ion of Agriculturol Sciences UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA SWINE O D U C T I O N \. •<■>; %$&*$*$ ■': HUBERT HEITMAN, JR.' .$ M^I ■ • f X« * CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL Experiment Station MANUAL 17 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of California, Davis Libraries http://archive.org/details/californiaswinep17heit CALIFORNIA SWINE PRODUCTION HUBERT HEITMAN, JR. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS WINE RAISING in California ranges in scope from fattening a single animal for the family pork supply to large-scale garbage- feeding enterprises involving 5,000 or more hogs on as few as 20 acres. Large numbers of garbage-fed hogs are fattened near metropolitan Los Angeles and San Francisco, and many smaller hog farms are widely scattered throughout the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys and other sections of the state. The University of California at Davis usually has about 35 sows on its 17 acres of lots and pasture. Some commercial breeders of purebred hogs have about the same number on similar acreage, while hog men who fatten animals for market (and raise much of their own feed) generally average more acres per sow and, unless hogs are a sideline, have more sows. Most hog raisers grow as much of their own grain as possible because it is expensive to buy feed. They also provide pasture, and often have access to some by-products feeds, such as skim milk or cull fruits. Even if their hogs are not raised on a commercial scale, most farmers find that it pays to keep a few animals to make use of table refuse and waste feed. On almost every farm, enough feed is wasted to supply the family pork if fed to a few pigs. If your feed and land costs are favorable, you will find that the advantages of hog raising in California generally outweigh the drawbacks. Swine require a relatively small capital investment in breeding stock and equipment. Because California imports annually more than half the pork it consumes (over a million head, live or dressed), an assured market seems certain for some time to come. This is especially true in view of the state's expanding population. California markets usually pay more per hundredweight than the Omaha price because of the saving in freight charges. The generally mild winters and moderate summers insure avail- able pasture practically the year around. It is possible to raise two litters a year under these excellent climatic conditions. Many fine pork producing feeds are grown on California's diversified farms. They include barley, wheat, grain sorghums, alfalfa, Ladino clover, and grass mixtures. Pigs also produce a profit from barley and rice stubble, by-products of the packing plant and dairy, cull fruits, and kitchen waste. The main drawbacks to hog raising in California are higher production costs. In spite of the fact that many feeds are grown here, the state also imports vast amounts of wheat, oats, and corn each year, plus large tonnages of protein concentrates. This means higher prices because of shipping rates. Land and labor costs are also somewhat higher in California than in hog-belt states. Another item to be considered is the fact that artificial shade must be pro- vided in summer if no natural shade is available. T, HIS MANUAL contains information for both the beginner and the experienced swine producer. The material is based largely on Circular 15 (which it replaces). The second revision of the circular (1949) was made by the late Professor E. H. Hughes and Hubert Heit- man, Jr. To raise hogs successfully you will need to know about: Page Equipment 1 Choosing a breeding herd . . . . 8 Feeds 10 Management of a breeding herd 25 Fattening pigs for market 37 Diseases, worms, and parasites 48 Checking for adequate rations 51 THE AUTHOR: Hubert Heitman, Jr., is Associate Professor of Animal Husbandry and Associate Animal Husband- man in the Experiment Station, Davis. OCTOBER, 1954 CALIFORNIA SWINE PRODUCTION i AND and EQUIPMENT for hog raising can be fairly simple and inex- pensive, with only a small capital investment. The best place for a hog ranch is one where you can grow your own alfalfa, mixed grasses, or Ladino clover cheaply, where you can also grow barley or other feed grains at low cost, and where there is plenty of shade and water. Locate your swine barn and lots where trees give natural shade and where drain- age is good. This may be on the top of a gentle slope or where the soil is light and sandy. You will