FEEDING VALUE OF SKIM MILK FOR SWINE 



S|.('ci;il Fiiillclin No. !ll* 



BY H. W. NORTON^ JR. 



It is estimated that 1,669,836,000 pounds of skim milk and 238,- 

 548,000 pounds of buttermilk were produced in Michigan during the 

 year 1917, as by-products of the butter industry. Large amounts of 

 these bj'-products are consumed as human foods in one form or an- 

 other but immense quantities are left to be disposed of in other ways, 

 principally as feed for calves, pigs and poultry. The value of skim 

 milk for feeding purposes will depend upon a number of factors, 

 such as the varieties and proportions of other feeds used in combina- 

 tion with it, condition of the milk when fed and the age of the animals 

 consuming it, but with the high prices at which feeds are selling on 

 the market at the present time, a much higher value can be placed 

 upon skim milk than feeders have generally attributed to it. Con- 

 siderable discussion is heard among farmers and dairymen on this 

 subject and numerous inquiries have been sent in to the Experiment 

 Station regarding the value of dairy by-products under present condi- 

 tions. This circular gives a brief discussion of these problems and 

 summarizes the results of experimental work along this line at sev- 

 eral of the Experiment Stations, (Cornell, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, 

 Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Ontario.) 



COMPOSITION OF DAIRY BY-PRODUCTS. 



The following table from ^'Feeds and Feeding", by Henrj' and 

 Morrison, shows the nutrients contained in 100 pounds each of whole 

 milk, skim milk, buttermilk, and whey. 



The table shows that skim milk differs from whole milk only in fat 

 content and that it is a very highly nitrogenous feed, having a nutritive 

 ratio of 1:1.5 while whole milk is 1 :4.4. As whole milk is the natural 

 milk for calves and pigs, it is readily seen that the best results can be 

 secured by feeding skim milk only when it is used in combination with 

 other feeds such as corn, wheat, oats, rye or barley, which will furnish 

 an abundance of carbohydrates and fat, so as to properly balance it. 

 Corn, which is ordinarily our most abundant fattening food, has proven to 

 give the best results of all grains which are commonly fed in conjunction 



