The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-08-08
From Montana State College

oUdtt 0OhCSC
YHILE it would seem that
M milk which has been run
i w through a cream separator
and had practically all of its cream
removed, would contain little of
food value, experiments carried on
at the Montana Experiment Station
by DR.. w. e. Joseph prove conclu
sively that skim milk is a valuable
addition to the ordinary hog ration
of grain and hay. Particularly do
sows and their filters respond to
the addition of little skim milk
to their diet, and since the size and
condition of the pigs at weaving
time have much to do with the
size and quality of the pig when it |
goes to market, this point Is es-
pecially important to the hog man.
The results of the experiments as
carried on by DR.. Joseph, show
conclusively that the way a pig is
started off has an important bearing
upon the economy of growth and
fattening and that skim milk can
be used to advantage in giving the
pigs the right start.
For the experiment two two-year
old Duroc-Jersey sows which far
rowed on the same date were Sc
lected. For the first Is days these
sows were fed alike on hulless bar
ley, oats, skim milk and alfalfa hay.
At the end of this time the SOW
whose litter had a small advantage !
in weight and gains per pig was
fed on blue hulless barley, little :
oats for about month longer and
on blue hulless barley, be- 5
ginning when the pigs were about
4 month old. The other SOW was fed d
he same feed and in addition was Il
ed skim milk, and the pigs were fed v
separately on blue hullesb barley T.
md skim milk, also beginning G
When the pigs were about a month .
I'D. No pasture was available to u
he COWS at any time during the test, y
owever, the pigs were able to get II
through the fences to grasses until II
hey were about three weeks old, u
fter which they were confined to al
he dry lots. o.
The filters we're weaned when sc
ne pigs of each reached an average
,eight of about so pounds The We
wo filters were then fed separately sa
n blue hulless barley and bright Sc
safy alfalfa hay. fe
When the experiment started each of
DIV had nine pigs and at the end tn
20 days no pigs had been lost. to
alter, however, the sow fed on tn
arley and alfalfa hay lost two of be
or pigs because she was not giving he
1ough milk to keep them all alive We
his condition was apparently due
o the nature of the ration fed. n
he sow that received skim milk VI
addition to the barley and al N
alta hay, raised all of her pigs In
fthout trouble.
The striking fact of the expert
lent was not that the two pigs
ere lost in the litter which start we
out with the advantage. but an
at the litter receiving the skim of
Tx, and which was slightly below shi
e other in weight at the start, grs
ickly jumped ahead in the matter ing
daily gains and held the lead AM
roughout the experiment. In Ia.
tie of the fact that the SOW in COT
first mentioned lot had two less tina
IS to care for during the greater bal
TT of the test, it took practically wit
weeks longer to bring the av- shi
lge weight of her pigs to so dro
unds than the other lot. That Gre
results were not simply mat ing
of the amount of feed was at l
ted to by the fact that the sow con
barley and alfalfa hay lost 25 cou
lnds less weight than the one fed sun
m milk. hay
While the difference in total feed tina