Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-06-30
Feeding Young Pigs.

II the young pig is not getting
enough milk from its mother to push
it, which usually occurs about the
fourth or fifth week of its life, fix lit
tic ayoughs so that none but the lit
le ones can have access to them, and
give the pigs two or three rations
Dolly of cows milk. 1t is not best at
the start to feed whole milk, or, if so,
II shoald be diluted with one-third
water and be fed to them warm and
sweet. Half pint at feed until
they are"six weeks old will be a liberal
allowance, in addition to what they
get from the SOW. After the eighth
weeks they may have the whole milk,
and the quantity may be increased
gradually until they have all they
will consume. About the tenth or
twelfth week, if small ration of corn
meal is added to the milk, the pigs
will quickly respond with added
growth ana appearance. The milk is
making bone and muscle, and the
meal will interlaid a streak of fat that
will give to the hams and shoulders
that marbled appearance that butch
ers and connoisseurs delight IN. If
abe breeder is near city or large
home market, where he can supply
certain butchers, tits no hard matter
by little care and foresight to es
sablish brand of butchers pork that
will readily command one or two cts
above the market. But there must be
real excellence in product T. can.
not be done with any pig, by simply
making it fat. For this kind of feed
ing the Berkshire and Essex, if pure
bred are particularly adapted BY
following the plan indicated above,
with grass or clover in summer, and
steamed fodder or hay in.winter, it is
no trouble to turn of pigs of 200 to
$50 pounds weight at seven or eight
mouths, and this is what butchers
want for the local market, while dur
ing the summer $50 pounds suits
ahem better if rightly fed.
This however, applies chiefly to
small farms and uearness to market,
and no doubt the same practice can
be followed by thousands of our lar
gest feeders with added profit to their
present course. 1t is within the OBJ
servation Of thinking breeders, that
II there is any hog disease in thecoun-
try certain ones seem to get more
than their share of it. Thisis for the
most part due either to in breeding,
"a to an exclusive corn diet. Either
81 these will debilitate the constitution
and are especially to be guarded
against if one would be successful in
this business. As to how long the
milk diet can be probably continued
we desire to quote an experiment made
by Professor Shelton. at the Kansas
Agricultural College. His expert
ment was made with pure bred Essex
pigs, whose average age was eight
days, and the average IL pounds and
a fraction. They were divided into
lots of five, each pig had pen to it
self Soou after the experiment be
gan, one pig had to be withdrawn on
account of sickness. One lot was fed
Oh new milk fresh from the cow, with
shorts; the other lots shorts and
water, All feed was accurately
weighed, and several facts are deduc-
ible from the experiment, but we wish
to use it in its relation to milk as pig
food. The result after feeding 100
days was that those which received
she milk diet weighed 14l pounds,
while those who got no milk weighed
l0l pounds, . difference of just 40
each in avor Of the the milk. But this
IS not all Professor Shelton says:
The milk fed pigs Mt the end of the
experiment were ripe and ready for
she butcher, while those that were fed
On the shorts alone were altogether
ausalable. The pigs which received
milk were sold to the butcher at the
Highest market price; the others, with
possibly two exceptions, were saable
only as stocAers. Indeed three of
2hem did not-weigb, four months later
As much as the milk fed pigs did at
she end Of the experiment. '-AHler-
4 II