The Springdale news., 1916-02-18
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB WORK
No. q. Growing Strong Pigs.

By II. X. Sanders. Specialist for Pig
Club Work
Good, sound. thrifty pigs, weighing
from 80 to 40 pounds each when eight
weeks old do not come by Luck. To
be 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 we'll fed if she is to give birth
to strong litter.
The Shelter: In the spring or sum-
mer season the SOW Is quite able to
take care of herself She will steal
away IN the pasture and in a day or
two Will come up with a nice litter
Of pigs. But for the SOW that far
rows in the winter months some pro-
lection must be given her and her lit
fer. .,othing is better for this than a
warm shed open 10 the south to get
the sunshine The cold winds come
from the north, northeast and north
vest hence any shed enclosed on
those three sides is sufficient 70 pre-
vent the SOW from crushing the pigs
At farroWing time 4 seantling should
be nailed to the inside Of the house
about eight inches above the ground
and projecting toward the center IF
The pen.
Feed for the Sow Before Farewins
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 saree parts and
shorts one part corn nine parts and
tankage one part; corn two parts and
peanuts one part in hull; corn three
parts and bran one part; corn six
parts and cowpeas one part
4 80 pound SOW should have from
five 10 seven pounds per day of one
of the above mixtures if she is fed in
= dry lot and plenty of fresh water.
The brood SOW when carrying her lit
ter has to 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
trough with wood ashes. charred
corn cobs, charcoal and lime
If she is oyerfed at first, the pigs
are likely to take the scours or
humps No feed at all should be
given for the first 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. If she
weighs $50 pounds she will need
about 10 pounds per day. If she has
the run OF a good pasture at least one
half of the grain will be saved II
no pasture can be provided. she Will
need to be fed about the same as be-
fore narrowing. except that she will
need more grain When the pasture
is composed of Bermuda grass,
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 WEAVING:
If given an opportunity the pigs will
begin to eat when about three weeks
old For these young animals moth
ing is superior to skim milk with
shorts Many farmers have no skim
l. in, hie IN 81 of
water and shorts will be the best
thing 10 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.
WEAVING the Pigs: Don't wean I'M
der eight weeks Of age 1t is better
not to wean until ten or twelve weeks
OF age The mothers feed al wean-
ing time should be greatly reduced SO
that the flow of milk will be checked
Feed the pigs what they VIII readily
clean up of five parts of corn meal,
five parts Of shorts and one part ot
tankage. or nine parts OF corn meal
to one part of tankage or mddlings
for your pigs; and Tor adult pigs one
part tankage to eleven parts of corn
will balance the rations in the proper
proportion to build up bone and muscle
81 the pig