124 Pork Production 



Feeding the yearling sows. 



Gilts that have farrowed when twelve to fourteen 

 months of age should not, as a rule, be bred for fall litters. 

 They need the next six months of idleness to recuperate 

 their lost energies and to provide the opportunity for the 

 further development necessary to make them good repre- 

 sentatives of their breed. These young sows should not 

 be fattened, but fed with sufficient liberality to insure 

 good growth. For this reason, they will need some grain 

 during the summer. This should not be straight corn, 

 but a ration properly supplemented with some one of the 

 common nitrogenous or protein feeds. This will not be 

 required in large quantity, especially if the sows have 

 access to a good forage crop. About 10 or 12 parts of 

 corn or other grain, to 1 part tankage or meat-meal, or 2 

 parts linseed-oil meal, or 4 or 5 parts shorts or middlings, 

 or 10 to 15 parts of skim-milk or buttermilk, by weight, 

 will supply the nutrients in the correct proportions for 

 best results. With a good legume forage, they will require 

 less supplement than this; in fact, they will get along 

 very well with none. 



As a rule, they should be fed considerably less than the 

 amount they will eat. The guide should be their con- 

 dition, rather than their appetites. They should be com- 

 pelled to do a certain amount of rustling, for in addition 

 to the food value of succulent feeds, they will gain much 

 in constitution and vigor as a result of the exercise taken. 



COST OF SUMMER FEEDING SOWS 



Bred sows. 



The feed cost of keeping a pregnant sow from the time 

 her pigs are weaned in the spring until she farrows in the 