find that such locations make it much easier to keep hogs cool in summer and clean in winter. Other factors that make for profitable hog raising are nearness to market, good shipping facilities, and rich soil to grow your own feed. If you are located where dairy by- products are available, that is an advan- tage because they are excellent hog feeds. However, they are scarce, because most milk is sold as whole milk to processors who bottle it for city consumers. If you grow rice or barley, you ma) find hogs profitable for gleaning. A concrete hog wallow is desirable, but not absolutely necessary. If you build one, it should be 8 to 10 feet wide, 14 to 16 feet long, and have a drain so it can be cleaned easily. Yon need to keep only 4 inches of watei 01 less in the wallow, and this should be drained often and the wallow thoroughly cleaned. A film of crude or crankcase oil on the water will keep down lice and mange, and help keep the pig's hair in good condition. Locate the hog wallow where it can be reached easily by the pigs. Tight fences are important. Woven wire 32 inches high is widely used. The diamond-mesh kind, with a barbed wire at bottom and top, is excellent. For small lots, you can build a good fence from 1x6 inch rough board-. 1 boards high, with about 3 inches be- tween the two bottom boards. Wood, concrete, or steel posts an' sat- isfactory. The\ should be onl\ 8 to LO feet apart, and may be even closer to- gether. Two kinds of central farrowing houses are used. The one shown on page 2 has pens for 1 1 sows, i If this plan does not meet your needs, your I niversit) of Cali- fornia Farm Advisor can help you mod- ify it. I The other i> >impl\ a single row ni T a#aa = o 1 1 y co o ■« 213 3DNV>UN3 of farrowing pens — as many as you need or can conveniently build together — covered with a roof. In both types, the partitions between pens should be at least 30 inches high, and may be built of wood, woven wire, or gas pipe. The farrowing pen should be at least 6 feet wide by 8 feet long. Each pen will take care of one sow and litter at a time or will provide shelter for five to seven 100-pound pigs. In each pen, a door should lead to a separate outside pen where the sow and her pigs can get direct sunlight and can exercise naturally. The floors of both inside and outside pens should be concrete or wood because a dirt floor is impossible to keep clean. Each farrowing pen should have a guardrail about 8 inches above the floor and an electric brooder in one corner. You can make the guardrail from gas pipe or 2-inch lumber. A simple farrowing box, such as that shown in the picture, top right, can be easily constructed on the farm. The pigs can be put into it as they are born, to keep warm until the rest of the litter is farrowed. An automatic waterer will save labor and furnish fresh, cool water at all times. The waterer shown here is made of two concrete pipes set into a concrete platform. The outer pipe is 10 inches high, 3 inches thick, and 30 inches in diameter (inside). The inner pipe is 36 inches high, 2 inches thick, and 16 inches in diameter (inside). The float and water pipe are inside the tall pipe. A small hole or holes at water level in the inner pipe lets the water into the basin, and a 2-inch hole in the outer pipe makes it easy to drain and clean the drinking basin. There are several types of automatic waterers either for gravity or for pres- sure systems. These may be ordered from livestock equipment supply houses. Movoble houses arc often used when tin- sows and litters are put on pasture I Bee top photo, p. 1 1 . The) are valuable as barle) for fattening pigs. Dried figs and prunes have about the same feeding value as raisins, and should be fed with barle) or grain sorghums and some protein sup- plement. Tubers and vegetables, such as artichokes, beets, cooked pota- toes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins, give variety to the diet and furnish some feed value. Hogs relish them, but the) are low in total digestible nutrients and high in water. Potato meal is made by drying potatoes artificially, or in the sun in the southern San Joaquin Valley, and then grinding them. It has a feed analysis much like barle\. It should be fed in small amounts with other feeds, probably 25 to 40 per cent in the ration for pigs weighing 100 pounds or more; for younger pigs, about 10 per cent should be fed. 2. Protein Supplements If your hogs are not on a legume pas- ture, such as alfalfa or Ladino clover, they will need a protein supplement. Even