630 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



consumed only 417 Ibs. corn grain and 18 Ibs. tankage for 100 Ibs. gain. 

 Other pigs on corn in which soybeans had been grown, but fed no 

 tankage in addition, gained only 1.31 Ibs. a head daily and required 574 

 Ibs. corn for 100 Ibs. gain. When tankage and other suitable protein- 

 rich feeds are high in price, it may be most economical to let pigs which 

 are hogging down corn have access to good alfalfa, clover, or rape pasture 

 and then feed no other supplement in addition. The gains will usually 

 be less rapid under this system, but they may be cheaper. 10 It is 

 especially necessary to feed a protein-rich concentrate when the pigs are 

 furnished no supplementary green feed. For balancing the ration where 

 no such crops have been grown with the corn, supplements of animal 

 origin, including tankage, skim milk, buttermilk, whey, and fish meal, 

 are better than such feeds as linseed meal, soybean seed, or wheat 

 middlings. 



Spring shotes, w r ell grown on pasture and weighing 90 to 130 Ibs. at 

 the start, are best for hogging down. Lighter pigs may be used if a 

 few heavy hogs are put with them to break down the corn. Many turn 

 in sows and their pigs after the shotes are removed, to clean up what 

 little corn is left a good practice, for it makes the pigs take plenty of 

 exercise. 



It is best to confine the pigs to limited areas of the field by fencing, so 

 that they will clean up the corn in 20, or better, 14 days. Older hogs 

 should be confined to smaller areas than shotes, for otherwise they will 

 knock down and waste more corn. Woven wire is used for fencing, being 

 tied to corn stalks and further supported by posts or stakes where neces- 

 sary. According to the Minnesota Station, 11 pigs weighing 125 Ibs. at 

 the beginning will clean up 1 acre of corn in the time shown in the 

 following table: 



Number of days required by pigs to clean up 1 acre of corn 



Yield, 40 bu. Yield, 50 bu. Yield, 60 bu. Yield, 70 bu 



per acre per acre per acre per acre 



Days Days Days Days 



When 20 pigs forage 15 19 23 26 



When 40 pigs forage 8 9 11 14 



When 60 pigs forage 5 6 8 



When 80 pigs forage 4 5 6 7 



Field feeding of corn is most successful when the weather is dry. It 

 is not wise to keep pigs in the fields after heavy rains, for they then 

 waste corn and may injure the land. Unless very early varieties of corn 

 are used, which are usually not heavy yielders, the new corn crop will not 

 be ready early enough in the fall to furnish much feed for pigs which 

 are to be finished for market in September or October, before the usual 

 slump in prices occurs. Such pigs must be fattened chiefly on old corn. 

 Breeding stock should never be used to hog down corn, as they will get 

 too fat. 



10 Holden, Nebr. Bui. 159. "Minn. Bui. 104. 



