The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-09-28
WHY PIGS ARE OFTEN \ FAIL
IRE.
ErT'N's If Management That Could
Easily BE Avoided


l was talking with a man not
long ago who has raised hogs for
years, and he complained that his
sows rarely have full litters of
fair-sized fully developed pigs,
some being only partly grown and
others stillborh, says ID. G. Corn
man in the Farmers Review. He
is a good corn grower, his farm be-
ing fertile, and in the course of
the conversation he said if he
could raise the hogs to eat his
corn he would be well satisfied,
but luck was against him.
Now, / have made a good many
mistakes at one time and another
In farming as well as other ven
lures, but l have never blamed
my luck" at least. not until
had studied out whether | had any
part in the failure myself through
want of knowledge, lack of atten-
tentlon or other equally important
factor, SO naturally l began to
inquire what was the cause my
friend assigned for his misfortune.
MS SoWS were mature ones,
good greed and breeding-Poland
ChlnaS. His sire was unrelated
but the breed and the relationship,
OF what of it, cut no figure in re-
suits as there were practically
the same year after year. He had
tired getting breeding stock Of Du-
rocs also, and yet results were no
more satisfactory. This. man is not
the only one with this kind of
trouble, and yet many never dis
cover that it can be prevented by
profer care and feeding during the
pregnancy of the sow.
The Snuy NAV ha N GOOD Loo ltb y,
condition at time of service, and a
large litter is the result, and all
goes well till the demands on the
sew for the nourishment OF the
unborn young are greater than she
can supply from the food she gets.
Iae good corn raiser usually has
plenty of his favorite crop and
he wants to use his hogs well, so
he shovels it out to them
Corn is not very heavy in pro-
tein, the very element needed to
make bone muscle, hair, etc, and as
there is not enough to go round
one by one the pigs in the litter
die, and in place OF being able to
count on an average of eight or
ten pigs to each sow, four or five
is doing pretty we'll" At the price
good sow is worth, and counting
~ SOoI vi lcI lctu lOT SIX
this (assumes that two litters are
raised each year, this number is
a pretty poor return on the invest
ment, and it would pay big prof
1T TO study up on the feed question
and supply what the sow needs.
Give her a chance to run to the
stack of clover, alfalfa or cowpea
hay, and she will bala1lce her own
ration if you feed heR corn. If
theSe are not at hand supply
shorts, oilmeal or tankage with
the corn, and if possible give some
Succulent feed, like silage or roots
of some kind and give the SOW free
dom to move about, so that by eX-
ercise she may induce a vigorous
growth of her pigs. There are many
who decry artichokes, but | have
found them the best ally ever
had i'll the hog business as they
VIII supply both protein and sue
culence; but my experience with
them Will have to be another
story" and l can only repeat.
give the SOW a variety OF feed, some
of which must contain protein; let
her have exercise in abundance,
comfortable sleeping quarters, and
Keep her from other animals that
might use her roughly: and last,
let her have only drink which is
slightly warm and there will be no
slightly warm, and there will be
no danger of dead or undeveloped
pigs at farrowing time, and troubles
incident to this period will pass
away.