on legume pasture, gains are better if some protein supplement is fed. Table 2 compares common protein supple- ments. Skim milk and buttermilk are the best supplements to balance the lack of proteins in grains. The milk pro- teins are relatively complete as compared with those of grains. These two dairy products also carry plenty of calcium and phosphorus and thus help to balance the lime deficiency of the grains. Parts of the vitamin B complex are found in them. These nutrients are needed for re- production, for production of milk, and for normal growth. Hence milk by- products are especially valuable tor the brood sow and young pigs. The difficulty is that skim milk and buttermilk are scarce and relativel) ex- pensive. Mosl milk in California is sold as market milk instead of being proc- essed for cream and butter, with result- ing In -products available lor use as 13] Table 2. — Nutrients Contained in 20 Nitrogenous or Protein Supplements Feed Total dry matter in 100 pounds Digestible nutrients in 100 pounds Digestible protein Total digestible nutrients Crude protein Mineral matter in 100 pounds Total mineral matter Calcium Phos- phorus Skim milk Buttermilk Whey Skim milk, dried Buttermilk, dried Whey, dried Tankage (60 per cent ) Meat and bone scraps (50 per cent) Fishmeal (over 63 per cent) Linseed meal (old process) Cottonseed meal (43 per cent) Coconut meal (old process) Soybean meal Wheat-flour middlings Wheat bran Beans, field Pea seed, field Cowpeas Alfalfa meal (good) . . . Alfalfa, green pounds 10 9 7 94 92 94 93 94 93 91 93 93 91 89 90 90 91 89 93 25 pounds 3.4 3.3 0.8 31.2 29.2 11.0 51.5 41.8 60.1 30.8 36.4 18.1 37.2 16.1 13.7 20.2 20.1 19.2 11.8 3.4 pounds 9 9 7 81 84 78 68 65 74 77 76 78 78 79 67 79 78 76 54 15 per cent 3.6 3.5 0.9 34.7 32.4 12.2 60.6 51.0 66.8 35.4 43.9 21.3 44.3 18.3 16.9 22.9 23.4 23.4 16.1 4.5 pounds 0.7 0.8 0.7 7.8 10.0 9.9 20.2 29.1 15.6 5.6 6.4 6.2 6.0 3.1 6.1 4.2 3.0 3.5 9.1 2.3 pounds 0.13 0.14 0.05 1.30 1.36 0.86 6.37 9.71 0.39 0.23 0.21 0.29 0.09 0.14 0.15 0.17 0.11 1.32 0.35 pounds 0.10 0.08 0.04 1.03 0.82 0.72 3.23 4.81 0.87 1.12 0.64 0.66 0.71 1.29 0.57 0.51 0.46 0.19 0.07 These data are taken from Feeds and Feeding: a Handbook for Student and Stockman, by F. B. Morrison, pp. 1086-1131, published in 1948. Reprinted with permission of the Morrison Publishing Company, Ithaca, feeds. But if you have a few cows of your own, you may have some skim milk or buttermilk for your hogs. Or you may be able to get some if you are in a district where milk is sold for market cream or butter. Undiluted buttermilk has about the same chemical make-up and total digest- ible nutrients as skim milk. It is as good as skim milk when fed with corn, and almost as good when fed with barley. These dairy by-products should al- ways be pasteurized before being fed to bogs. This will help prevent diseases caused by unpasteurized products. i You can feed skim milk or buttermilk separately or with barley or other grain or grain mixtures as a slop. You will get excellent results and have a slop with about the right consistency by using 1 pound of rolled barley or grain mix to 3 pounds of liquid. If you have plenty of these dairy by-products, feed 1 pound of grain for each 5 or 7 pounds of liquid. Whey has considerable feed value as a supplement to grains, even though it is lowest, among the protein supple- ments, in amounts of digestible nutrients and protein. Most of the protein is re- 14] moved during the cheese making or when casein is produced. It takes more whey and grain than skim milk and grain to produce 100 pounds of gain. Despite these drawbacks, whey pro- duces fair gains. The protein that is in it seems to be of good quality. Like skim milk, whey contains parts of the vitamin B complex. Three lots of 50 pigs each, averaging approximately 69 pounds each, were fed 3, 5, or 7 pounds of whey for each pound of barley, with I per cent salt. There was very little difference in the amount of dry matter required per pound of gain among the groups. While the gains were not rapid, the pigs seemed thrifty and the heavier pigs in each lot were in excellent condition. There was little or no difference in shrinkage on the way to market, or in yield and quality of carcasses among the three lots. Like other dairy by-products, whey is scarce. You will probably be able to get it only if there is a cheese or casein factory in your district. But it is worth using if it is available. Ii is fed like -kim milk, and should l»<- pasteurized. Dried skim milk and buttermilk contain a little more than half as much protein as tankage, and arc priced Bome- what higher. BceaiiM- of their price, t hf\ are not often used for hog feeding, and there IS little information about them. In one test at the I niversitj of California, pigs were fed rolled barle) and dried buttermilk. They gained about I ] ■_. pounds per head dail) and consumed about 350 pounds of barle) and about 35 pounds of dried buttermilk per LOO pounds of gain. Tankage and meat scraps are among the best hog feeds because: 1. They are extremely rich in digest- ible protein. 