SCIENTIFIC SWINE FEEDING 243 



feeds mentioned. The pig that is fed corn, for instance, on a 

 clover pasture will make fairly large and economical gains but 

 such a ration can be materially improved by the addition of a 

 little of some nitrogenous concentrate. 



Distribution of Protein. — Another factor of considera'ole 

 importance in considering the ration for swine is the proper 

 distribution of the protein feeds. Every pig must get its 

 share. Furthermore, a herd should be made up according to 

 the age and size of the pigs and should be fed accordingly. 



Where a bunch of eight or ten pigs are fed out of a common 

 trough, the most rapid eaters get the most feed, consequently 

 too much; the slower eaters do not get enough. Moreover, the 

 pigs that are eating an excess gradually become ''filled up" 

 so that they lose their appetite and then go "off feed.'^ When 

 they do this, they eat less, leaving the rest for those that eat 

 slowly and in turn these get too much. The result is that all 

 the pigs in the lot, even though the entire bunch is fed the 

 proper quantity, will get an excess of protein at some time 

 which will result in a high factor of waste and in a smaller 

 live- weight gain. This difficulty is increased to the maximum 

 when the feed or feeds furnishing the greater part of the pro- 

 tein are fed separately and in a concentrated form. The larger 

 the number of pigs that are fed together, the greater also the 

 difficulty of getting a proper distribution of the feed. This 

 difficulty is reduced to a minimum in a practical way, when all 

 the feeds of the ration are ground into a fine meal and thor- 

 oughly mixed with the proper quantity of water, and when 

 pigs of equal size and condition of health are fed together. 

 In such case all the pigs in the bunch come to the feed at the 

 same time. 



It has been found that by feeding pigs in individual stalls 

 and weighing the feed for each pig separately larger gains can 

 be produced during the growing period. The explanation of 

 this is that when pigs are fed in individual stalls each pig gets 

 its requisite amount of nutrients, protein especially. The 

 practicability of this manner of feeding, however, has not yet 

 been determined. 



When changes of more than a very minor nature are to be 

 made in rations and especially in the protein of the ration 



