18 BULLETIN 48, HAWAII AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
water at frequent intervals. After the first 24 hours she can be fed 
a light slop of middlings, the amount being gradually increased and 
the pigs closely watched that no white scours appear. When the 
pigs are 10 days to 2 weeks old the sow should be on full feed, and 
after that time until weaning she should receive all the feed she will 
consume. Once the sow loses in flesh she can not do justice to her 
litter and it will be difficult to bring her back to breeding condition. 
Pigs should not be weaned until they are 10 weeks of age unless 
some special occasion requires earlier weaning. A properly fed sow 
is in a good flow of milk when the pigs are 8 weeks of age and her 
milk is by far the best feed possible for them. When the pigs are 
2 or 3 weeks old they develop an appetite for some feed to supple- 
ment the sow's milk and should then be given skim milk or butter- 
milk mixed with a little wheat middlings and other meal to relieve 
the mother. When they are about 6 weeks old they should be pro- 
vided with a " pig creep," where they may receive a special feed 
mixture including tender alfalfa, and the like. 
The feed of the sow should be reduced 2 or 3 days before wean- 
ing time, and the mother taken from the pigs, which should then be 
given access to the self-feeder in the creep. At the Haiku substa- 
tion, after the young are weaned the sows are turned into a good 
pasture of succulent green feed, preferably a leguminous crop such 
as alfalfa, cowjDeas, or velvet beans. 
The weaned pigs may be left together until they are 10 or 12 weeks 
old. They should then be sorted according to size and turned into 
pastures or pens not exceeding 20 or 30 head. Male pigs, which are 
not wanted as breeders or intended for early market, should be cas- 
trated a sufficient time before weaning to permit of their being 
thoroughly healed at that time : otherwise, they should be separated 
from the females before reaching the age of 4 months. 
The younger the pigs are the more economical will be their gains. 
Up to weaning age &| pounds or less feed will produce a pound of 
gain. From weaning time (10 weeks of age) to 4 months, 4 pounds 
of feed will make 1 pound of gain. The animal should weigh about 
100 pounds at the end of the 4-month period. Gains at the rate of 2 
pounds per day are not uncommon when all conditions are favorable. 
At 6 months of age a pig should weigh from 150 to 200 pounds. 
Gains over 150 pounds are attained at a cost of 4^ and 5 pounds 
of grain per pound of gain. A well-bred and well-cared-for pig 
pasturing on good leguminous crops should gain an average of 1-J 
or 2 pounds daily on less than 5 pounds of grain feed per pound 
of gain. In the two Maui County Boys and Girls' Pig Club con- 
tests high-grade Berkshire pigs having an average weight of 40 
pounds at the beginning of the contests gained over 200 pounds in 
100 days. 
Pigs intended for market stock should be brought up to 150 
pounds weight on pasture supplemented with a fairly liberal ration. 
They should then be fed from 25 to 30 days on grain and carbohy- 
drate material, among the best of which is corn, supplemented witli 
a little tankage or blood meal. Fed thus, they should gain 2 pounds 
a day and command the highest market prices. Pigs gaining 1 pound 
or less a day under good feed and care are not profitable in Hawaii 
