The Rural Voice, 1989-06, Page 25are placed in the breeding pen with its
six-inch layer of peat moss for good
footing. They are bred twice to the
boar, and then kept in restricted stalls
until the last six weeks of gestation,
when they are moved to open pens.
Five days before farrowing they
are moved to the farrowing crates and
kept there until the piglets are weaned
at 27 days of age. Ears are notched,
eye teeth are removed, and an iron
injection is given when the piglets are
two days old.
Sows on the Findlay farm average
21.6 live births each year with an
average weaning total of 18.1 piglets
per sow. The 12 per cent mortality
rate is half the provincial rate, Findlay
says. He adds that he prefers smaller
litters and would rather have 12 big
piglets than 16 smaller ones in a litter.
But with gilts having small litters and
sows having more than his average,
that usually doesn't happen.
Batch farrowing allows Findlay
to cross foster, evenly distributing
piglets to balance out a litter size. If
there are enough runts in the various
litters Findlay will create a runt litter,
placing all the runts on one sow to
give them a better chance to thrive.
He attends all of his gilt farrow-
ings and many of the sow farrowings,
depending on their past farrowings.
Findlay culls severely and a difficult
sow or one that has not had 28 piglets
weaned by its third litter is shipped.
Weaned at 27 days, the piglets are
placed in the weaner decks for 30 to
40 days. Findlay's facilities allow him
to finish only about 75 per cent of the
weaners, and he sells the rest at 25 to
30 pounds when they come off the
decks.
Finished hogs are shipped out at
between 210 and 220 pounds. Days to
market range from 130 to 180, with an
average of 160 days. "If they haven't
reached 220 pounds by 180 days, they
go anyway," Findlay says. His tight
scheduling of batches will not allow
delays. "I just can't afford to wait for
a week for a slow-growing pig. When
we empty the finishing pens, I pres-
sure -wash and within a day or two we
have weaners go in."
Findlay attributes the low days to
market to the 16 per cent ration he
feeds all his sows, boars, and finishers.
The farm family:
Margaret and Bill
with daughters
Bronwyn and
Megan.
But the feed mill in his barn is diffi-
cult to program, he says, and it is like-
ly that he would reduce the ration for
his finishers if he had a different mill.
All the feed for the pigs is pur-
chased. About 75 acres of the 100 -
acre farm are workable, and Findlay
sells the hay crop off it, either stand-
ing or in round or square bales. He
believes his time is better spent in the
barn, particularly because he has had
little farm experience. And he adds
that 75 acres of crop land are not
enough to justify the range of equip-
ment necessary to crop it.
"The batch system takes more time
and there is a two-week period during
each cycle when you just have to be in
the barn. If you're cropping, you can't
be there."
Findlay feeds a high-energy ration
of whole roasted soybean and barley.
He buys the barley at a premium from
potato farmers at nearby Badjeros.
"We may pay a 1'le more, but it's
beautiful stuff an worth it," he says.
While some f ers associate the
use of whole roasted soybean with
what is called "greasy pork," Findlay
hasn't had a problem and believes that
feeding barley instead of corn with the
soybeans results in less of an accumu-
lation of oil in the meat.
He does not bulk medicate. The
local feed mill makes a special run
of starter pellet ration without medi-
cation for the piglets. Likewise, no
medication is used in the grower
ration. Findlay estimates that if he
did not use a disease -control program
his annual $250 medical bill would
likely be close to $5,000 if he included
the cost of medicated feed and medi-
cations for respiratory problems, etc.
Prevention is the key to success in
the pig business, Findlay says, and
when choosing his farm an important
criteria was that there be a veterinarian
specializing in swine nearby. He has
enlisted the services of a pig veterin-
arian who makes four scheduled visits
each year. The fee of about $180 has
been justified many times over,
Findlay says. "He is a great source of
advice on herd health and we haven't
had to have him around for disease."
Accurate records also save money.
Five separate sets of records enable
Findlay to monitor the herd's progress
and indicate where he can improve
genetic lines. All replacement gilts
now come from within the herd, and
keeping accurate sow records makes
choosing replacement stock easier and
more accurate. "The performance of a
gilt's mother is available and impor-
tant," Findlay says. He can easily
determine the litter that a pig comes
from by looking at the ear notch and
referring to records kept for each pig
in the 84 litters in the barn each year.
All pigs are weighed as they reach
market size, and Findlay records each
weight. This has proven a reliable and
useful practice. When a cheque for
pigs come in, Findlay compares the
statement from the marketing board to
his twice -weekly weight recordings.
In more than a dozen cases he has no-
ticed a discrepancy and after phoning
in his concerns has usually received a
reimbursement. (coned)
JUNE 1989 23