204 SWINE 



eat here rather than to eat with the dam. There is also 

 considerable danger that the pigs will not eat all the feed 

 given to them which then will sour and become a source 

 of trouble thereafter unless the trough is thoroughly 

 cleaned immediately. This not only brings in scours, 

 which is a usual consequence, but also results in over- 

 feeding with its evil effects, as previously noted. 



Feeding with the Dam. — According to this system of 

 feeding the pigs are allowed to eat at the same trough 

 with their dam. The dam in such a case is fed a ration 

 that is also palatable to the pigs and which is at the 

 same time in harmony with the requirements of the dam 

 at this time. This is the period at which her energies are 

 taxed to the utmost, and in order to produce the best 

 results she must have a ration that is palatable and com- 

 paratively concentrated. Furthermore, she must also 

 have considerable water in her ration, which is also in 

 harmony with the requirements of the pigs. 



The latter system is the one that is being practiced by 

 the writer at the Illinois Experiment Station. A ration 

 made up for such cases is based upon the total live weight 

 of the sow plus litter. For young sows this ration con- 

 tains practically 8 to 10 pounds of water, between .25 and 

 .30 pounds of digestible crude protein, and from 1.2 to 1.4 

 pounds of digestible carbohydrate daily per hundred 

 pounds live weight of sow plus litter. This ration is 

 made up of a variety of feeds such as are available, but 

 this is of secondary importance and must be arranged to 

 suit the available feeds in any particular case. A small 

 quantity of roughage like wheat bran is used, and the 

 amount of water used must be varied somewhat as be- 

 tween young sows and old sows and between summer and 

 winter. In general young sows require a little more feed, 



