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APPARENTLY a little night life, 

 with plenty of midnight snacks 

 under the bright lights, and lots 

 of rest during the day, pays off 

 in raising hogs. 



Put like that it may sound just a bit 

 extreme, but night feeding of hogs, at 

 least during the hot summer months, may 

 prove highly practical for the average 

 farmer and hog raiser. 



Speedy Pork Production 



This is indicated in the results of what 

 is believed to have been the first experi- 

 ment in night feeding of hogs conducted 

 on the farm of Robert C. Turner, Henry, 

 Illinois, this summer. 



Turner, a GI paratrooper turned 

 farmer, established enviable records for 

 speedy and economical pork production 

 in a 63-day test with 107 purebred Duroc 

 hogs. 



Control By Time Clock 



Turner noted that hogs are reluctant 

 to eat during the heat of the day, but 

 will make regular visits to their self- 

 feeders on moonlit nights. He erected 

 electric lights over the feeders in his hog 

 lot and had them controlled by time 

 clock to provide two feeding periods each 

 night. His idea was to encourage his hogs 

 to eat during the cool of the night and 

 thus increase their feed intake and get 

 them to market weight earlier. 



107 Pig Experiment 



The experiment was started on July 1 

 when 107 Duroc pigs, farrowed in late 

 March and early April, were weighed 

 in. They weighed a total of 7,424 lb., 

 or an average of 69.38 lb. per pig. They 

 were placed on a ration of ground oats, 

 plus a pelletized milk product in the 

 self-feeders, and ear corn which was 

 hand fed. They were on good alfalfa 



NIGHT FEEDING 



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Farmer GI Finds Hogs Put On Weight Faster 

 When They Get Plenty Of Midnight Snacks 

 Under Bright Lights. After 63 Days Gain 

 Per Day Registers 7.45 Pounds 



The lights flash en and Rebert C. Turner's hogs get up and head for the feed trough 



during the night. 



pasture and also had a supply of salt 

 and mineral. 



Gain 1 .45 lb. Per Day 



At the end of the 63-day period, on 

 Sept. 2, the hogs were weighed out and 

 tipped the scales at 17,270 lb. for the 

 lot, or an average of 161.4 lb. per hog. 



This meant that they had made an 

 average daily gain of about 1.45 lb. per 

 hog per day which may be compared to 

 an average daily gain of about 1.31 lb. 

 for hogs of similar weight and age in 1 2 

 experiments of five midwest experiment 

 stations reported in USDA Technical 

 Bulletin No. 894, July, 1945. 



Turner kept complete records of feed 

 consumption and costs. Feed consumption 

 per 100 lb. gain was of special signifi- 

 cance. To make a total gain of 9,846 lb. 

 of pork in 63 days, the pigs consumed a 

 total of 27,069 lb. of feed, or 275 lb. of 

 feed for each 100 lb. of pork produced. 

 This may be compared to 300 to 350 lb. 

 of feed for each 100 lb. gain, which is 

 generally considered good to average feed 

 consumption. Turner figured the feed 

 cost at $11.70 per 100 lb. of pork pro- 

 duced. ^ ... •- , .^_ 



Electricity — 7 Cents 



Total cost of electricity for the 63 days 

 was |7.40, or about 7 cents per pig. 



Turner has one pole with a single 150- 

 watt bulb to light the pen area, and 

 another pole with two 150-watt bulbs 

 and reflectors directly o\'er his feeders. 

 Lights were time clock controlled to come 

 on automatically twice during the night, 

 from 10 to 11:30 p.m. and from 2 to 

 3:30 a.m. This resulted in the use of 

 148 kilowatt hours of electricit)'. 



Turner noted that when the lights 

 came on at night the hogs made no quick 

 rush to the feeders, but within about five 

 minutes they got up in groups of four 

 or five to go to the feeders. He estimated 

 that at least three-quarters of the herd 

 got up to feed during each of the night- 

 feeding periods. 



Plans to Repeat 



The experiment was sponsored jointly 

 by a feed company and local feed 

 distributor. Paul Laffe)-. Marshall- 

 Putnam farm adviser, and Ira Burton, 

 Turner's neighbors, were official witnesses 

 at the scales at both the weighing in and 

 weighing out of the hogs for the experi- 

 ment. 



Turner, who was well pleased with the 

 results, said, "The results speak for 

 themselves. They're a swell lot of hogs 

 and I think my program is right. Lead- 

 ing hog men who saw them at the weigh- 

 ing out said my animals would top the 

 market. I'm going to repeat the program 

 with my fall pigs." 



DECEMBER. 1948 



