance of 13/6 to the producer. It is not possible, obviously, to calculate exactly what can be expected per pig, and our object in quoting the above figures is simply that they should act as a guide. Many producers complain bitterly of the basis on which prices have been calculated, the position being that this basis only meant profit if all went well but did not make provision for losses. The fact is that profits to-day depend on the most careful attention being given to economical feeding and good management. On farms, where this is the case, our knowledge is that money has been made during the last few years, but success depends on culling the bad doers, particularly those Sows who rear indifferent litters. If careful records are kept of every pig, the non-profitable Sows will be shown up and must be removed from the herd.
The type of pig that is required . The needs of the Bacon Curer and the Pork Butcher should always be before the Farmer s eye. Briefly, one should breed for length and fineness, avoiding heavy shoulders, thick collar, heavy jowl, coarse bone or coat. For Bacon we prefer a C ROSS, INVARIABLY USING THE L ARGE W HITE AS S IRE because, although there is a tendency for the pure bred Large White to produce a large proportion of Grade A backs, at the same time the thinness of the belly is apt to give a very low percentage of Grade A bellies, a point that can be rectified by the use of females of the following breeds: Large Black, Wessex, Essex, Berkshire, Tamworth, Middle White, Welsh, and we confidently recommend the gilts from a first Cross of Large White Middle White to be mated to a Large White boar; females from this union can be used with even greater advantage to mate with the Large White.
A point which should be remembered is that whatever breeds are chosen only the best types of those breeds should be used, and that the type, constitution and quality of the boar are of paramount importance. In selecting pigs for feeding for Bacon or Pork, the following points should be borne in mind: Small ears denote fat, very fine bone also shows a tendency to produce a fat carcass. Long ears held close together in the prick eared breeds denote slow growth with a very lean carcass to finish. Long snipey heads with constricted heart girth are invariably indications of the non-doer, whereas the moderate head with good heart girth, well sprung ribs, moderate depth and good length from behind the fine shoulder to the front of the ham will produce a quick maturing, good grading pig, both on the shoulder and in the belly. It is as well to avoid the exceptionally deep pig as it produces too long a streaky cut and, usually, low grade belly measurements.
It is essential to study carefully the returns from the Bacon Factory in order, in cases where Grade A is not obtained, to know the reason why. It is no good blaming the food if it is the breeding that is wrong, and vice versa . It is an extraordinary fact that numbers of Farmers we meet never look at the returns with the idea of extracting from them the constructive information which they contain.
The various qualifications for bonuses or deductions from the flat rate for the basic pig are set out on all Bacon Contract forms. Thinness of back fat, thickness of belly and level deliveries throughout the year are essential.
For Pork, the requirements vary