2. These proteins combine well with those of cereal grains to produce fast growth. A convenient arrangement of feed bins and weighing equipment, like this, will save time and energy. [15] 3. They have large amounts of calcium and phosphorus. 4. They are a safe feed to use because they are cooked under high pressure and are dried thoroughly. Pork producers everywhere feed tank- age and meat scraps. Dairy products and fish meal are the only other protein feeds that rank higher with hog feeders. In trials with pigs at the University of California Experiment Station, tankage fed with barley gave average daily gains of about 1.4 pounds, as compared with 1.6 pounds when skim milk was used with barley. The pigs fed barley and tankage averaged 444 pounds of barley and 41 pounds of tankage per 100 pounds of gain. Those fed barley and skim milk averaged 325 pounds of bar- ley and 692 pounds of skim milk (which would contain about 66 pounds of dry matter). Because of its high protein content, only 1 part of tankage or meat scraps to 10 parts of barley or corn by weight need be fed to produce excellent gains on hogs in dry lot. This small amount is enough for brood sows and boars, too. If you have alfalfa or other green pas- ture, you can feed even less tankage. Very young pigs will do better if you add wheat middlings to their barley and tankage ration. A standard 60 per cent protein tank- age is recommended. Fish meal has produced surprising results in feed- ing tests. It contains more digestible pro- tein than does tankage. Fish meal con- tains about 15 per cent ash or mineral matter, second only to tankage, and much of this is calcium and phosphorus. A summary of experiments in various experiment stations shows that pigs fed a carbonaceous concentrate with fish meal gain faster and require slightly less Iced than do pigs fed a carbonaceous con- centrate and tankage. Wheat bran is an excellent feed to add to a brood sow's ration, both be- fore and after farrowing, because it is bulky and slightly laxative. For pigs that are off feed or doing poorly, you can feed from 10 to 25 per cent of it in their ration. Wheat bran is not a good feed for fattening pigs because it is bulky and low in protein. Wheat middlings, or shorts are low in protein, but still are popular with hog feeders. You can get excellent results with young growing pigs on pas- ture, before and especially after wean- ing, by feeding them a mixture of wheat middlings, rolled barley, and either skim milk, fish meal, or tankage. Linseed meal is not used much in California except by hog men fitting purebred hogs for the shows. A ration of barley, linseed meal, and fish meal, tankage, or skim milk gives excellent results in fattening hogs, but barley and linseed meal alone pro- duce poor gains. This is because their proteins are incomplete. Coconut meal, when not rancid, can be fed with barley to pigs on alfalfa pasture. Use 1 part coconut meal to 3 or 4 parts of grain by weight. When you feed coconut meal and barley in dry lot, always add alfalfa meal and some animal protein, such as skim milk, tankage, or fish meal. Cottonseed meal may have some toxic effects if fed in large amounts. If you feed 10 per cent or less in the ration, with alfalfa pasture or hay, you should have no trouble. Al- though cottonseed meal has about 30 per cent less protein than does tankage, in California it is usually the cheapest pro- tein supplement. It is therefore economi- cal for use in the ration of swine. A com- bination of one-half to two-thirds of the protein supplement as cottonseed meal 16 and the rest as tankage, meat scraps, of- fish meal will give excellent results with pigs on pasture. Soybean meal, with its high protein content, produces good gains when fed with barley or corn and alfalfa meal or some animal protein such as tankage. This feed is not grown much in California, hut more of it has heen fed since L938. Field peas, when they ean be