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EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT HOG RAISING.-No. 3. Care and Feed of Sow and Pig After Farrowing. Also Exercise. What Should Piga Weigh at 60 daya? At 270 daya? 1st Premium—We have got large, thrifty pigs to start with, and as before farrowing, great care mnst be exercised in feed and slopping. Water regularly and feed and slop regularly. We aim not to feed the sow all she will eat before three weeks after farrowing. Commence gradually with ship-stuff. We do not feed any corn for a week after farrowing at least, and not much then. Bran and shorts are our principal feed; as we cannot find anything better. By the time onr pigs are a week old they take exercise sufficient without forcing them, and by the time they are two weeks old they go ln a creep where the sow cannot get to them, and learn to take slop and shelled corn. By the time they are 60 days old they are ready to wean, weighing easily a pound for every day of their lives." They are running on' clover or bluegrasa and are getting their bran and shorts and a liberal ration .of corn. We do not find any trouble feeding corn providing it is tea with a well-balanced ration. This feeding is continued until they are four months old, when the slop is left off, and they are running on grass and eating corn. And at seven months old they are eating all the corn they will clean up We sell at eight months weighing 225 to 250 pounds. Some will say tbis ought to be reached at six months, but we are speaking about car-load lots. Raised for the market at 270 days they should weigh from 280 to 300 pounds, but do not believe it is profitable, to keep them that long, as they consume more feed than the relative gain. So we had rather have 300 pounds in two hogs than one for profit. To hustle the pig is onr aim. Lin Wilson, Grant Co. ■ 2d Premium.—I do not give any corn for one week before or after farrowing, but give liberally such as kitchen slop or milk. When the little fellows are one week old, I begin feeding corn and increase the amount of slop, using all the milk I can get and mixing Into it shorts and corn meal; two parts shorts to one of meal. And by the time the pigs are 16 days old I have them drinking new milk out of a shallow trough. At four weeks old I give them all the slop they will eat By the time my pigs are eight weeks old 1 begin to feed them shelled corn, but in small quantities, and by tbe time they are four months old I give for feed two-thirds ear corn to one-third slops as indicated above. I give all they will eat of this ration until marketed. I feed six rods from sleeping quarters. They go in and out at will. They will take all the exercise they need. Pigs at 60 days old should weigh 75 pounds and at 270 days should weigh 400 pounds. C. B. Boone Co. 3rd Premium.—The bow and young pigs should have the best of attention if the oest results are expected, they should have some corn, but ground feed Is much nf t tnan whole corn, cooked wheat "Jakes an excellent food for the sow and Pigs. In fact all hogs like that diet for a change. But ground feed cooked or Maided and then thinned with milk, will make the pigs grow. I think that little P'gs should have plenty of exercise, their oeds should not be t6o close to their feeding. Place, this will give them exercise. «»t l think, if pigs are given the room, Jney will ta>_e plenty of exeroise. All n°gs should have a free run to plenty of charcoal and salt, and they relish lye soap i?fe ln awhile, and I think it is good for -.=!?• Tne ■weight of pigs at 60 days defends on the breed and also the attention ___ Z.r,eoelve. I have never experimented anXl1?hln*5 P-B8>bnt should think they I™ght to weigh from 45 to 60 lbs. And at «n ?*?ys ihey <"»-** *0 weigh abont 300 or *** l°*. I hare weighed hogs about 7 or 8 months old at different times, and found they gained 2J_ to 3 lbs apiece a day, but I don't know at what age they could begin to take on flesh at this rate. Corydon. . . Elf. The sow and pigs shonld have very close attention and a warm, dry bed.- To keep the sow from lying on the pigs,tack a Btrip across the corner of the bed, about twelve inches from the ground and bed with leaves, and the pigs will go under this strip in the corner to sleep, and the sow cannot lie on them. Milk is the best feed for young pigs. The sow should not have any corn for the first few days after farrowing, but she should be fed a slop, made of corn and oats ground together and mixed with a little shorts, I think it is all the better if it can be cooked. (T Ed ) The pigs should be crowded from the start, should have all they can eat and no more until sold. The weight of a pig at 60 days depends on the kind of stook we are breeding A pig at 60 days should weigh from 50 to 70 lbs and at 270 davs it should weigh from 350 to 400 lbs. They should have plenty of room for exercise give them range of the woods and clover field and they will take all the exercise necessary without driving them around for it. N. B. Harrison Co., As soon as the pigs will eat feed them to themselves on bran middlings, mixed with skim-milk or buttermilk for about two weeks or nntil they are about seven or eight weeks old. Then gradually add corn meal to the feed, or ground barley or rye. Wean at about six weeks If the sow has not mated (which they will usually do in two or three days after farrowing) mate her now. Give the pigs such fruits and roots as you can spare, and graea as soon as they will e__tit if yoo have it- anclby the time tfiey are 2J4 or~3 month s old they may be put on clover or grass and "Whole grains, or better still, soaked corn.