Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-04-11
The. Strawpile
Breeding and Feeding Swine.

Breeding and Feeding Swine.
| In order to be highly profitable. the
| farmers market hog must, first of all
have a store of inherited vitality ant
vigor, writes Geo. w. Wheeler of thu
| Kansas experiment station. Any in
herited tendencies to constitutions
weakness of any kind, will be fatal t.
the most profitable results The ami
NAL must transform a large amount O
material into a marketable product n
very short period of time, and an,
| weakness or lack of vitality and vigor
would result in a breaking down OF thu
animal, and failure to carry out to 9
profitable contamination, its purpose ir
life. This, coupled with a lack OF
fecundity in the breeding sows, is tbs
commonest cause of complaint among
our swine breeders and farmers.
The strong, vigorous sow, producing
and successfully raising, seven or eight
pigs at a litter, has more than doubls
the value of the SOW which will pro-
duce and raise but four.
1t is fixed law in breeding, that
CeTldlll cuatdClSFS are III d WebSB W. y
lated. For example, the most highly
developed beef COW, is seldom a heavy
mixer, and again, the light mixer is
not so sure and regular breeder Ma
ture seems to limit the production of
offspring by the ability to nourish and
care for that offspring.
The man who, in selecting his brood
sows, always picks for the smoothest
and chubbiest of the lot, is most surely
reducing the facundity of his herd. The
character of early fattening and quick
maturity, seems to be in a measure OPP
posed to great proificacy. and as we
constantly select with that one charac-
ter only in view, we may develop a
very refined, quick maturing type, but
in doing it have SO reduced the powers
of reproduction as to make the product
Improbable.
In order to overcome this tendency,
great care should be exercised in the
selections of the brood sows for the
following year. Go carefully over the
old sows and discard those which have
produced the small filters, the ones
which have been such poor suckers as
to be unable to raise a good litter Of
pigs, the cross, nervous sows, which
are always getting excited and killing
their pigs
Throw out the short, chuffy gifts in
Guiding those having contracted heart
girth. or narrow between the eyes; the
gilt most likely to make a good brood
sow, will be well developed, vigorous
and broad between the eyes, having
good heart girth, with fair length. and
good depth of body, and standing on
strong legs and feet.
Too many of our pure breeds have
been injured by too much purposeless
in breeding, which has for it's only
excuse the fact that the breeders
all want to have as much of the blood
of certain prize winning and popular
individuals in their herds as possible.
1t is really quite difficult in some of
our breeds, to secure animals which
are not quite closely related.
In-breeding and line breeding, in the
hands of breeder who knows his ami
mails thoroughly, has been of great vail
ue many times in fixing desired charac-
teristics, but the farmer pork producer
had better steer clear of it.
In connection with carelessness in
the selection and maturing of breed
ing stock, the average farmer probably
errs as often in the kind of feed and
care which he gives his brood sows and
young growing stock, as in any one
particular.
Corn is the great fattening feed, and
has made possible this great develop
nent Of the pork industry in our corn
belt states, but we cannot keep up thel
vigor and vitality of our breeding ami
mails if we feed continually on corn.
The brood SOW must be looked upon
as a pig factory, and the pig is bun
lie of protein as it were. The SOW de-
1eloping litter of pigs, must have this
protein supplied in her food; her sys-
EN- fairly Graves it, and she ravenously
levours the chance flesh or carcass
which comes her way.
The few wisps of alfalfa or clover
nay falling from the load are eagerly
licked up, and if she is allowed to go|
% narrowing time undergoing this pro-
Elm starvation, she is feverish and con-
,tipated, and the conditions are all
here to produce a pig eating sow.
Even if this does not occur, the pigs
ire lacking in vigor and vitality and
,ftentimes, the mother does not have
| proper supply of milk.
When the brood sows have been Sc
ected, they should be placed apart
rom fattening hogs 1t is not necessary /
o have the brood SOW in a poor con-
lition of flesh, in fact. it is not desir-
bile but it must not be corn fat. |
The sow which has received all the !,
llfalfa hay which she will eat, with a
mall amount of grain. is almost GER
ain to farrow strong, lusty litter of |
,igs. Exercise should be encouraged,
n fact compelled. If not taken volun-
,arily. the feeding should be sc