grown successfully with oats or barley, make fine feed for hogging-down. Milo and eowpeas also make an excellent mixture for hogs to pasture off, with or without other grains. Navy or lima beans supply both energy and protein; hence they can be used to replace part of the barley as well as part of the tankage. Do not feed beans alone, because this will probably result in a soft carcass. You can use from 15 to 30 per cent in a ration with barley and a small amount of tankage. Beans have little vitamin A and lime; when you feed them you should give the hogs some form of lime, and alfalfa or other pasture. Raw beans have a bitter taste, and hogs will not eat them. They should be cooked or Bteamed before being fed t<» the hogs. If VOU -all the watej during cooking, tli<- beans will taste better. The cooked beans do not keep well, and onl\ one or two days' Bupplj can l>«- < o<,k<-l at a time. Steaming l<>i ■'>" minutes gives just as good results a- cooking. II the beans are then dried and ground, tli«-\ will keep, and large l<»t- can he prepared at a time. Alfalfa hay, meal, and leaves cam an excellent variety of proteins. They also are high in lime and inan\ vitamins. These nutrients produce the excellent results you get when you add chopped alfalfa hay or alfalfa meal to a ration of barley and protein Iced. BUch as wheat middlings, soybean meal. <>i tankage. From 5 to 10 per cent alfalfa by weight is usually enough to add to such a ration. For hogs, chopped alfalfa hay or coarsely ground alfalfa meal or leaves are better than unchopped ha\ or finely ground meal. Alfalfa feeds are too bulky to feed young growing pigs in large amount-. However, during wet winter months when you cannot use alfalfa pasture, you should always feed chopped alfalfa ha\ regularly to brood sows and a little to growing pigs. (Alfalfa pasture is dis- cussed under "Forage.") 3. Forage You will gain three important advan- tages by pasturing your pigs on alfalfa or other forage. They are: 1 . Healthier pigs. 2. Faster gains. 3. Less feed for 100 pounds of gain. On pastures, pigs can exercise natu- rally; they get direct sunlight; and the variety of proteins, vitamins, and min- erals in the forage produces thrifty, healthy, fast-growing pigs. All this ap- plies to brood sows, boars, growing and fattening pigs alike. [ Best of all, when grain is high-priced or scarce, you can grow hogs with the least amount of concentrates if the ani- mals also have pasture. Legume forages (especially alfalfa) cut the amount of protein supplements you must bin to balance the ration or put on 100 pounds ol gain. Alfalfa pasture is an excellent forage crop for pig- some people sa\ it is the best for these reasons: : I It produces a large tonnage per acre. It can be grazed for a long time. It is palatable. It is high in calcium and vitamin A. Its proteins help to balance the grain proteins. No other forage is used more widely than alfalfa for brood sows, both before and after farrowing. You can get excellent gains with pigs weighing 50 to 200 pounds by pastur- ing them on alfalfa, and also feeding a ration of 15 parts rolled barley and 1 part tankage, by weight. Ladino clover and mixtures of it with grasses have replaced alfalfa on some farms since Ladino was devel- oped as a pasture crop. The food nutri- ents in these mixtures are about the same as those in alfalfa. They may be grown on some soils that are too shallow or heavy for alfalfa, or where alfalfa does poorly because of diseases or weeds. They stand pasturing very well, even on sandy soils. One drawback is that they need to be irrigated often. Sudangrass yields a heavy tonnage if you get a good stand, and therefore is fast becoming popular as a summer pasture. It provides less variety of proteins than alfalfa, and less calcium and phosphorus. Barley, field peas, and vetch, mixed together, have given excellent re- sults, according to some hog raisers. This mixture furnishes carbohydrates and a variety of proteins and minerals, but will not stand severe pasturing. A mixture of barley and rape can be substituted where alfalfa, Ladino clover, or other legume pastures cannot be sown. If you seed them in September or October, barley and rape provide ex- cellent winter pasture just when alfalfa grows slowly. Or you can sow them for early spring pasture in January or Feb- ruary. About 50 pounds of barley and 8 pounds of Dwarf Essex rape per acre is a good seed mixture. It can be drilled or broadcast. You will get best results by letting it grow 8 to 12 inches