PRESENT AND FUTURE PIG-KEEPING
As it is impossible to foretell the effect which the present disastrous
war will have upon the pig-breeding industry, we have deemed it
expedient to refer as briefly as possible to the present conditions of
feeding, etc., which may or may not prove to be of a temporary character
or which may become permanent in a more or less modified manner.
One of the results of the scarcity and high market value of the
different articles which have been commonly used in the feeding of pigs
is drawing greatly increased attention to the original conditions under
which pigs were kept, i.e. when they were in a wild state or when they
were allowed their partial freedom for the purpose of getting their own
living to a greater or lesser extent.
We are aware that a claim has been made by an enthusiastic convert to
pig-keeping that in allowing his pigs their liberty to roam over grass
fields and in woods he is practising quite a novel course of procedure,
but the old hands merely smile and admire the enthusiasm which is more
nearly allied with youth than old age. The practice may not have been
generally followed of late years, but in the middle of the last century
it was to the writer's knowledge common in certain of the Eastern
Counties, particularly in Suffolk and portions of Essex and
Cambridgeshire, where a considerable acreage of grass and especially
clovers was grazed by pigs, having a greater or lesser quantity of other
food as the pigs were intended for breeding or fattening purposes.
Generally speaking, some shelter of a temporary character was provided
failing that furnished by trees, and straw stacks, etc., but our
American cousins have gone one better in that they have introduced small
movable houses which can be transported on wheels and can be utilised
for a sow and her pigs, or for a number of stores. In the former course,
an enclosure sufficiently large for the sow to graze therein is fenced
in so that each sow can be kept separate until the pigs are old enough
to prevent others from robbing them of their birthright. The chief
difficulty attending this system is not experienced in the United States
to the extent it is in this country, since the general custom there is
to allow each sow to farrow a litter of pigs in the spring and then to
fatten off both sow and pigs, save those reserved for breeding purposes
next year. This plan, which appears to be wasteful, also handicaps the
owner who desires to improve his pig stock, since an opportunity is
denied him of discovering the best of his sows and so reserving them and
their produce to form the nucleus of a really good herd. The system is
not an entirely new one, as it is practised to a great extent in some
parts of Lincolnshire and other Northern counties, where there is not
the excuse made for it in the States that it avoids the trouble and
risk from the intense cold attending the farrowing of sows in the
winter.
It may be that the severity of our winters is not usually great, but the
cold, damp and foggy weather commonly experienced in England during the
last two or three months of the year render it necessary to warmly house
young pigs, and this is difficult in wooden houses of limited size, as
these become hot and stuffy when entirely closed, or damp and cold when
unclosed. Again, the labour attending the feeding of a large herd housed
in isolated sties must be very considerable. Another objection raised
against this farrowing of sows in these small houses is that it is
difficult if not impossible at night to have the pigman in attendance on
the sow, further, that it is not advisable to allow the young pigs to
roam about with their dam until they are some weeks old, as when the
weather is cold or wet they become chilled and when the sun is hot they
quickly become blistered, both conditions materially interfering with
their well doing.
It is claimed that both sow and pigs are able to secure a large portion
of their living, but a sow with a good litter of pigs on her requires a
considerable amount of food in addition to grass to enable her to do
justice to her young, whilst the younger pigs are unable to digest any
quantity of grass until they are some weeks old; besides this, the
youngsters thrive much better during their early life when confined in
quarters than when trailing about after the sow. Could we ensure fairly
fine weather, and an absence of cold nights and very changeable
weather, the little pigs' chances of thriving under outdoor conditions
would be considerably enhanced.
Another alleged new discovery is the permitting of pigs to roam at large
in woods and plantations, wooden huts or open sheds being provided as
shelter. By this plan a considerable amount of pig food is obtained
where the trees are not closely planted, so that grass grows freely, or,
in the autumn, in the woods in which oaks, beech, hazel, or sweet
chestnut form a portion of the trees. In such woods strong store pigs
are able to obtain the major portion of their food, but where the trees
are of a kind which does not produce nuts or are closely planted, the
additional food must be more plentiful, whilst the manurial value of the
food is wasted to a considerable extent.
Perhaps the most profitable form of outdoor pig-keeping is that of
running the pigs in orchards. This system has many advantages, the pigs
are able to live without much additional food for some months in the
year, they consume the insect-affected fallen fruit, and so act as
insecticides. The pigs also usually leave their droppings under the
trees, which are thus benefited therefrom, and especially is this the
case where the pigs are being fattened or fed on food which enables them
to make flesh. Many years since, the writer had several customers for
breeding pigs who kept numbers of pigs in their orchards. One fruit
grower in Kent declared that fattening pigs in his orchard resulted in
the growing of heavier crops of cherries of larger size, better colour,
and finer flavour. Another whose apple orchard was disappointing
followed my advice to fatten pigs in it, declared that the quantity of
apples grown was much greater, whilst both the size and quality of these
were infinitely better.
Under the modern system of pig-keeping it is more profitable to give
some additional and concentrated food to the pigs having their liberty,
it is therefore wise to secure the full benefit arising from the richer
living by running the pigs where the manure can be utilised, and no
better place than an orchard can be found, since shelter from sun and
wind is furnished by the fruit trees, and the pigs deposit their urine
and excrement in exactly the place where it is most urgently required.
The practice of growing considerable areas of rape or cole seed,
artichokes, peas of various kinds, beans, etc., to be fed off by pigs is
not followed extensively in this country, although pig-keepers in the
United States, Canada, Germany, Denmark, etc., have a partiality to it,
since it is declared to save labour and to bring the land into a good
manurial condition for the growth of corn crops; still some few of our
more advanced farmers have been in the habit of grazing off lucerne,
clovers, and even permanent and temporary grasses by the aid of pigs,
which have also received in addition a varying amount of roots, corn, or
meal. It is asserted, and evidence is available to prove the truth of
the statement, that land can be economically and quickly and vastly
improved by following the system referred to above. The scarcity and
high market value of miller's offals and of meals such as used in the
past to be utilised to a great extent in the feeding of pigs, has
caused pig-keepers to seek for other foods to take their place. The
residuum from the crushing of palm nuts, cocoa-nuts, and ground nuts has
been most successfully used in connection with various forms of
vegetable food; even sows have reared good litters of pigs on about 2
lbs. of a mixture of the meals remaining from the extraction of the oil
from the nuts mentioned, with the addition of some form of vegetable
food. This last has comprised cooked potatoes, raw artichokes, mangolds,
kohl rabi, swedes, cabbages, etc., during the winter months, and grass,
lucerne, clover, vetches, cole seed, etc., during the summer months.
Fattening pigs will require a somewhat larger quantity of concentrated
food and a reduced amount of vegetable food. The pre-war belief that
sharps or middlings only was the most suitable food for sows with
litters and for newly weaned pigs has been somewhat modified. Whether or
not the quality and price of middlings will be restored after the war
and thus its use become general as of old, must be left, but it is
probable that in the future a certain proportion of the meals referred
to will continue to be used for both breeding and fattening pigs.