224 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



and in it a thin slop made by stirring in the milk, corn 2 parts 

 and shorts 3 parts. Feed about what they will clean up from one 

 feed to the next. Do not force a pig to eat out of a high trough, 

 for this has a tendency to produce a weak and sway back. The 

 most suitable time for castrating the male pigs is at five to six 

 weeks old, while they are still receiving nourishment from the dam. 

 The pig can be most easily handled at this time, and they more 

 quickly recover from the operation. 



At seven to nine weeks of age the pigs should be weaned. This 

 can be accomplished to the best advantage to the pigs and their 

 dam by weaning first the stronger pigs of the litter and leaving 

 the weaker ones with the mother. This will make the entire litter 

 more even in size and at the same time be a more gradual way of 

 drying off the sow, and thus prevent damaged udders. In weaning 

 the pigs it is much better to have the sow and pigs in the pasture 

 or feed lot where it is desired to have the pigs run, at least a week 

 before the time of weaning, and then wean the sow away from 

 the pigs, and not the pigs away from the sow. They will worry 

 less. Remove the sow and two or three of her smaller pigs to a 

 lot out of sight and hearing of the pigs being weaned. The time 

 of weaning is best at seven to nine weeks, because the pigs will be 

 eating very freely from their trough in the creep, and the flow of 

 milk from the sow will have been quite materially diminished. 

 The Wisconsin Station determined by weighing the pigs on certain 

 days of each week before and after suckling the amount of milk 

 given by a sow. They found that there was "a marked falling 

 off in the amount of milk given by all the sows from the fourth to 

 the eighth week, the average daily yield for each sow at the fourth 

 week being 6.23 pounds, and at the -eighth week 3.85 pounds, -a 

 difference of 2.38 pounds daily, or a falling off of 38 per cent, in 

 four weeks." 



It was also shown that a hundred pounds gain could be put on 

 more cheaply previous to weaning time than at any other period 

 of the pig's life. During the first four weeks the cost of a hundred 

 pounds gain was $1.23, and during the second four weeks the cost 

 was $1.75, or an increase of 42 per cent, over the cost for gain dur- 

 ing the first period. The third four-week period it was $2.18, the 

 fourth $2.78, and the fifth $3.38, thus showing that so long as 

 the pig is suckling, and his stomach is not yet adapted for bulky 

 foods, we had best make use of this period for making very profit- 

 able gains for feed fed. 



After weaning, the methods of feeding and caring for the 



