Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-03-21
Feeding Pigs for the First $50 DAYS.

.+ n;S go" into snort, dumpy, fat pigs
AZ hlne or ten weeks old, and can't be
t haue 10 stretch out and become large.
thrifty hogs afterwardsp s'
ms question involves the ropcr
leeulngof pigs till the frame and mus.
. J. system are developed. The PIGS.
~ lne case mentioned by our cores.
pohuent, We're, undoubtedly, piled with
100 purely fattening food before the
frame was developed, and the small bio
siilPiiY 1attened and finished like q ma.
ofe hog; and when this is the case. the
pig may as we'll be killed, for it IS too
late alter that to grow the bones and
muscles probably. The simplest way
10 cure 'hls early %fattening is to turn on
mn grass, and let it wear off it's fat.
when you may grow its frame and mus.
cular system, preparatory to fatteninp.
.nlo large carcass. But this will cost
inuch more than it comes to, and the
most profitable thing to do is to XIII
suGn pigs and make the most of them.
Inns leads us to point out the proper
way to iced the pig for it's first $50 days.
Up 10 th's age, and perhaps q month or
TWO beyond, it should be simply devel-
oplng its body into q condition for RI
Penlng INTO u lat hog.
AS we have often said, pig raisers
should avoid giving young pigs a spe.
clally fattening food. In the dairy there
is plenty of skim-milk, which is well
adapted to grow the young pig, as it is
rich in phosphate of lime to grow the
bones, and Of cheesy, albuminoid mat
ter to grow the muscles. A little corn
may be given with the milk. Such PICS
never grow into little round dumps OF
fat, but grow into rangy shoats. Yet,
probably, majority of our readers have
the pigs without the skim-milk, and we
must name the food for pigs under such
circumstances. One of the best foods
for the young pig is a small quantity Of
l%lnseed-oil meal, a tablespoonful to the
tiftecn-pound pig, increased as the pig
grows; this, fed with oats and corn
ground together, made into q slop, will
cause rapid growth, but not premature
fattening. Cotton-seed meal is some-
times used, but we can not recommend
it for young pigs. 1t is not so easily
digested, and it has not the same bene.
fetal laxative effect as linseed meal.
which Is found to be a promoter Of
health in the pig. This can be pro-
cured at any considerable town all over
the country, and those who raise and
feed large numbers of hogs can afford
to send to the oil mills for It, and get it
at wholesale rates. 1t can be bought at
the mills at 500 to S25 per ton. and it
is always worth these prices as a food.
1t is so rich in muscle-forming matter
as to be of great value to feed with
corn, which is so deficient in this quail
ty.
Peas are also an excellent pig food,
rich in muscle-forming matter, and can
usually be purchased at about the same
price as linseed meal. Peas and corn,
ground together, make an excellent
food, when cooked, for young pics.
Millet ground with oats will grow
young pigs without fattening them.
Another combination of food for YOUNG.
pigs is, 10 bushels of oats, 5 bushels Of
corn, and l bushel of tlaxseed, ground
fine together. This small proportion of
tlaxseed will keep the digestive organs
in the best condition. That makes a
ration just laxative enough for health.
We have seen a herd of pigs make a
magnificent average growth upon this
AtICIoh III VllOCls lSbu ullu l1uC l1lO-
dlings are also often used for pigs.
They are often used to mix with corn
meal, and make a great Improvement
yer feeding the meal alone. but pigs
do not digest brantsso; well as ruminat-
ing animals. We have fed bran to
pigs with profit to make bulk in the
ration, but, a a food. we do not consider
it as good as the other foods we have
named.
In the summer small pigs will be
given the benefit of grass in pasture,
and, in that case, they are not likely to
fatten much on any food. The grass
and exercise change the effect of the
other food materially.
The feeder must watch the effect of
food upon his pigs, and if it has too
much of a fattening effect, he must at
once change the combination of food,
remove the most fattening part of the
ration, and substitute something less so.
Why should not those who feed ami.
mails SO carefully, study every element
in their business as the master me-
chanic in his. He studies mechanical
principles; let the feeder as carefully
study the effect of foods, and know pre-
cisely how to.apply them to produce the
desired effects. Feeders have, hereto ore,
paid SO little attention to the different
qualities OF foods, that their principal
concern was to see whether the animals
eat the food with Il relish. It was taken
for granted that any food eaten readily
by animals must be good for them, and
feeders did not seem to think it neces-
sary to have more than one food at. a
time. But the last few years have
shown much progress in studying the
relative value of foods, and the meth
DDS Of combining them in the ration.--
Lare St0cG Journal.