- I believe there is great economy in adding a-little stock food all along with the food, as it will keep the pigs healthy and give them a good appetite; and a good appetite and good digestion are essential to profitable hog raising. They should be fed all they will clean up at each feed, minus a small enough quantity to keep them ready for their next feed. They should be castrated at not over fourweeks old, so that they may get well before being weaned. If you are raising hogs to sell by weight they should be kept growing their utmost from the time they are farrowed until they are sold. Never let a hog go back or stop while feeding, as it is double expanse. Never feed a hog over a year old, it costs much more to put a pound of flesh of fat on a year old hog than it does one six months old, and if you feed like you mean business your hog will be lagre enough at a year old or before, for any market. At 60 days old it should weigh 120 poonde, and at 270 days should weigh 300 pounds, and hogs weighing over that are as a rule, lower on the market. Observe this rule,—feed youf hog to his utmost capacity from birth, sell when he gets fat regardless of the market, and you will hit it more times than you will if you hold and feed for a certain market or a higher price. C. T. Gibson Co. Use corn principally for finishing product. About the first of May turn the sow on clover. Clover is essential In making cheap pork. It makes more bone and muscle than corn and is no expense in cultivating and harvesting. The hogs gather it as they want it. Give the pigs the skim milk and slop from the kitchen. The successful hog raiser don't allow the slop from the house to go to waste. Fall pigs should be farrowed about September first. Feed them ont the next summer on clover. Allow stock hogs a good range at all times, so they can take plenty of exercise. Keep plenty of salt and wood ashes before them. Usecoaloil and carbolic acid weakened with soap suds to keep vermin off. Hogs kept in this way yield as great profit as any stock kept on the farm. J. Randolph Co. Let pigs have a small yard in connection with the honse; and if this can be opened, into a rye-field they may be greatly benefitted by running in it when the weather is favorable. It will be exercising and appetizing for the youngsters and will also furnish a tonic, stimulant and laxative for the "mother pig " So far this applies more dlreotly to winter pigs, and they sometimes prove an expensive luxury to me at least. They require more feed and a great deal more attention and work than summer pigs. Winter storms are all-mighty foes to little pigs. Whether it is winter or summer, I like to let them have the rnn of a wood lot, If it is not too far from the house to be convenient about feeding. And there ought to be a lane from the house to tha woods any bow. The woods should be dense enough to cause a cool and pleasant sensation when you enter them on a sultry summer day, and they will also break the force of those iierce wintry blasts to some extent. I went into the sty, when my sow farrowed, pioked the pigs up one at a time, piled them in another place to count tbem. (There were 14 living and healthy. She saved 12 of them.) I left them till morning, when I gave the sow two or three ears of corn and all the pnre water she wanted. This was her diet for three or four days when I began to gradually strengthen her drink; first by giving her dish-water, then adding a handful of scalded bran, then a little milk; and so on until she was soon getting a good strong slop ration and plenty of grain. When the pigs were one week old I took an old shallow fan and a little milk fresh from the cow. held the pan near them with a little milk in it. They smelted around it at first, and then began to chew the edge of the pan. I raised the other side gently and of course the milk flowed into their mouths, they relished it, tried to get more and soon learned how. And before they were two weeks old every pig would run to meet me and fight for a place in the pah which had to be replaced with a shallow trough. I left a crack in the fence large enough for the pigs to pass. They soon got some skim milk and then a little scalded bran and middlings. 