The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1882-08-24
Young Pig Feeding.

Few persons really know how to feed
young pigs Alright. They generally
overdo the matter and give them too
much at time. They Inuss and wal
.ow in the feed left in the trough, so
that it is unfit for them, and when hun
ger forces them to eat it, it makes them
SICK. The owner, seeing feed in the
trough, either adds moro to it, or waits
I'LL 1T Is eaten. In either case he does
wrong. Before feeding the second time
The trough should aLWdyS be washed or
swept out clean. Pigs should never be
made to eat food in which they have
:ramped with their dirty feet. This
leads to the remark that their feet should
not be dirty. The pen should be so
constructed that the feeding place-the
trough-should be sufficiently elevated
30 That the juices i'll the pen will not
nasty up" this part, and there should
be bedding enough in the pen to enable
the pigs TO keep their feet and their en-
tire bodies clean, when this is done the
trough will not be SO dirty and the pigs
will do better. We have often cautioned
against giving young pigs too hearty
1000, as it is injurious to them; so is
dirty food. The former produces de-
rangcment of the stomach and bowels
leading to diarrhea, and if continued to
inflammation of the bowels, and the lat
ter to nausea, loss of appetite and per-
haps the same results. In either case
the pigs do not thrive. Another mis-
take which must be guarded against is
feeding swill or milk too sour.
When wheat or rye bran is mixed
with the swill, fermentation is very
rapid, especially in hot weather, and
the swill will reach condition unfit
Tor foou before the owner is aware of it,
unless he mixes only sufficient uuanti-
ty at time for one or two fcedings
ahead. Fermentation in q swill barrel
where sour milk is mixed with the con-
tents is actively going on all the time.
AS fermentation changes the character
OF feed, the farmer often feeds his
young pigs Just exactly that which is
almost If rot absolutely poisonous,
while he is supposing all of the time he
is giving them the most hcalthful and
nutritious kinds of food. For instance,
he puts skim milk into his swill larrcl,
SO much of it that it is not fed out as
it is simply sour and loppcrd, and it re-
mains there until it mdcrrocs the
other forms of fermentation, and be-
comes either acctOus or putrcfactivc.
either condition rendering it unfit for
food. A swill barrel, to put it in plain
language, SO sour that its contents are
either Vinegar or alcohol, or so sinking
that putrcfaction is evident, is not the
proper medium for healthy pigs. The
de!etcrous effects OF had food NAV
be countcracted somewhat by feeding
charcoal freely, which pigs, with u
knowing instinct, will always devour
grcedily. "A little and often" is the
rule of all successful pig raiscrs; "a lit
tie means just what the pig will eat
without leaving the trough, and when it
is first taken from the SOW, it could be
measured in gill cup; as il grows older
and larger, the ration should grow with
increased size and appetite. "Often"
means, when the pig is young, not less
than six times a day and when oldcrno
less than four, until the growing age is
over and the fattening season begins,
when pig will eat three times in day
all the food it can digest
10 do Just right the milk skinned in
the morning should all be fed by night
time the same day, that is, skinned or
sour milk should all be fed within twelve
hours after skimming, and bran mixed
III 1t should also be fed within twelve
hours. In hot weather six hours would
be better. TO manage this business
properly there should be two swill bar
rcls, and mixtures be made accordingly,
one being fed as the other is emptied. -
II. ID. curtis, IN RaUruk NC1U YOrkCr