THE FEEDING OF SWINE 469 



PREPARING FOOD 



Foods for swine are often prepared by grinding, soaking, 

 or cooking. There have been many experiments to deter- 

 mine the efficiency of each of these methods. These tests 

 give more or less contradictory results, and it is difficult to 

 determine from a perusal of the literature to what extent the 

 food is rendered more efficient by such preparation. There 

 can be little doubt, however, but that each of these methods 

 increases the efficiency of certain foods under given conditions. 



Grinding feed. — The advisability of grinding feed for swine 

 depends much on the kind of food and to some extent on the 

 age of the animals. Most of the experiments have been with 

 the grinding of corn, and the results have been varying. With 

 smaller and harder seeds and grains, such as peas, beans, millet, 

 and the like, there is a much better showing in favor of grind- 

 ing. The Canadian Central Experimental Farm conducted ex- 

 periments which show a saving of 17 per cent in favor of grinding 

 these smaller and harder seeds. The same may be true of corn 

 when the grain is very hard and dry. 



Grinding some foods increases the palatability and thus favors 

 larger consumption. Swine fed ground food in the form of mash 

 are not likely to masticate it, but simply swallow it, and in 

 case the grain is not ground fine, the coarse particles are not 

 so readily or thoroughly digested. In masticating their own 

 grain swine will usually reduce it to rather fine particles, par- 

 ticularly if fed in the natural state. Thus it would seem that 

 if the grain is to be ground, it should be ground fine. 



Soaking the feed. — It is a rather common practice to soak 

 whole grains and to wet meals before feeding. Soaking is a less 

 expensive process and in many instances may be as good as 

 grinding. One rather strong objection to feeding soaked grains, 

 especially when the animals are used to eating the grains whole, 

 is that they are likely to swallow the grains entire without mas- 



