The Glenwood post., 1908-05-23
REARING PICS
IN COLORADO
METHODS APPROVED BY ExPERI-
ENcE AND AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE EXPERIMENTS.
SHOULD BE PAsTURED
VARIETY OF FEEDS GIVES BETTER
RESULTS THAN ANY SIM
GLE KIND.

BY H. NJ. Cottrell. superintendent Of
Farmers Institutes.
Pigs should not be weaned until they
are at least eight week old, and II the
SOW is not to have second litter, or
if there Is time enough in case she is,
it is better TO let the pigs suckle until
they are ten to twelve weeks old.
Farmers often get in a hurry and
wean pigs when six weeks old, but
unless there is an abundant supply of
milk and especially good care is given.
the pigs are likely to get stunted.
sometimes so severely that they never
recover.
The cheapest way to put gains On
young pigs is through the BOW. She
has a strong digestion and can turn
coarse grains and pasture into easily
digested milk. Careful experiments
show that pound of weight taken
from the sow will make more than
one pound of gain on the pigs, the
flesh of the young animals containing
more water.
The sow should be fed to produce
a high yield of milk and the pigs
should be kept with her until they
get to eating a full feed of both grain
and pasture.
When the time comes to wean the
pigs, cut down the sow's ration to wa,
ter and a little grain. Take away the
stronger pigs first, leaving the weaker
ones to suckle for few days. This
method will give the weak pigs an
extra chance and will dry up the sow
without injuring her udder. When
she is giving large supply of milk
and all the pigs are taken away at
once her uGder is often ruined and
she becomes unable to suclile another
litter.
When first weaned, feed the piss
from three to five times day. While
with their mother they took their
meals at least every two hours and
too sudden change is detrimental.
After they get to growing vigorously
cut down TO TWO meals day, and
when they weigh seventy-five pounds
each and are on good pasture feed
once day and that at night.
When first weaned, feed the pigs
some skim milk if possible. 1t makes
the change from mothers milk easier.
Whole milk is good, but as butter fat
is worth s400 to $40 ton, it is ex.
pensive pig feed. Tankage will take
the place of milk, making 1t about
one-fifth the total weight of the grain
fed.
A variety of feeds will give larger
and cheaper gains than will any single
feed. Peas, barley, wheat, rye, milo
maize, and corn are the grains to use
in Colorado. Soak from twenty-four to
forty-eight hours, each time feeding a
mixture of at least two grains.
Do not sour the feed, and keep the
troughs, pailsiand barrels used in feed
ing sweet and clean.
Half the weight of two hundred
pound pig should be made from pas
ture. Alfalfa makes the best pasture,
followed by rape, clover and a mix
ture of wheat, oats and barley sown
thickly.
Keep the pasture short for young
pigs. as fresh growth is the most cas-
lily digested, and tall pastures, when
wet, often make the pigs have sore
skins. Have two pastures and change
from one to the other, SO that tho
pigs will always have clean feed.
They need fresh. clean water al
ways before them II well is not
convenient, the water can be supplied
cheaply in barrels to which are at
tached hog watereos.
They must have a warm, dry, clean
shelter, free from draft every night in
the year, and they need a shade from
the midday sun.
If the pigs are lousy when weaned.
dip them twice ten days apart. Put
up short posts in the feed lot and
pastures. Wrap these posts with old
sacks and once week saturate the
sacks with crude oil or kerosene. The
pigs will rub on these and the oil will
kill the lice.