576 
‘The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 9, 1921 
Questions About Hogs 
Answered by Prof. F. C. Minkler 
Starting a Hog Ranch 
I wish information in regard to raising 
pigs for market. I have nine acres of 
clover, with good water supply ; also field 
adjoining of about 30 acres that would 
be available for soiling crops. Probably 
two-thirds of these fields would require 
fencing. How many pigs would this take 
care of during Summer, provided they had 
some skim-milk? At what age should 
pigs be purchased, and purebreds or 
grades? Have plenty of corn on hand to 
fatten them in Fall. Would you consider 
there was a chance for profit? w. J. K. 
New York. 
It would seem that you have ideal con¬ 
ditions for economical pork production, 
and if the present differential between 
the market price of corn and the selling 
price of hogs continues, the operation 
ought to yield a handsome profit. Gen¬ 
erally speaking, an acre of clover pro¬ 
duced on good soil will maintain approxi¬ 
mately 20 hogs weighing 300 lbs. apiece. 
In other words, on a weight basis, an 
acre of forage will maintain a ton of pigs, 
live weight. Figured from still another 
angle, it is safe to conclude that one acre 
of clover or green forage will maintain 
five brood sows and their litters through¬ 
out the forage season. 
As a forage crop a mixture of 32 lbs. 
of oats, 5 lbs. of Dwarf Essex rape and 
15 lbs. of barley would yield good re¬ 
sults. Successive seedings should be 
made at periods varying from 30 days to 
two weeks apart. This practice has the 
advantage of providing fresh areas for 
foraging purposes. The oats, barley and 
rape mixture can be seeded as early in 
the Spring as the ground can be properly 
prepared. In case it is necessary to ex¬ 
tend the planting season beyond the first 
of June I should utilize a mixture con¬ 
sisting of a bushel and a peck of Soy 
beans. 15 lbs. of white blooming Sweet 
clover and 5 lbs. of Dwarf Essex rape. 
This mixture thrives better during hot 
weather and makes an excellent forage 
to be used later in the season. I am con¬ 
vinced that the most economical gains 
could be secured in case you supplemented 
the forage crops with, say a 2 per cent 
grain ration. In other words, for each 
300 lbs. of live weight of the pigs I would 
feed 250 lbs. of grain, supplemented, of 
course, with the skim-milk that you have 
available. Milk alone and green forage 
might serve your purpose, but you would 
get. more rapid gains in case a limited 
amount of corn or hominy were provided. 
Unless it is intended to engage in 
swine breeding grades would do quite as 
well as purebreds. I should think, how¬ 
ever. it would be well to secure some 
purebred animals to serve as a foundation 
for a breeding herd. I should prefer to 
purchase pigs when they weigh from 45 
to 65 lbs. This would hold in case the 
animals wore purchased through stock 
yards If they are assembled locally, 
then I should prefer to get them as soon 
after weaning as possible. This would 
mean when they are about 30 weeks old. 
in which case they would weigh about 45 
lbs. apiece. They should be grouped ac¬ 
cording to size rather than according to 
age. 
Under the conditions indicated I would 
certainly subject all of the youngsters to 
the double treatment as a means of pro¬ 
tection against hog cholera. While this 
treatment might limit their feeding and 
gaining propensities it would be safe and 
sane insurance. 
It has been our experience that either 
the Duroc-Jersey or the Chester White 
would respond best to the conditions in¬ 
dicated. They are good foragers and 
make economical gains when placed on 
full feed. No attempt should be made to 
fatten the pigs while foraging on clover 
and rape. Rather an attempt should be 
made to develop a sturdy, vigorous frame 
which could easily be covered with flesh 
early in the Fall when the corn and skim- 
milk is provided in abundance. When 
the pigs reach a weight of 125 lbs. I 
should put them on full feed ; that is. 
