168 SWINE 



FEEDING TOO MUCH AND TOO LITTLE. 



There is great danger of over-feeding a pig. If once he 

 is over-fed, he will never, as already stated, eat as much 

 feed thereafter as he otherwise would. Furthermore, the 

 effect of over-feeding is very great and carried along for 

 a considerable length of time in the form of the factor 

 of waste. 



The period of greatest growth is with the young ani- 

 mal. As the animal gets older he gradually loses this 

 power of growth. The feed required for maintenance, as 

 already learned, is a constant quantity, and in general as 

 a pig gets older, he eats a smaller quantity of feed daily 

 per hundred pounds live weight. In order to get the best 

 possible results, a pig must eat as much as he can use 

 to the best advantage. If too little feed is consumed, the 

 factor of maintenance, or the feed required for mainte- 

 nance, becomes relatively greater and consumes more of 

 the ration. If the pig is fed too small a quantity when he 

 is young, he cannot eat as much later in life as is consist- 

 ent with the largest and most economical gains, for vari- 

 ous reasons. First, he naturally eats a smaller quantity 

 of feed as he gets older; consequently, if he is not given 

 as much as he can use profitably when he is young and 

 able to digest a large quantity, the period is passed during 

 which he can consume a large quantity of feed. Secondly, 

 if he is fed either too small a quantity of feed when young, 

 or if the ration is fed in too concentrated a form, or if too 

 much protein is fed (which is very largely the limiting 

 factor because the part of his internal mechanism which 

 handles this nutrient cannot handle more than a limited 

 quantity), the capacity of the pig's digestive apparatus 

 gradually adapts itself to the quantity of feed consumed. 

 It therefore under such conditions becomes relatively 