1 prefer to wet it with boiling water if I can. Some feeders say cold water will do as well; but the feed will not mix well with cold water and when you pour it out the water runs oft and the feed is in the bottom of the bucket. I kept increasing their feed, and at six weeks old I weaned them without noting any check in their growth. I feed three times a day till they are four or five months old and then dyop tbe noon feed. I want eaoh feed eaten up clean before they leave it, even when.! am finishing them for market. I have grew£j_ait_t in the swill pail _..il I believe whoever would bring his pigs up to the highest standard should make up his mind before he begins to do a great big l«.t of slopping, and then some. For slop- milk, bran and middlings are good. I have used rye and oats mixed equally by measure and ground together. I will name a few of the best cheap plans for slopping pigs. I put the slop in tbe trough and let them in afterwards. Another good plan is to have the trough stationed along a board fence, have the lower boards battened together and hung to the upper board with hinges. The lower board must be a little higher than the trough. Swing the lower part across to the pigs side and prop it there. Four in the slop, knock out the prop and the section of fence swings back to your side of tbe trough. Tbis same sow farrowed the 10th of May, '96, a litter of 12. Eleven came through all right. They never had a feed of corn till they could shell the new corn in September. Just slop and tbe run of a bluegrass lot of less than one acre, with artificial shade. I sold them to the butcher and the best two weighed 460 Irounds gross when 207 days old and the ot averaged over 200 pounds apiece. Three months is the youngest recorded weight I can find in my account book at present which is 00 pounds, and my best recollection ls that 35 to 40 ponnds is a good weight for pig two months old and 275 to 300 pounds ls good for pig nine months old. They may be made heavier but this is good. I give my pigs ashes every few days poured down in little heaps with salt sprinkled over them, and the more charcoal they contain the better. A little Glauber's salts occasionally In winter if they become constipated is good. Don't let the pigs sleep in the strawstack or on the manure-heap. Corn stalks will make a clean and lasting bed. Never allow your pigs to get lousy. You can mix a few spoonfuls of coal oil with a quart of milk and then mix this with a gallon of water and put it on with a watering pot, or paint them all over with old grease. The oil will not mix with the water unless mixed with milk first.' Wabash Co. J. W. E. REVIEW. One of the most helpful changes wrought ln live stock management in recent years is from all corn to a balanced ration. "In an early day" hogs enjoyed range and mast, and corn added made a good ration. Hogs, even of good stock, came fat with frame and muscle enough to carry 350 lbs of gross weight, fifty miles on foot. Thewlldnessof roots, mast,dead animals, grass, etc. gradually disappeared, range was reduced and corn became more plentiful. A store keeper in our town once remarked to me. that he "wished I'd go down to the house and see if he was feeding his pigs enough." I answered that "lt is not a question as to whether yoa are feeding them enough, bnt whether you are giving a balanced ration." Some of you are acquainted with Prof. W. A. Henry's experiments, where he fed one bunch of pigs pure corn meal, salt and water. The other bunch was allowed all the wood ashes they would eat, in addition to the corn, salt and water. The corned pigs grew well a while, then became abnormally dwarfed and very fat. Their Jowls and beilies fairly dragged the ground, at a weight of some°200 lbs, when they ought to have made 400 lbs. The thigh bones of these hogs were tested in a breaking machine. The corn lot had very weak bones, the lot having ashes bore just twice the breaking power of the other lot. The bones of the second lot,on both being burnt, contained 50 per cent more ash than the first. Sinoe hogs crave ashes, may they not be helpful in several ways? I confess I do not believe in friend C. Y.'s "Stook Food." I don't know muoh about such foods. They might be made of good material and be nourlshingg; but why not the farmer be intelligent enough to compound his own rations? And for half the cost? I once had a neighbor, (gone to Iowa now) who was eternally "messin' aroun' " "with somethin" "to keep his stock's appetite up." Did you ever think that dootors don't take medicine while well? Wild animals don't, Savages don't. Nine-tenths of the world's people, and animal and vegetable life don't. A vast number of people take tobacco, or some other drug, constantly into their system, which reduces their vitality. May I not suggest that nature in a normal condition is far better let alone. That which stimulates or depresses injures health. Quacks and fakirs prey on tho credulity of the ignorant and credulous. A fakir was selling one-ounce bottles of headache and rheumntism cure on our streets, and a druggist was filling his bottles for him. They contained ammonia and rain water, and sold at 25 cents au ounce. He sold thorn like hot cakes. They were not v. orth one cent. I would not advise putting any unknown "stuff" Into