84 Pork Production 



digestive apparatus successfully to use small quantities 

 of solid food. The sow produces her maximum milk 

 flow on the average three weeks after the pigs are farrowed, 

 and from this time on, the decreasing supply must be 

 supplemented to meet the needs of the pigs, whose food 

 requirements are increasing with each day. When the 

 sows are fed individually and sufficient trough-room is 

 supplied, a creep will be unnecessary for at least the first 

 few weeks. When possible, however, it is advisable to 

 have a pen constructed to which all the pigs can go and 

 eat from low troughs at frequent intervals. A small 

 quantity of dry shelled corn will be consumed at first with 

 the greatest apparent relish. Later, the shelled corn 

 should have added to it a supply of middlings or shorts or 

 ground oats that have been sieved to remove the hulls. 

 These may be supplied appropriately in separate com- 

 partments of a self-feeder. The mother's ration, minus 

 such bulky feeds as oats or bran, with a little extra shelled 

 corn, will be a suitable combination for the pigs. Pas- 

 teurized skim-milk and buttermilk are of the highest 

 value at this time. 



These pigs should not be fed carelessly. Wet feed 

 should not be allowed to stand in the troughs, but should 

 be cleaned up at once. Dry feed should not be supplied 

 in such quantity that it will be in the trough longer than 

 twelve hours. The self-feeder, when used, should be 

 carefully adjusted and the trough frequently cleaned. 

 These points are of special importance in eliminating one 

 of the common causes of scours. 



Scours. 



Pigs that have dry clean beds and plenty of opportunity 

 for play and exercise in the open are not subject to scours. 



