FEED AND CARE OF SWINE 703 



Where the winters are long and severe, it is not best to attempt to 

 raise fall pigs unless the sows and pigs can be given good care. Under 

 proper conditions, especially where dairy by-products are available, two 

 litters a year can be raised with great success even in the extreme 

 northern states. The first essential is to have the fall pigs farrowed early 

 not later than the middle of September. They can then get a good 

 start on pasture before cold weather sets in. Obviously, to secure early 

 fall litters, the spring pigs must be farrowed by March or early in April. 

 Commonly sows will not come in heat until after their litters are weaned, 

 and this makes breeding for early fall litters impossible with sows which 

 have farrowed late in the spring. Trials by Robison at the Ohio Sta- 

 tion 28 show that if the pigs are separated from the sows over night for 

 4 or 5 successive times the sows will generally come in heat so they may 

 be bred. This practice does not seem to injure the pigs or the sows in 

 the least. 



Suitable quarters must always be provided for fall pigs where they 

 will be dry and comfortable during the cold, wet Weather, and where they 

 may be fed after the weather becomes chilly. 



In trials by Morrison and Bohstedt at the Wisconsin Station 29 in which 

 various rations for fall pigs have been compared, the pigs have remained 

 more thrifty after the pasture was gone and have made considerably 

 better gains when a small amount of legume hay was included in the 

 ration, especially if no dairy by-products were fed. This furnishes good- 

 quality protein, increases the amount of calcium, and supplies the fat- 

 soluble vitamine. Young pigs can not use much dry roughage, even 

 choice legume hay. Therefore, if much hay were fed, unsatisfactory 

 results would be secured. In these trials, including only 4 to 5 per ct. by 

 weight of chopped alfalfa in the ration has given excellent results. If 

 the hay is of choice quality, the pigs may eat enough if it is merely fed 

 uncut in a rack. Otherwise the hay should be chopped and mixed with 

 the concentrates. As is mentioned elsewhere, legume chaff may be used 

 where there are no facilities for chopping the hay. (1016) With pigs 

 weighing up to 100 Ibs. which have had no dairy by-products, excellent 

 results have been secured with a mixture of ground corn, 80 Ibs. ; linseed 

 meal, 5 Ibs.; tankage, 10 Ibs.; and chopped alfalfa, 5 Ibs. For heavier 

 pigs only enough linseed meal and tankage should be included to balance 

 the ration. (Appendix Table V.) If shelled corn or ear corn is fed, 

 then the pigs may be self-fed separately such a mixture as tankage, 2 

 parts; linseed meal or corn germ meal, 1 part; and chopped alfalfa or 

 clover hay, 1 part. If plenty of skim milk or buttermilk is available, 

 the ration may consist of only grain or grain by-products along with 

 a little legume hay. When the grain fed with the dairy by-products is 

 yellow corn, there is less need of supplying the legume hay, as the yellow 

 corn is rich in fat-soluble vitamine. (929) However, even with yel- 



"Ohio Mo. Bui. 29. 

 "Unpublished data. 