rations for stock. All nature wants is that the food contain nourishment suited to support every part of the body. Milk and blue grass are samples of such a ration. Why should my friend wean pigs at six weeks old? Since milk is the best possible'diet for any young animal, and sinoe a gocd big sow will give lots of rich milk longer than six weeks why not let them have it? Is it a good plan to mate sows on the third day after farrowing? I do not like to cross the candid opinion of experienced growers, but I do not believe it is a good plan. Not'ce how Mr. II. pushes the sow preparatory to mating and after mating. He makes her a perfect storehouse of vitality and food material. She is large, mature, well developed, and "fat enough for market" when she farrows. Mr. H. would not breed a sow again till pigs are eight weeks old. They may soon be weaned and the mother will gain all the while she carries the second litter. I'd like to see Mr. C. Y.'a 60-day pig that weighs 120 pounds. Don't ever, ever forget the blue grass and clover pasture mentioned in these letters. That's where you get cheap meat Our mistake has been to depend much on pasture. A couple of ears of good "yaller" oorn a-piece twice a day, in clover to their backs, makes quicker and cheaper meat than grass alone. I think one can keep posted on markets, supply, demand, etc., till he can often vary his selling time a little to good advantage. ' No. 55, March 27. Hog cholera and other fatal diseases. The sanitation of hog raising. No. 66, April 6. Fertilizers. Where can commercial fertilizers be economically used and how? No. 57, April 10. The best fence post and how to preserve it. No. 58, April 17. Best material for roofing. Experience in painting roofs. Material. No. 59, April 24. Renovating an old orchard. No. 60, May 1. Mistakes and failures of recent years. In writing don't fail to note new points not generally known; also other points of real experience. Address all copy 10 days before publication. Let our subscribers write their experience. The purpose of the department is not exanstive articles but brief, pithy, practical experiences. A sort of heart to heart talk, suoh as you - enjoy with a neighbor. Read onr excellent articles on this subject. We were favored with some 30 letters. Those we are able to publish contain most of the points made. Address all copy to E. H. Collins. ^.Carmel.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1897, v. 32, no. 12 (Mar. 20) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA3212 |
Date of Original | 1897 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2011-01-24 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript | EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT HOG RAISING.-No. 3. Care and Feed of Sow and Pig After Farrowing. Also Exercise. What Should Piga Weigh at 60 daya? At 270 daya? 1st Premium—We have got large, thrifty pigs to start with, and as before farrowing, great care mnst be exercised in feed and slopping. Water regularly and feed and slop regularly. We aim not to feed the sow all she will eat before three weeks after farrowing. Commence gradually with ship-stuff. We do not feed any corn for a week after farrowing at least, and not much then. Bran and shorts are our principal feed; as we cannot find anything better. By the time onr pigs are a week old they take exercise sufficient without forcing them, and by the time they are two weeks old they go ln a creep where the sow cannot get to them, and learn to take slop and shelled corn. By the time they are 60 days old they are ready to wean, weighing easily a pound for every day of their lives." They are running on' clover or bluegrasa and are getting their bran and shorts and a liberal ration .of corn. We do not find any trouble feeding corn providing it is tea with a well-balanced ration. This feeding is continued until they are four months old, when the slop is left off, and they are running on grass and eating corn. And at seven months old they are eating all the corn they will clean up We sell at eight months weighing 225 to 250 pounds. Some will say tbis ought to be reached at six months, but we are speaking about car-load lots. Raised for the market at 270 days they should weigh from 280 to 300 pounds, but do not believe it is profitable, to keep them that long, as they consume more feed than the relative gain. So we had rather have 300 pounds in two hogs than one for profit. To hustle the pig is onr aim. Lin Wilson, Grant Co. ■ 2d Premium.—I do not give any corn for one week before or after farrowing, but give liberally such as kitchen slop or milk. When the little fellows are one week old, I begin feeding corn and increase the amount of slop, using all the milk I can get and mixing Into it shorts and corn meal; two parts shorts to one of meal. And by the time the pigs are 16 days old I have them drinking new milk out of a shallow trough. At four weeks old I give them all the slop they will eat By the time my pigs are eight weeks old 1 begin to feed them shelled corn, but in small quantities, and by tbe time they are four months old I give for feed two-thirds ear corn to one-third slops as indicated above. I give all they will eat of this ration until marketed. I feed six rods from sleeping quarters. They go in and out at will. They will take all the exercise they need. Pigs at 60 days old should weigh 75 pounds and at 270 days should weigh 400 pounds. C. B. Boone Co. 3rd Premium.