The Harrison times., 1916-06-03
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB WORK
No. 4. Growing Strong Pigs,

tluD Work.
Good, sound thrifty pigs. Weighing
from 35 TO 40 pounds each when eight
weeks Old do not come by luck" To
De lucky with pigs simply means hard
persistent work, good judgment and
being on the job night and day. To
| produce good strong, healthy pigs.
they must be looked after before they
are born The mother must be cared
for and well fed if she ia TO give birth
to strong litter
The Shelter: Ia the spring or sum
mer season the SOW is quite able to
! take care of herself She Will steal
away in the pasture ana in a day or
I two will COme up with a nice litter
OF pigs. But for the SOW that far
rows in the winter months come pro-
lection must be given her aud her lit
ter. .,othing is better for this than a
warm shed open to the south to get
the sunshine. The cold winds come
/ from the north, northeast and north
west, hence any shed enclosed or
those three sides is sufficient TO pre-,
vent the SOW from crushing the pigs
| at falTowing time scantling should
| be nailed to the inside of the house
about eight inches above the ground
and projecting toward The center Of
the pen
Feed tor the Sow Before Farrowing:
SOws fed on corn alone will not bring
strong and heavy pigs Feed some pea
nuts, wheat shorts tankage or sweet
milk with the corn in the following
proportion: Corn tnre9 parts and
shorts one part; corn nine parts aud
tankage one part corn two parts and
peanuts one part in null; corn three
parts and bran one part; corn six
parts and cowpeas one part
A $50 pound SOW should have from
| five to seven pounds per day OF one
OF The above mixtures if she is fed ~
! dry lot and plenty of fresh water.
The brood SOW Wheu carrying her lit
ter has 70 be fed with a view of feed
ing the growing pigs and TO lay the
foundation for their future strength,
size and constitution One of the
drains upon the SOW at this time is
furnishing bone making material She
therefore requires an extra amount
of bone making feed Provide a
trough with wood ashes, charred
corn cObs, charcoal and lime
II she is oyerfed at first. the pigs
are likely to take the scours or
thumps, No feed at all should be
given for the lirst "a hours, and very
little FOR several days When on
full feed in dry lot. she will eat
about four pounds Of grain per day for
each 100 pounds she weighs II she
weighs ESQ pounds she will mead
about 10 pounds per day. If she has
the run OF good pasture at least one-
/ = III
no pasture can be provided, she VIII
need to be fed about the same as be-
fore narrowing, except that she viii
need more grain When the pasture
ia composed OF Bermuda grass, a
grain ration equivalent to three per
cent of her live weight should be fed
and the grain part OF the ration
should be shorts, tangage and peas
Feed for the Pig Before Weaning:
II given an opportunity the pigs will
begin to eat when about three weeks
old. For thssa young animals noth.
ing is superior to skim milk with
shorts Many farmers have no skim
milk and in this case a thin slop or
water and shorts will be the best
thing to feed until the pigs are from
four to five weeks old, after which
time the ration should be made up OF
equal parts Of corn meal and shorts.
These young animals should not be-
fed on corn alone, They should
rather be given such feeds as skim
milk, shorts, pasture, cowpeas, soy
bean meal and peanuts,
Weaning the Pigs; Don't wean IN.
der eight weeks Of age 1t ls better
not to wean until ten or twelve weeks
of age. The mothers feed at wean.
ing time should be greatly reduced SO
that the flow of milk will be checked
Feed the pias what they VIII readily
clean up Of five parts of corn meal
Ave parts of shorts and one part "
tankago, or nine parts o.. corn meal
to one part OF tankage or middlings
for your pigs; and 'or adult pigs ono
part taukaga to eleven parts OF corn
viii, balance the rations in the propsr
proportion 70 build ~ bone and muscl~
VI tue pig ~