RATIONS FOR PIGS 283 



At this rate a pig would have consumed by the time 

 it is twenty-eight weeks old 



444 Ibs. meals. 



112 galls, separated milk. 



287 Ibs. potatoes. 



Typical Meal Mixtures. 1 The meal mixtures fed to 

 pigs should not be so rich in albuminoids and oil as 

 the concentrated foods given to fattening cattle or 

 sheep (ruminants), seeing that bulky fibrous foods (hay 

 and straw) are not included in a pig's ration ; in fact, 

 pigs have only a very limited capacity for digesting 

 foods high in fibre. Much less labour is, therefore, 

 required to masticate and deal with the food as it 

 passes through the food canal of the pig. 



Another point to bear in mind is that the fat in 

 the carcass of a pig is naturally rather soft, con- 

 sequently the meal mixtures fed should be low in oil, 

 so as to give a less oily and therefore firmer meat. 



Skim milk has a costive, and whey a laxative 

 tendency ; hence the meal mixture fed with skim milk 

 should have a slightly laxative tendency, and that fed 

 with whey a costive or binding tendency. 



The following " standard " for the meal mixture will 

 then be found very suitable : 



Albuminoids, 10 to 15 per cent. Oil, 2 to 4 per cent. 

 Fibre, less than 6 per cent. 



When the meal mixture is fed with whey or water, 

 the albuminoids should, generally speaking, approxi- 

 mate to the maximum percentage (15 per cent), while 

 with skim or separated milk it may approximate to 

 the lower (10 per cent). 



1 Farmers wishing to make up similar meal mixtures should 

 refer to special table of analyses on p. 188. 