—The bow and young pigs should have the best of attention if the oest results are expected, they should have some corn, but ground feed Is much nf t tnan whole corn, cooked wheat "Jakes an excellent food for the sow and Pigs. In fact all hogs like that diet for a change. But ground feed cooked or Maided and then thinned with milk, will make the pigs grow. I think that little P'gs should have plenty of exercise, their oeds should not be t6o close to their feeding. Place, this will give them exercise. «»t l think, if pigs are given the room, Jney will ta>_e plenty of exeroise. All n°gs should have a free run to plenty of charcoal and salt, and they relish lye soap i?fe ln awhile, and I think it is good for -.=!?• Tne ■weight of pigs at 60 days defends on the breed and also the attention ___ Z.r,eoelve. I have never experimented anXl1?hln*5 P-B8>bnt should think they I™ght to weigh from 45 to 60 lbs. And at «n ?*?ys ihey <"»-** *0 weigh abont 300 or *** l°*. I hare weighed hogs about 7 or 8 months old at different times, and found they gained 2J_ to 3 lbs apiece a day, but I don't know at what age they could begin to take on flesh at this rate. Corydon. . . Elf. The sow and pigs shonld have very close attention and a warm, dry bed.- To keep the sow from lying on the pigs,tack a Btrip across the corner of the bed, about twelve inches from the ground and bed with leaves, and the pigs will go under this strip in the corner to sleep, and the sow cannot lie on them. Milk is the best feed for young pigs. The sow should not have any corn for the first few days after farrowing, but she should be fed a slop, made of corn and oats ground together and mixed with a little shorts, I think it is all the better if it can be cooked. (T Ed ) The pigs should be crowded from the start, should have all they can eat and no more until sold. The weight of a pig at 60 days depends on the kind of stook we are breeding A pig at 60 days should weigh from 50 to 70 lbs and at 270 davs it should weigh from 350 to 400 lbs. They should have plenty of room for exercise give them range of the woods and clover field and they will take all the exercise necessary without driving them around for it. N. B. Harrison Co., As soon as the pigs will eat feed them to themselves on bran middlings, mixed with skim-milk or buttermilk for about two weeks or nntil they are about seven or eight weeks old. Then gradually add corn meal to the feed, or ground barley or rye. Wean at about six weeks If the sow has not mated (which they will usually do in two or three days after farrowing) mate her now. Give the pigs such fruits and roots as you can spare, and graea as soon as they will e__tit if yoo have it- anclby the time tfiey are 2J4 or~3 month s old they may be put on clover or grass and "Whole grains, or better still, soaked corn.- I believe there is great economy in adding a-little stock food all along with the food, as it will keep the pigs healthy and give them a good appetite; and a good appetite and good digestion are essential to profitable hog raising. They should be fed all they will clean up at each feed, minus a small enough quantity to keep them ready for their next feed. They should be castrated at not over fourweeks old, so that they may get well before being weaned. If you are raising hogs to sell by weight they should be kept growing their utmost from the time they are farrowed until they are sold. Never let a hog go back or stop while feeding, as it is double expanse. Never feed a hog over a year old, it costs much more to put a pound of flesh of fat on a year old hog than it does one six months old, and if you feed like you mean business your hog will be lagre enough at a year old or before, for any market. At 60 days old it should weigh 120 poonde, and at 270 days should weigh 300 pounds, and hogs weighing over that are as a rule, lower on the market. Observe this rule,—feed youf hog to his utmost capacity from birth, sell when he gets fat regardless of the market, and you will hit it more times than you will if you hold and feed for a certain market or a higher price. C. T. Gibson Co. Use corn principally for finishing product. About the first of May turn the sow on clover. Clover is essential In making cheap pork. It makes more bone and muscle than corn and is no expense in cultivating and harvesting. The hogs gather it as they want it. Give the pigs the skim milk and slop from the kitchen. The successful hog raiser don't allow the slop from the house to go to waste. Fall pigs should be farrowed about September first. Feed them ont the next summer on clover. Allow stock hogs a good range at all times, so they can take