FEED AND CARE OF SWINE 697 



nipple and watched until their safety is assured. If the sow is very cross 

 and irritable, it may be necessary to keep the pigs away from her for a 

 few days, returning them to nurse every two or three hours. A chilled 

 pig may be revived by immersing it up to the head in water as warm as 

 the hand will bear. 



At birth, pigs have long, sharp "wolf" teeth, which are also called 

 * ' needle ' ' teeth or * * black ' ' teeth. These are temporary tusks, and, so far 

 as is known, are of no benefit to the pigs. On the other hand, they are 

 apt to lacerate the udder of the sow and also to wound the other pigs as 

 they tussle among themselves. Therefore the most experienced hogmen 

 commonly break off these teeth close to the gums with nippers made for 

 the purpose. 



It is of course necessary to mark pure-bred pigs that are to be regis- 

 tered and the ear notching system has given as good or better results 

 than any other method employed. Its main advantage is that pigs can 

 be marked within a few hours after birth, avoiding danger of mistakes, 

 while a small pig's ear is too small and tender to permit marking by 

 buttons or labels until several weeks of age. Marking the pigs is also 

 advisable even in grade herds, to permit selecting gilts for the breeding 

 herd from the best litters and out of the best dams. 



1030. Feed and care of sows and litters. The sow should receive no 

 feed for about 24 hours after farrowing, but as she will usually be some- 

 what feverish, she should be supplied all the lukewarm water she will 

 drink. After the first day she should be given a small feed of bran and 

 shorts or of such a mixture as bran, ground grain, and a little tankage 

 gradually increasing the amount as her milk flow grows larger, until after 

 10 to 14 days she will be on a full ration. 



Sows suckling their litters have the same general nutrient requirements 

 as dairy cows. (147-150) They need a liberal allowance of concentrates 

 rich in protein and mineral matter, especially calcium and phosphorus. 

 It is essential to feed them well, so that the young pigs may get a good 

 start in life. Furthermore, at no time do pigs make as economical gains 

 as when suckling their dams. Good mothers with large litters will 

 usually lose flesh in spite of the most liberal feeding. 



The rations for suckling sows may consist chiefly of the farm grains, 

 but plenty of protein-rich feeds, such as skim milk or buttermilk, tank- 

 age, linseed meal, wheat middlings, etc., should be added to supply ample 

 protein. Rations having nutritive ratios of 1 : 6.0 to 1 : 7.0, as recom- 

 mended in Appendix Table V, will be found satisfactory. Five per ct. 

 by weight of alfalfa or other legume hay may well be included in the 

 concentrate mixtures for suckling sows, or they may be still allowed 

 access to legume hay in a rack, if pasture is not yet available. For the 

 best results there should be in the ration of all suckling sows not on 

 pasture, either some feed of animal origin or else legume hay. The con- 

 centrates may be fed either dry or in the form of a slop. Just as early 

 as is possible the sows and their litters should be turned on good pasture. 



