FEEDING, THE HERD AND THE PIGS 203 



that if a pig after weaning time can eat and digest more 

 than he can use to the best advantage, the factor of waste 

 may also be present and possibly to a greater extent be- 

 fore weaning time ; hence it is very necessary that the pig 

 be fed a limited quantity or else be fed his digestible 

 nutrients in such diluted form that it will be impossible 

 for him to eat an excess. The milk of the dam is about 

 90 per cent water and the supplementary feed that is 

 used should also 'contain considerable water. In general 

 the younger the animal the more water in its carcass, and 

 therefore the more water required in its feed. 



The pig also must be fed its ration in such form that it 

 is very digestible. It is well known that a young animal 

 of any kind cannot eat feeds that are difficult to digest. 

 In the case of a pig this should be especially applicable 

 to the roughages in the dry form. There are two systems 

 in vogue according to which pigs are fed before weaning 

 time. These are feeding at a separate trough and with 

 the dam. 



Feeding at a Separate Trough. With this system of 

 feeding the litter is provided with a small pen, with an 

 opening in it called a creep, which admits the little pigs, 

 but not the sow. In this pen is placed a small trough in 

 which the litter is fed. Under such conditions, when the 

 sow is fed in her pen, the feed for the litter is put into 

 the separate pen and thus the pigs may be fed more con- 

 centrated, more palatable, and more expensive feeds than 

 is used for the dam and so hasten their development to 

 the greatest possible degree. 



The disadvantages of this system are as follows : It 

 involves a little additional expense to construct a sep- 

 arate feeding pen for the litter with the trough and the 

 creep. It is also a little more difficult to train the pigs to 