plenty of exercise. Keep plenty of salt and wood ashes before them. Usecoaloil and carbolic acid weakened with soap suds to keep vermin off. Hogs kept in this way yield as great profit as any stock kept on the farm. J. Randolph Co. Let pigs have a small yard in connection with the honse; and if this can be opened, into a rye-field they may be greatly benefitted by running in it when the weather is favorable. It will be exercising and appetizing for the youngsters and will also furnish a tonic, stimulant and laxative for the "mother pig " So far this applies more dlreotly to winter pigs, and they sometimes prove an expensive luxury to me at least. They require more feed and a great deal more attention and work than summer pigs. Winter storms are all-mighty foes to little pigs. Whether it is winter or summer, I like to let them have the rnn of a wood lot, If it is not too far from the house to be convenient about feeding. And there ought to be a lane from the house to tha woods any bow. The woods should be dense enough to cause a cool and pleasant sensation when you enter them on a sultry summer day, and they will also break the force of those iierce wintry blasts to some extent. I went into the sty, when my sow farrowed, pioked the pigs up one at a time, piled them in another place to count tbem. (There were 14 living and healthy. She saved 12 of them.) I left them till morning, when I gave the sow two or three ears of corn and all the pnre water she wanted. This was her diet for three or four days when I began to gradually strengthen her drink; first by giving her dish-water, then adding a handful of scalded bran, then a little milk; and so on until she was soon getting a good strong slop ration and plenty of grain. When the pigs were one week old I took an old shallow fan and a little milk fresh from the cow. held the pan near them with a little milk in it. They smelted around it at first, and then began to chew the edge of the pan. I raised the other side gently and of course the milk flowed into their mouths, they relished it, tried to get more and soon learned how. And before they were two weeks old every pig would run to meet me and fight for a place in the pah which had to be replaced with a shallow trough. I left a crack in the fence large enough for the pigs to pass. They soon got some skim milk and then a little scalded bran and middlings. 1 prefer to wet it with boiling water if I can. Some feeders say cold water will do as well; but the feed will not mix well with cold water and when you pour it out the water runs oft and the feed is in the bottom of the bucket. I kept increasing their feed, and at six weeks old I weaned them without noting any check in their growth. I feed three times a day till they are four or five months old and then dyop tbe noon feed. I want eaoh feed eaten up clean before they leave it, even when.! am finishing them for market. I have grew£j_ait_t in the swill pail _..il I believe whoever would bring his pigs up to the highest standard should make up his mind before he begins to do a great big l«.t of slopping, and then some. For slop- milk, bran and middlings are good. I have used rye and oats mixed equally by measure and ground together. I will name a few of the best cheap plans for slopping pigs. I put the slop in tbe trough and let them in afterwards. Another good plan is to have the trough stationed along a board fence, have the lower boards battened together and hung to the upper board with hinges. The lower board must be a little higher than the trough. Swing the lower part across to the pigs side and prop it there. Four in the slop, knock out the prop and the section of fence swings back to your side of tbe trough. Tbis same sow farrowed the 10th of May, '96, a litter of 12. Eleven came through all right. They never had a feed of corn till they could shell the new corn in September. Just slop and tbe run of a bluegrass lot of less than one acre, with artificial shade. I sold them to the butcher and the best two weighed 460 Irounds gross when 207 days old and the ot averaged over 200 pounds apiece. Three months is the youngest recorded weight I can find in my account book at present which is 00 pounds, and my best recollection ls that 35 to 40 ponnds is a good weight for pig two months old and 275 to 300 pounds ls good for pig nine months old. They may be made heavier but this is good. I give my pigs ashes every few days poured down in little heaps with salt sprinkled over them, and the more charcoal they contain the better. A little Glauber's salts occasionally In winter if they become constipated is good. Don't let the pigs sleep in the strawstack or on the manure-heap. Corn stalks will make a clean and lasting bed. Never allow your pigs to get lousy. You can mix a few spoonfuls of coal oil with a quart of milk and then mix this with a gallon of water and put it on with a watering pot, or paint them all over with old grease. The oil will not mix with the water unless mixed with milk first.' Wabash Co. J. W. E. REVIEW. One of the most helpful