FEEDING SWINE 305 



least 2000 pounds of pigs (15 to 20 shbats of medium weight), 

 and will produce 500 to 1000 pounds of pork, according to the kind 

 of pigs fed, pasture and weather conditions. 



Temporary Pastures. Eape (Fig. 78), soybean, cowpeas, In- 

 dian corn, sorghum, etc., furnish excellent feed for growing pigs 

 and brood sows and will enable the animals to make rapid gains 

 when supplemented with grain. Pork can be produced more 

 cheaply by feeding grain with green forage than by feeding either 

 alone. The value of rape pasture for feeding swine, especially for 

 breeding sows, is well understood (p. 138). 



Hogging down corn is a common practice of harvesting a corn 

 field in the corn-growing States. The method is especially adapted 

 to sections where labor is scarce. The corn is generally allowed to 

 nearly mature, and pigs of medium weight (80 to 120 pounds) or 

 brood sows are turned in to gather the corn. TheySrill eat the 

 ear corn and leave a great deal of the coarser part of the plant, 

 husks, cornstalks, and cobs to be plowed under, which, with' the 

 manure from the hogs, will greatly improve the humus content and 

 the fertility of the land. Incidentally the pigs get considerable 

 exercise and fresh air and will be less susceptible to disease than 

 pigs fed in a dry lot. When the fat hogs are removed from the 

 field, brood sows and pigs may be turned in; they will clean up and 

 make good use of what is left. Hogs running at large in a field 

 or pasture will be put in prime condition for market if fattened 

 in a pen for a period of three to four months by being fed all the 

 corn they will eat, with plenty of pure water. According to Bur- 

 kett, 16 a 5- to 10-acre field of good corn will carry 50 to 75 hogs 

 from the shoat to the finished period. The total quantity of pork 

 produced from a given acreage, when hogged down, will be greater 

 than when ear corn or snapped corn is fed in pens. 



Feeding the Boar. The feeding of the boar should vary ac- 

 cording to his age and the season of the year. Thin, growing boars 

 need more grain than older ones, but neither should be fed so 

 that they will grow fat, since this will impair their breeding 

 qualities, just as much as having them in a thin body condi- 

 tion. The boar should receive only as much grain as he will 

 clean up readily, and should have a chance to exercise in summer 

 time in a pasture lot, and in the winter in a small yard adjoining 

 the pen. Succulent feed should be provided throughout the year if 



""Feeding Farm Animals," p. 254; see also Farmers' Bulletin, G14, 

 Iowa Bulletin 143. 

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