544 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



The effectiveness of corn meal was 

 greatly increased at the Maine station 

 by adding pea meal or gluten meal both 

 during growth and during the fattening 

 period. The addition of milk to the ra- 

 tion always reduces the amount of grain 

 required. Hogs fed on cassava, wheat 

 middlings and cowpeas made gains at 

 half the cost of those made on grain 

 alone at the Florida station. All through 

 this book the fact is emphasized that the 

 best gains are made on mixed grain and 

 varied rations. 



PREPARATION OF GRAINS FOR 



SWINE 



The best method of feeding each of 

 the different grains to hogs is considered 

 under the grains themselves. Here the 

 subject is considered in a general way. 



Whole vs. ground grain — Generally 

 speaking, strong, vigorous hogs do not 

 require that the grain be ground, espe- 

 cially corn. The amount of pork pro- 

 duced, however, on ground grains, is us- 

 ually from 8 to 10 per cent greater than 

 on whole grains and if the cost of grind- 

 ing does not equal or exceed this amount, 

 it will be profitable to grind most grains 

 for hogs. Some exceptions are noted un- 

 der soy beans and kafir corn elsewhere. 

 When whole dry wheat is fed to hogs 

 there is an unjustifiable loss, since so 

 large a portion passes through the ani- 

 mals undigested. This undigested grain, 

 however, is usually eaten again by the 

 hogs and the greater part of its nutri- 

 tive value obtained in this manner. 



Wet vs. dry feed — Generally speaking, 

 better results are obtained from soaked 

 grain than from grain fed dry. This is 

 particularly true when the grain is old 

 and either very hard or very dry. On 

 the average experimental results show 

 that soaking grains is nearly equal to 

 grinding. Hogs usually eat more soaked 

 grain than dry grain and hence gain 

 more rapidly. The Ottawa station rec- 

 ommends soaking all grains, whether 

 ground or whole, for 24 to 30 hours be- 

 fore feeding. The results of tests at 

 the Indiana station indicate no differ- 

 ence in the results whether the grains 

 are fed dry or wet. When fed wet grains 

 the hogs have eaten their rations more 

 rapidly and have been more subject to 

 indigestion. They more frequently got 

 off feed also. At the Oregon station it 

 required 4.46 pounds of soaked grain and 

 4.64 pounds of dry feed to produce 1 



pound of gain. That station notes that 

 hogs fed on wet feed seemed to relish it 

 more than those fed dry grain. They 

 ate considerably more feed and made 

 larger gains during the same time. The 

 Wisconsin station reports that in feeding 

 corn meal and shorts better results were 

 secured when the ration was fed wet 

 than when fed dry. At the Ottawa sta- 

 tion both grinding and soaking grains 

 have added materially to their efficiency. 

 The North Carolina station notes that 

 sloppy feed gave poorer results than feed- 

 ing barley moistened, but dry grain gave 

 better results than either. At the In- 

 diana station the best results were se- 

 cured when about twice as much water 

 as dry grain was used in mixing the 

 feed. On the whole it appears to be 

 desirable and advantageous to soak 

 grain for hogs. The exceptions are 

 noted under the different grains them- 

 selves. 



Cooking feed for hogs — The average 

 results of 10 different trials in cooking 

 such feeds as barley meal, corn, corn 

 meal and shorts at the Wisconsin station 

 show them to be about 10 per cent less 

 effective when cooked than when fed 

 raw. These results have been confirmed 

 in experiments at the Kansas, Iowa and 

 Maine stations and Ontario agricultural 

 college. At the Ottawa station grain 

 steamed and fed warm was no more ef- 

 fective in producing gain than grain fed 

 raw and cold. Cooking the feed at that 

 station seemed to slightly increase the 

 softness of the fat, while practically no 

 difference in the quality of the meat was 

 noticeable whether the grains were fed 

 dry or wet. At the Ontario agricultural 

 college feed fed at a temperature of 80° 

 F. gave slightly better gains than at 40° 

 F. The Montana station found sugar 

 beets just as valuable raw as cooked for 

 hogs. Potatoes, on the other hand, 

 have generally given the best . results 

 when fed cooked. Generally speaking, it 

 is wholly unnecessary and inadvisable to 

 cook feeds for hogs, with the possible 

 exception of roots; field beans also are 

 an exception and should always be fed 

 cooked. (See Beans.) 



ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS FOR SWINE 



The most important animal by-pro- 

 ducts in swine feeding are those from 

 the dairy, like skim milk, butter milk, 

 whey, etc, and those from the slaughter 

 house such as tankage, beef scrap, blood 

 meal and the like. 



