424 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



FIG. 357. -Hogs fed 



[Courtesy Kansas Experiment Station.] 



practical to buy it on the market when the price and quality are to be 

 considered. The meal has no advantage over the hay unless a very 

 coarse grade of hay is to be used, so that its general use is not to be 

 recommended. It may find a use when growing hogs are to be run on a 

 self-feeder. In this connection it should be finely ground and mixed 

 with the grain ration. Feeding in this manner makes it possible to 

 limit the amount of grain which can be consumed and thus prevent the 

 hogs from becoming too fat. 



Where alfalfa silage is available it may be fed to brood sows, but it 

 has no advantages over the hay. In fact it has several disadvantages. 

 It costs more per ton when figured on a dry basis, it is more difficult to 

 handle, and is not as satisfactory to feed, especially during the cold 

 weather, as it must be fresh if the hogs are to eat it to advantage. Dur- 

 ing the cold weather hogs will not leave their houses, and it becomes 

 frozen and unpalatable. Small pigs pay but little attention to it, espec- 

 ially if hay is available. 



Alfalfa should constitute one of the principal feeds for the main- 

 tenance of the breeding herd. Open mature sows, when allowed the run 



FIG. 358. Hogs fed corn and alfalfa hay. [Courtesy Kansas Experiment Station.] 



