Futher evidence to prove that chilling 

 of baby pigs is important was demon- 

 strated by the U. of I. in this way. Baby 

 pigs that were fasted from birth went into 

 a coma as a result of the low blood 

 sugar level about three times as quickly 

 at 55 to 65-degree temperatores as they 

 did at 85 to 90 degrees. The significance 

 of this is that when a sow is not furnish- 

 ing suflFicient food right after farrowing 

 the baby pigs can survive longer if they 

 are kept warm. When they are 

 kept warm you have two or three 

 days to get the sow back to normal before 

 the pigs are too far gone to recover. 



Guard rails and slanting floors in 

 farrowing pens will save pigs from 

 being crushed by sows. Individual houses 

 can be set on a hillside to get a slanting 

 floor in the shed. 



The ration that your sows get during 

 the rest of their gestation period and 

 just following farrowing is extremely 

 important. They should have an adequate 

 supply of a good supplement containing 

 enough protein and vitamins. These vita- 

 mins can come from the feed or may 

 be supplied in a concentrated form from 

 supplements. Supplements, free access to 

 mineral, and a mixture of farm grains 

 with about 15 per cent alfalfa meal is a 



good ration. G>rn alone may be satis- 

 factory, but the addition of part oats is 

 usually a good practice. Exercise during 

 these last weeks of the gestation period 

 seems to be important. 



A sudden change in the diet of the 

 sow just before farrowing is not good 

 practice. Often times this will cause her to 

 go off feed and effect the milk supply after 

 farrowing. However, a slightly more laxa- 

 tive diet just before farrowing is usually 

 good. This can easily be done by adding 

 a handful of linseed oil meal or bran to 

 the ration twice a day. It is not a good 

 practice to overfeed the sow just before 

 or after farrowing. If anything the corn 

 and protein should probably be decreased 

 at this critical time. >s 



Proper sanitation of the sow and her 

 farrowing pen is important. Most of 

 you are aware of the need for sanitation, 

 but often neglect this vital step. Clean 

 sows farrowing in clean sheds is funda- 

 mental. Of course, after the pigs are 

 farrowed and travel from the farrowing 

 pen it is extremely important to have 

 them run on clean ground. Every effort 

 should be made to have the pigs and the 

 sows on clean ground at farrowing time 

 or just as soon as possible after farrowing. 



Doom Illinois Flies 

 To Destruction 



(Continued from page 10) ' ' 



time also efforts will be made on a 

 large scale to build up interest and 

 have equipment fully lined up for the 

 push-off or control week during the 

 first week in June. 



Throughout the month of June ef- 

 forts will be centered on further in- 

 tensive spraying and the complete 

 elimination, if possible, of all flies 

 missed during the first week in June. 



Metzger emphasized that the success 

 of the program will depend too on a 

 widespread follow-up drive to hold all 

 gains. This will require sprayings at 

 regular intervals throughout the sum- 

 mer and into the fall. 



By October leaders are expected to be 

 able to appraise the results of the cam- 

 paign to rid the state of flies. Farmers, 

 in particular, will be interested in the 

 results of the drive. They stand to 

 gain much from its success. . 



The spring conference of Farm Bu- 

 reau leaders will be held in Springfield 

 on Thursday, April 1, beginning at 12 

 o'clock noon. 



ILLINOIS MOST SUCCESSFUL HOG 



RAISERS ARE BEATING 

 THE DRUMS FOR F. B. SERUM! 



YESSIR! THE SMART FARMER IS LEADING 

 THE PARADE FOR F. B. SERUM. HE KNOWS 

 IT'S ALWAYS FRESH AND POTENT AND AN 

 ECONOMICAL PREVENTIVE IN THE BATTLE 

 AGAINST DREADED HOG CHOLERA. 



DON'T WAIT — VACCINATE! 



lUINOIS FARM BUREAU SERUM ASSOCIATION 



•Sj«>-« ; . v-tv: 



43 East Ohio Street Chicago. Illinois 



MARCH, 1948 



19 



