552 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



per cent of the live weight of the ani- 

 mals when middlings are fed. Small 

 pigs require relatively smaller amounts 

 Of feed for maintenance than large hogs. 

 Full vs. scant rations — In some feed- 

 ing experiments reported by the Central 

 experimental farm to determine the ad- 

 visability of feeding a full ration, all 

 the animals will eat up clean, or a scant 

 ration, i. e., a considerable amount less 

 than they will eat up clean, the results 

 were 7 per cent better on the limited ra- 

 tion in the case of whole grain and 12 

 per cent in the case of ground grain; 

 besides the pigs fed a limited ration 

 were livelier and thriftier and of better 

 appearance than the hogs fed a full ra- 

 tion and did not get off feed so easily. 



Shelter for fattening pigs — Two like 

 lots of pigs were fed in midwinter at 

 the Michigan station on corn meal and 

 skim milk to test the necessity of shelter 

 in fattening. The lot fed in doors re- 

 quired 2.9 pounds of dry matter to pro- 

 duce a pound of gain, while the lot fed 

 out doors required 3.5 pounds to produce 

 a pound of gain. Generally speaking, 

 hogs require comfortable quarters if good 

 gains are to be made in winter feeding. 

 The pens should be dry and protected 

 from cold winds, rain and snow. They 

 need not be expensive. At the Canada 

 experimental farm young pigs wintered 

 in doors made slightly larger and consid- 

 erably cheaper gains than when wintered 

 out-of-doors. The feeding yard for pigs 

 should be dry at all times. Dry lot feed- 

 ing is not as profitable as feeding at 

 pasture, but spring and fall dry lot feed- 

 ing are more profitable than feeding in 

 a dry lot in midsummer. 



Effect of rations on the internal or- 

 gans — Professor Henry of the Wisconsin 

 station has clearly demonstrated in nu- 

 merous experiments that the kind of food 

 fed to growing pi^s has a remarkable 

 influence on the development of the 

 bones, internal organs and blood. The 

 work of Carlyle and McConnell at the 

 same station has fully confirmed Pro- 

 fessor Henry's earlier observations. 

 While corn is the great American hog 

 food, Professor Henry has shown that 

 if this grain is made the sole ration for 

 young pigs it stunts their growth, they 

 have less blood in their bodies, smaller 

 livers, kidneys, lighter skeletons and hide 

 and a smaller proportion of lean to fat 

 meat than hogs fed more nitrogenous 

 rations. With hogs that have matured 



their growth there is no better or cheaper 

 grain for finishing them off on than 

 corn. Por growing hogs and the pro- 

 duction of the largest percentage of lean 

 meat in the carcass, strong bones, smooth 

 healthy skin, full sized internal organs, 

 etc, skim milk, peas, barley, tankage, 

 dry blood or some similar nitrogenous 

 concentrate should be fed with corn. 

 This is especially true with hogs intended 

 for breeding purposes where vigorous, 

 active, well developed, strong boned pigs 

 are desired. All these points have been 

 fully confirmed in feeding experiments 

 at the various stations with such nitrog- 

 enous concentrates as soy beans, cow- 

 peas, tankage, skim milk, etc, and are 

 discussed under each of the different 

 feeds. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON 

 FEEDING 



Young hogg or stock hogs in rather thin 

 condition can usually be bought to fat- 

 ten and then sold for the same price per 

 pound paid for them and a profit made, 

 because 4 to 5 pounds of grain alone 

 will produce a pound of gain with grow- 

 ing hogs. If pasture or skim milk is 

 supplied a pound of gain can often be 

 made on half this amount of grain. 

 With pasture crops and intelligent 

 grain feeding pork can be produced 

 either Xorth or South for 2 cents to 

 3 cents per pound. 



It is usually more profitable to keep a 

 pig growing continually from birth until 

 maturity by the use of a little grain with 

 pasture than it is to keep it all summer 

 on pasture without grain with tbe idea 

 of giving it all the grain it wants for a 

 couple of months in the fall and then 

 turn it off. On the other hand, hogs fed 

 nothing but grain make about as ex- 

 pensive pork as it is possible to put up. 

 A successful Illinois grower has found 

 that by the extensive use of clover pas- 

 ture in summer, followed by a light 

 grain ration, with soy bean hay in win- 

 ter and with further pasture and grain 

 during the following spring and early 

 summer, he is able to market hogs a 

 little more than a year old, weighing 

 300 to 350 pounds, at a considerable 

 profit. By this method of feeding he is 

 able to keep about six hogs per acre and 

 produce most of his pork on cheap clover 

 pasture. For a complete account of this 

 hog farm, see United States Department 

 of Agriculture, Farmers Bui. No. 272. 



