The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1882-08-24
YOUNG PIG FEEDING.

Few persons really know how to feed young
pigs Alright. They generally ovcrdO the matter,
and give them too much at time. They muss
aud walow in the feed left in the trough, so
that il is unfit for them and when hunger forces
them 70 eat it, it makes them sick. The owner,
seeing feed in the trough, either adds more to IT
waits till il is eaten. Before feeding the sec
Ond time the trough should always be washed
or swept ont clean. Pigs should never be made
TO eat food in which they have tramped with
their dirty feet. This leads to the remark that
their feet should not be dirty. The pen should
he so constructed that the feeding place-the
trough-should lie sufficiently elevated SO that
The juices in the pen will not ''nasty up this
part, and there should he bedding enough in the
pen to enable the pigs to keep their feet and
their entire bodies clean. When this is done the
trough will not he 81 dirty, and the pigs Will do
better We have often cautioned about giving
young pigs too hearty food, as il is injurious to
them: 81 is dirty food. The former produces de-
rangement of the stomach aud bowels, leading
to diarrhea, and if continued, to inflammation of
the bowels and the latter to nausea, loss of ap-
petite, and perhaps the same results. In either
ease the pigs do not thrive. Another mistake
which must be guarded against, is feeding swirl
milk too sour.
When wheat or rye bran is mixed with the
swirl, fermentation l. very rapid, especially IN
hot weather, aud the swill will reach cOndi-
tiun unfit for food before the owner is aware of
n, unless he mikes only a sufficient quantity at
a time for two feelings ahead. Fermen-
tatiOn in a swill barrel where sour milk is mixed
with the contents is actively going on all the
time. As fermentation changes the character ct
the feed, the farmer often feeds his young pigs
almost If not absolute poison, while he is
suppOsing all the time he is giving them the
most heathful and nutritious kind of food. For
instance, hc puts skim milk into the swill bar
REL much of il that il is not fed ont, as II is
simply sour and loppercd, and it remains there
until IL undergOes the other forms Of teTmenta-
tiOn and becomes either ascetous or pntTefac-
tive either condition rendering it unfit for food.
4 swill barrel, to put it in plain language,
hol, or sinking that putrefaction is evident
is not the proper medium for healthy pigs. The
delcterious effects of had food may he counterac-
ted mewhat 10y feeding charcoal freely, which
pigs, with knowing instinct, viii always de-
vour greedly. ~ little aud often" is the rule
of all successful pig raisrrs; "a little" means
Just what the pigs will eat without leaving the
trough, and when il is first taken from the SOW,
il could he measured in gill cup; it grows
older and larger, the rations should grow with
increased size and appetite. "Often" means,
when the pig is young, not less than six times
day, and when older, not less than four, until
the growing age is over and the tattening season
begins, when pig will eat three tmce in day
all the food il can digest
To do Just right, the milk skinned in the
morning should all he fed by nighttime, the
same day, that is, SKINNED milk should
all he fed in twelve hours after skimming and
bran mixed in il should also lie fed within twelve
hours. II hot weather six hours would he bet
ter. To manage this business properly, there
slnnld bc two swill barrels and mixtures lie
made accordingly, one being fed as the other is
cmpticd.-E. ID. FTcId in RHrGl Nor YORKER.