allow them all of the corn that they 
would clean up. and in addition provide 
between 4 and 5 lbs. of milk for each 
pound of grain consumed. I would mar¬ 
ket. them as soon as they weighed 200 
lbs. You could scarcely afford to carry 
them beyond a weight of 225 lbs, for 
heavy carcasses are in disfavor, and it 
costs quite as much to put on the third 
100 lbs. as it does to produce the first 
200 lbs. If you are short of milk supple¬ 
ment the corn with equal parts of grain, 
meal and tankage. Five per cent of this 
supplement is sufficient. On this basis 
the 19 acres ought to provide sufficient 
forage to maintain 200 head of market 
pigs, or possibly 250 head. If care is 
exercised in selecting the animals I am 
sure that the season’s operations ought 
to yield a profit. The cost of labor 
would be very small, and once the fences 
were constructed they would last inde¬ 
finitely. There would be an advantage 
in keeping the pigs in relatively small 
groups, say from 25 to 45. and if they 
could be changed from one pasture lot to 
another with some degree of regularity 
the most satisfactory growth, both from 
a forage standpoint and the pigs' stand¬ 
point, would be obtained. You will find 
it advantageous to turn the pigs into the 
area seeded with the oats, barley and rape 
mixture when the plants are from 5 to 7 
in. in height. It is well to let the plants 
keep fairly well ahead of the pigs, and 
the area should never look like a pasture 
field. Some of the oats will shoot up and 
head out and ripen, and if the oats are 
allowed to shell they will fall to the 
ground and germinate and provide an ex¬ 
cellent forage for late Fall feeding. 
It will be necessary to keep some min¬ 
eral matter before the pigs at all times, 
and some provision ought to be made for 
dipping in order that lice and parasites 
may be controlled. Crude oil is perhaps 
the best agency to employ to fight lice, 
while a mixture of salt, charcoal, bone 
meal, sulphur and wood ashes will pro¬ 
vide the minerals. 
Fattening Pigs 
I would like to fatten a sow about lat¬ 
ter part of April. I am able to get corn- 
meal at $2.10 per cwt... also have some 
skim-milk. Would this be enough? If 
not, what else, and how should I feed it, 
in hopper, wot or certain amounts each 
day? Should she have ail the water she 
wants, if fed dry or hopper? IIow should 
I feed four-months-old pigs to be killed 
next December? L. K. H. 
Rotter Co., Pa. 
The cornmeal supplemented with skim- 
milk would scarcely provide the most sat¬ 
isfactory ration for a brood sow nursing 
pigs. A little more variety would be ap¬ 
preciated. aud the inclusion of 15 or 20 
per cent of ground oats would improve 
the mixture. I also would let her have 
access to clover or Alfalfa hay in order 
that she might be provided with a nitro¬ 
genous bulky material that would provide 
the mineral matter. If you have an 
abundance of skimmed milk, it is not 
necessary to use tankage. The milk will 
I rovide sufficient protein. We have had 
good resuite from using cornmeal and 
ground oats and tankage in self-feeding 
hoppers for brood sows nursing pigs. 
The pigs soon get the habit of mimicking 
their mother, and in this instance, where 
you substitute skim-milk for tankage, the 
milk could be hand-fed twice daily, while 
the pigs and their mothers should be 
given access to the cornmeal. Of course, 
let the brood sow have all of the water 
that she will drink. Nothing is to be 
gained by diluting the milk with water. 
For the young pigs after weaning I 
would use a mixture of 200 lbs. hominy 
or cornmeal. 3 00 lbs. standard middlings, 
50 lbs. ground oats, 40 lbs. digester tank¬ 
age. If you have sufficient skim-milk 
so that you can allow the pigs two or 
three pounds of milk for each pound of 
grain consumed, then it is not necessary 
to purchase the tankage. As soon as pos¬ 
sible in the Kpriug get the young pigs 
out on some green forage, such as oats, 
rape and barley, with Soy beans and 
sweet clover. Feed them approximately 
2 y 2 lbs. of grain per day for each 100 
lbs. of live weight. Carry them along 
on this combination until they weigh 
about 100 lbs.; then they can be fed and 
fattened on cornmeal and skim-milk. 
Stands for the Jersey 
On page 478 M. O. asks about Jersey 
cattle, and J. Grant Morse answers iu 
favor of the Ilolsteins. The writer has 
good Guerneeys, Ilolsteins and Jerseys. 
The Ilolsteins give a lot of milk, the 
Guernseys are good cows, but the Jerseys 
are unsurpassed for family cows in qual¬ 
ity of milk. The milk is too rich for 
many calves. It should be reduced in 
strength or quantity first week. All 
calves < first week ) are liable to overfeed 
and bring on indigestion. This is es¬ 
pecially true of Jerseys. I have seen 
many Ilolsteins die from same cause— 
overfeeding. When calf grits its teeth 
and shows signs of ailing, reduce and 
regulate its allowance. Also give it a 
regulator. Steep the strength from black¬ 
berry roots and put enough sugar with 
it to make a syrup that will not sour. 
Two tablespoons of the syrup with warm 
water or milk a few' times will regulate 
the digestion. Don’t condemn the best 
cow on earth because she gives rich milk. 
New' York. JOHN Piiir.i.iPS. 
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