FEED AND CARE OF SWINE 687 



should, if possible, be cut or chopped and mixed with the concentrates. 

 The hay may be chopped at small expense by running it thru a feed cutter, 

 preferably equipped with an alfalfa screen. If no cutter is available, the 

 leaves and chaff which accumulate where the hay is pitched from the mow 

 may be gathered up and mixed with the concentrates. To get the sows to 

 clean up such chaff it may be necessary to feed the mixture as a slop. 

 A safe rule is to see that legume hay forms at least 8 to 10 per ct. of 

 the ration for sows in winter and they may well be fed all they will eat 

 in addition to a limited allowance of grain. 



But little study has been given to the relative value of the different 

 kinds of legume hay for brood sows. In general it appears that the value 

 will depend on the leafiness and palatabilitj^. Alfalfa hay excels clover, 

 because it is richer in both protein and lime, as well as being liked better 

 by swine. Dvorachek found soybean hay and cowpea hay satisfactory 

 for brood sows in a trial at the Arkansas Station, 4 tho they wasted more 

 of these hays than they did of alfalfa. 



Mature sows are sometimes wintered on alfalfa hay without any grain 

 or other concentrates, but this is inadvisable, for they will not make the 

 desired gains in weight during pregnancy. Also, tho the cost for feed up 

 to farrowing time will be low, experiments by Grimes at the Pennsylvania 

 Station 5 show that it will then be necessary to feed them with great liber- 

 ality on concentrates to provide even a fair milk flow for their pigs. This 

 will offset the saving in concentrates before farrowing. 



A ration of only legume hay and grain is quite satisfactory for brood 

 sows, especially for yearlings or older sows. 6 Gilts had best receive a 

 small amount of a protein-rich concentrate in addition, such as tankage, 

 skim milk, buttermilk, linseed meal, or wheat middlings. This is shown 

 by trials during 4 winters by Morrison and Bohstedt at the "Wisconsin 

 Station. 7 Each winter one lot of gilts averaging 206 Ibs. in weight at the 

 start was allowed access to good alfalfa hay in a rack and fed in addition 

 enough ear corn to make the desired gains. Another lot was fed similarly 

 except that they were given in addition one-quarter to one-third pound of 

 tankage per head daily, as shown in the following table : 



Alfalfa hay as only supplement vs. alfalfa plus tankage 



Daily No. of Av. wt. Proportion Feed cost 



gain pigs of of vigorous per head 



farrowed pigs pigs daily 



Lbs. Lbs. Per ct. Cents 



Lot I 



Alfalfa hay, 0.50 Ib. 



Ear corn, 5.2 Ibs* 0.93 7.12 2.25 80.8 5.6 



Lot 1 1 



Tankage, 0.30 Ib. 

 Alfalfa hay, 0.48 Ib. 



Ear corn, 4.7 Ibs.* 1.00 7.90 2.34 89.2 5.5** 



*Ear corn reduced to basis of No. 3 shelled corn. 

 **Crediting excess gain of Lot II over Lot I at 7 cts. per Ib. 



information to the authors. 7 Wis. Bui. 302, pp. 62-3; unpublished data. 



5 Penn. Bui. 168. 



6 Eward, Am. Soc. Anim. Production, Proceedings 1913; Grimes, Penn. Bui. 

 168; Snyder, Nebr. Bui. 147. 



