SWINE 



603 



pounds when 8 months 7 days old. They did as well as if they had been 

 fed according to accepted feeding standards. Tests now in progress (1915) 

 at the Iowa station indicate that pigs can feed themselves better than a 

 trained animal husbandman can feed them if he follows the customary 

 feeding standards. 



When pigs are allowed starchy corn and high-protein meat meal 

 (tankage) in separate feeders, this feed being kept before them from wean- 

 ing time until they reach a weight of 300 pounds, they will eat of these 

 two dry lot fed feeds approximately as follows: 



Weanling 



Shote 



Fattening hog 



Fat marketable hog 



Approximate 

 Age, days. 



60 

 120 

 180 

 240 



Approximate 

 Weight, 

 pounds. 



35 



100 

 210 

 300 



Pounds 60 Per Cent 

 Protein Meat Meal 

 (Tankage) Eaten 

 with Every 100 

 Pounds Corn. 



20 



15 



8 



1 



Pounds Protein 

 Eaten with 

 Every 100 

 Pounds Starches. 



3.38 

 3.84 

 4.79 

 6.50 



The self-feeding method is excellent in dry lot feeding, on pastures 

 and where skim milk or buttermilk is used. 



Feed for the Brood Sows. — The brood sow should have good feed in 

 order to produce strong, healthy pigs. Skim milk, tankage, alfalfa pas- 

 ture, etc., combined with corn or other grains, often increase the litters 

 as much as one pig over corn alone. 



To demonstrate the advantage of supplementing the starchy grain 

 feeds such as corn with the proper protein supplement, the resulting average 

 weight and strength of the pigs secured is given for a few typical rations: 



Ration Fed.* 



Corn only 



Corn plus 4 per cent tankage . 

 Corn plus 16 per cent tankage 

 Corn plus alfalfa in rack 



Average Weight 

 per Pig, 

 pounds. 



1.74 



2.01 

 2.23 

 2.12 



Strong Pigs, 

 per cent. 



68 

 92 

 93 



98 



Cost of 



New-born Pigs 



cents. 



41 

 18 

 22 

 31 



These gilts were charged at the rate of 50 cents a bushel for shelled 

 corn, $2.50 for meat meal and $15 a ton for the alfalfa hay; yet in spite of 

 the comparative high cost of the supplements, the pigs produced were not 

 only cheaper but much better pigs were secured, the animals being much 

 larger and stronger than where corn only was fed. 



* Animal Husbandry Section — Iowa Experiment Station Results. 