changes wrought ln live stock management in recent years is from all corn to a balanced ration. "In an early day" hogs enjoyed range and mast, and corn added made a good ration. Hogs, even of good stock, came fat with frame and muscle enough to carry 350 lbs of gross weight, fifty miles on foot. Thewlldnessof roots, mast,dead animals, grass, etc. gradually disappeared, range was reduced and corn became more plentiful. A store keeper in our town once remarked to me. that he "wished I'd go down to the house and see if he was feeding his pigs enough." I answered that "lt is not a question as to whether yoa are feeding them enough, bnt whether you are giving a balanced ration." Some of you are acquainted with Prof. W. A. Henry's experiments, where he fed one bunch of pigs pure corn meal, salt and water. The other bunch was allowed all the wood ashes they would eat, in addition to the corn, salt and water. The corned pigs grew well a while, then became abnormally dwarfed and very fat. Their Jowls and beilies fairly dragged the ground, at a weight of some°200 lbs, when they ought to have made 400 lbs. The thigh bones of these hogs were tested in a breaking machine. The corn lot had very weak bones, the lot having ashes bore just twice the breaking power of the other lot. The bones of the second lot,on both being burnt, contained 50 per cent more ash than the first. Sinoe hogs crave ashes, may they not be helpful in several ways? I confess I do not believe in friend C. Y.'s "Stook Food." I don't know muoh about such foods. They might be made of good material and be nourlshingg; but why not the farmer be intelligent enough to compound his own rations? And for half the cost? I once had a neighbor, (gone to Iowa now) who was eternally "messin' aroun' " "with somethin" "to keep his stock's appetite up." Did you ever think that dootors don't take medicine while well? Wild animals don't, Savages don't. Nine-tenths of the world's people, and animal and vegetable life don't. A vast number of people take tobacco, or some other drug, constantly into their system, which reduces their vitality. May I not suggest that nature in a normal condition is far better let alone. That which stimulates or depresses injures health. Quacks and fakirs prey on tho credulity of the ignorant and credulous. A fakir was selling one-ounce bottles of headache and rheumntism cure on our streets, and a druggist was filling his bottles for him. They contained ammonia and rain water, and sold at 25 cents au ounce. He sold thorn like hot cakes. They were not v. orth one cent. I would not advise putting any unknown "stuff" Into rations for stock. All nature wants is that the food contain nourishment suited to support every part of the body. Milk and blue grass are samples of such a ration. Why should my friend wean pigs at six weeks old? Since milk is the best possible'diet for any young animal, and sinoe a gocd big sow will give lots of rich milk longer than six weeks why not let them have it? Is it a good plan to mate sows on the third day after farrowing? I do not like to cross the candid opinion of experienced growers, but I do not believe it is a good plan. Not'ce how Mr. II. pushes the sow preparatory to mating and after mating. He makes her a perfect storehouse of vitality and food material. She is large, mature, well developed, and "fat enough for market" when she farrows. Mr. H. would not breed a sow again till pigs are eight weeks old. They may soon be weaned and the mother will gain all the while she carries the second litter. I'd like to see Mr. C. Y.'a 60-day pig that weighs 120 pounds. Don't ever, ever forget the blue grass and clover pasture mentioned in these letters. That's where you get cheap meat Our mistake has been to depend much on pasture. A couple of ears of good "yaller" oorn a-piece twice a day, in clover to their backs, makes quicker and cheaper meat than grass alone. I think one can keep posted on markets, supply, demand, etc., till he can often vary his selling time a little to good advantage. ' No. 55, March 27. Hog cholera and other fatal diseases. The sanitation of hog raising. No. 66, April 6. Fertilizers. Where can commercial fertilizers be economically used and how? No. 57, April 10. The best fence post and how to preserve it. No. 58, April 17. Best material for roofing. Experience in painting roofs. Material. No. 59, April 24. Renovating an old orchard. No. 60, May 1. Mistakes and failures of recent years. In writing don't fail to note new points not generally known; also other points of real experience. Address all copy 10 days before publication. Let our subscribers write their experience. The purpose of the department is not exanstive articles but brief, pithy, practical experiences. A sort of heart to heart talk, suoh as you - enjoy with a neighbor. Read onr excellent articles on this subject. We were favored with some 30 letters. Those we are able to publish contain most of the points made. Address all copy to E. H. Collins. ^.Carmel. |
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