356 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



some, the sows should be fed some fine, well-cured legume hay or some 

 roots, or better, both hay and roots. If, unfortunately, neither is 

 available, then bran and oats, tho more costly, will be helpful in giving 

 bulk to the ration. 



Sows fed corn alone will usually farrow small litters of weak pigs, 

 due to the deficiency of this grain in protein and mineral matter. 

 The ration should therefore always be balanced by the use of such 

 protein-rich feeds as alfalfa or clover hay, skim milk, tankage, linseed 

 meal, wheat middlings, and wheat bran, the nutritive ratio of the 

 ration being not wider than 1 : 6 or 1 : 7. In trials at the North Platte, 

 Nebraska, Sub-station,^ 340-lb. brood sows were wintered satisfactorily 

 on 1.1 lbs. shelled corn daily per 100 lbs. live weight with alfalfa hay 

 supplied in racks, the sows eating 0.7 lb. per head daily. Constipation 

 should be warded ofif by the use of such laxative feeds as linseed 

 meal, roots, and alfalfa or clover hay. 



The age at which to breed young sows will naturally depend some- 

 what on the growth they have made. Seldom is it advisable to breed 

 them until they are 8 months old, and many stockmen prefer to wait 

 until they are 10 to 12 montlis old. Sows and boars of the larger 

 breeds should reach a weight of 250 to 300 lbs. at one year if rightly 

 fed and managed. Whether to raise 1 or 2 litters a year will depend 

 on local conditions, considering the winter climate and the feeds avail- 

 able. Where winters are long and severe and the sows and pigs can 

 not be given the best of feed and care, it is best not to attempt to raise 

 2 litters a year. Under the proper conditions, especially where dairj^ 

 by-products are available, 2 litters a j^ear can be raised successfully 

 even in the northern portion of the country, the spring pigs coming 

 in March or April and the fall pigs in September or early October. 



According to Coburn,® 3^oung sows carry their pigs from 100 to 108 

 days and old ones from 112 to 115, the average for all being 112 days. 

 From the records of 1,477 pure-bred sows of 8 breeds Rommel " found 

 that on an average there were 9 pigs to the litter, 50.1 per ct. being 

 males and 49.9 per ct. females. Likely sows that are kindly mothers 

 should be retained for breeders as long as 5 or 6 years if possible. 

 Those which produce litters of less than 5 should be discarded. 



The boar. — The feed and care of the boar does not differ materially 

 from that of the sows. He should be kept in thrifty condition, neither 

 too fat nor run down in flesh, as either extreme may injure his breeding 

 powers. In summer the boar should run in a pasture lot, and in 

 winter he should have the freedom of a small yard adjoining the 



7 Snyder, Nebr. Bui. 147. 



8 Swine in America. 



9\J. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus., Cir. 112. 



