Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 22

     
     1
     2   Q.   What is the gestation period for a sow?
     3        A.  Three months, three weeks, three days, 30 days and a
     4        month, sir.
     5
     6   Q.   Right.  In theory, though, how quickly do they come
     7        into estrous again after having had piglets?
     8        A.  They can come into estrous three days after having
     9        piglets, sir.
    10
    11   Q.   So they could, in theory, have litters more than three
    12        times a year, could they not?
    13        A.  That could happen, sir.
    14
    15   Q.   Where do the sows in your outdoor facilities have their
    16        piglets?
    17        A.  In their outdoor farrowing arcs, sir.
    18
    19   Q.   When you say "arcs" do you mean an hemispherical sort of
    20        shape?
         A.  Yes, it is a corrugated galvanized iron outer, and then
    22        inside it is a flattened sheet but in between there is
    23        approximately 400 millimetres of insulation.
    24
    25   Q.   Right, so that they are insulated?
    26        A.  Yes, they are.
    27
    28   Q.   Are pigs sensitive to -----
    29        A.  Sorry, 100 millimetres, I was thinking four inches.
    30
    31   Q.   100 millimetres of insulation on the inside.
    32        A.  Yes.
    33
    34   Q.   Are pigs sensitive to extremes of heat and cold?
    35        A.  Yes.
    36
    37   Q.   These pigs are quite sort of pale, one sometimes sees
    38        pictures of pigs which are rather dark in colour; do they
    39        get sunburnt?
    40        A.  Yes, they do, sir.
    41
    42   Q.   What do you do about that?
    43        A.  There are two methods of helping to prevent sunburn;
    44        one in the late spring, we will dig what we call wallow
    45        holes, but it is highly important that you actually have
    46        the right land to dig the wallow holes.  What one needs is
    47        a sandy soil, but you also need a subsoil that will hold
    48        water so that when you put the water in, that will make mud
    49        and so they can wallow in it and roll in it, they love it.
    50        The other method, obviously, is to put up shades which we 
    51        do. 
    52 
    53   Q.   The little piglets which are still with their mothers in
    54        that picture which is beside the big picture of the vet in
    55        the middle of brochure ---?
    56        A.  Yes.
    57
    58   Q.   -- will be taken away from their mother when they are 24
    59        days old; is that right?
    60        A.  Yes.