tall before turning your pigs or brood sows in on it. 4. Salt Mixtures Hog raisers have long known that a balance between proteins and carbona- ceous, nutrients (starches, sugars, and fats) is needed for good growth. But only in recent years have the many cases of stiffness and rickets in hogs brought out the importance of salts for normal growth of bones. Calcium (lime) is the mineral most likely to be lacking in hog rations. The common grains are low in it. Dairy by-products, tankage, fish meal, and alfalfa hay and meal have mm h more of it than grains do. But even if you feed one or more of these, you should also feed either alfalfa pasture or one of the salt mixtures given on the next page, to be sure that your hogs get plenty of calcium. Severe lack of calcium, especially in the rations of young pigs and of brood sows, may cause rickets. A hog ration that is low enough in calcium to produce rickets is likely to be low in other nutri- ents also; and some of the symptoms that develop may be due to lack of these other nutrients. For example, if young pigs are fed only a straight grain ration without any alfalfa pasture or salt mix- tures, they will grow slowly, become nervous, stiff in their legs, and finally break down with severe rickets. Their ration is low in protein and vitamins as well as calcium, and the symptoms are due to the combination of deficiencies. 18] Again, a sow may have small, weak pigs at birth if, during gestation, she is fed a straight grain ration, or grain plus some protein supplement like linseed meal. The unborn pigs develop poorly because the sow's ration is low in cal- cium, vitamin A, possibly some of the vitamin B complex, and lacks a complete protein. If these deficiencies are con- tinued and the sow produces two litters a year, sterility and rickets often result. Alfalfa hay has been found very bene- fit ial in improving such diets. If a ration is only a little low in cal- cium, hogs may not grow so well as if they had plenty, but may not show any definite symptoms of rickets. If alfalfa pasture is not available, you can prevent trouble due to lack of cal- cium by feeding one of these three simple salt mixtures per 100 pounds of ration: 1. 1 pound oystershell flour (ground oyster shells) and V2 pound common salt. 2. 1 pound finely ground limestone and I/2 pound common salt. 3. 1 pound oystershell flour, V2 pound common salt, and 1 pound finely ground bone meal or spent bone black. (One pound of ground limestone or oystershell flour supplies all the calcium needed for pigs. If 7 per cent or more of a balanced ration is made of meat and bone scraps [ 50 per cent protein ] , ground limestone or oystershell flour may be omitted. If 4 to 6 per cent of meat and bone scraps is fed in a balanced ration, only y 2 per cent of ground limestone or oystershell flour need be added.) These mixtures can be fed to growing and fattening pigs, brood sows, or boars. They can be fed separately in small boxes in the lots where all the animals can get to them. Or they can be mixed with the feed. The amounts given are enough to mix with 100 pounds of feed. You do not need a complex mixture. When a ration is fed which is well bal- anced in other respects, it is usually nec- essary onl) i<» add a simple mixture such as those listed above. \n\ one of tin- mixtures improves almost all hoj lion-. In feeding tests at the California Experiment Station, one lot of hogs gained 85 pounds more per head than a second lot over a 20-week feeding period : yet the only difference in their ration- was 1 per cent of a calcium supplement. Sunlighl helps hogs make better use of the calcium in their ration. This was shown by a feeding test at the California Experiment Station, in which pigs were fed nothing but rolled barley and com- mon salt, with and without sunlight. Those without sunlight always developed rickets first. If you cannot give your hogs direct sunlight, you can give vitamin I) in their ration (see page 20) and get similar results. Phosphorus, while necessary for normal growth, is not required to the same extent as is cal- cium. In a 100-pound pig, for example, there is about !/2 pound of phosphorus and % pound of calcium. The amount of phosphorus in the ordinary ration is generally sufficient, and this mineral need not be included in a salt mixture added to the ration. If additional phosphorus should be necessary, use mixture 3, above. The bone meal or spent bone black contains phosphorus as well as calcium. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the ration should probably be some- where near what it is in the hog's body. The ordinary ration, with calcium added in a salt mixture, should give \ 011 a satis- factory calcium-phosphorus ratio. A ra- tion of 85 pounds of rolled barley, 10 pounds of chopped alfalfa hay, and 5 pounds of tankage, for example, contains 0.34 pound of calcium and 0.45 pound of phosphorus. The calcium content is a little low. If you add 1 pound of ground limestone, which contains 0.10 pound of calcium. the ration then would have 0.7 1 1 i" 1 pound of calcium and 0.45 pound of phosphorus. This calcium-phosphorus ratio is about right for all classes of hogs — for growing and fattening pigs, and for pregnant and lactating sows. Common salt (sodium chloride), you will notice, is included in all salt or mineral mixtures. This is added because it makes the ration taste better, stimu- lates the digestive system, and supplies essential sodium. If no other salts are needed, you may add common salt alone. The best way is to add it to your feed at the rate of V2 pound per 100 pounds. Other softs, such as potassium, are also needed for normal growth of hogs. But any ordi- nary hog ration will supply plenty of these, and you do not need to add them in a salt mixture. Certain of these other salts may have to be supplied when suckling pigs are kept on a concrete floor and do not have access to pasture. The sow's milk does not supply all the necessary iron and copper. But these minerals are not added to the salt mixture. Ways of supplying them are discussed on page 34. 5. Vitamins and Other Supplements Vitamin A deficiency is likely to develop if barley or grain sorghums are your main feeds and if you feed no alfalfa hay or green feed. Lack of vitamin A sometimes causes pneumonia, reproductive troubles, night blindness, watery eyes, and harshness of hair, and may stop growth. To protect pigs from vitamin A defi- ciency, provide access to green feed or give them from 5 to 10 per cent of leafy, green alfalfa hay. If you cannot furnish green feed or alfalfa or other legume hay, 1 teaspoon of cod-liver oil per week will protect young growing pigs from any shortage of vitamin A. It can be given by mouth, mixed with the feed, or simply poured over it. Deficiency of vitamin B complex can cause extremely slow growth, loss of appetite, dry, curly hair, loss of muscular control, and often death, according to findings at the California Experiment Station. There arc several vitamins in the B group. Riboflavin is found in dairy prod- ucts and green grass. Thiamin comes from ilic ouicr covering of grain such feeds as wheat bran and wheat-flour middlings. Nicotinic acid is found in the leaves of plants. Good sources of panto- thenic acid and pyridoxine are rice bran, cane molasses, dried skim milk, peanut meal, wheat bran, and alfalfa meal. Vitamin D deficiency, or rickets, might develop if pigs have no direct sunlight. It would show up as lameness, stiffness, or swollen joints. You can remedy this by giving pigs free ac- cess to direct sunlight, or by feeding them chopped, sun-cured alfalfa hay. In cases of marked deficiency, cod-liver oil has helped greatly. One lot of pigs, fed equal parts of rolled barley and rice polish for 13 months, gained only 65 pounds during that time — from 90 pounds to 155. Then their ration was changed to 99 per cent rolled barley, 1 per cent salt, and cod-liver oil. In the next 12 months, they more than doubled their weight, from 155 pounds to 320 — a gain of 165 pounds with cod-liver oil. Other vitamins are either no! needed by pigs or are needed in such small quantities that any balanced ration would contain enough. I 20 This pig is suffering from rickets caused by lack of calcium and vitamin D in its diet. Antibiotics, as components of the diet, have received much attention in recent years. A num- ber have been tested, such as aureomycin, bacitracin, penicillin, terramycin, and others, as well as some of their deriva- tives. Work at a number of experiment stations has shown that responses of up to 20 per cent in growth and up to 10 per cent in feed utilization can be ob- tained with antibiotics. The average re- sponses, however, are considerably be- low these figures, and the greatest are usually in young, growing pigs. Poor, or runt pigs often give greater responses, also. Under some conditions, there has been no effect from the addition of antibiotics. The reason for the differences in re- sponse is not known. Certain microbio- logical organisms live in the intestinal tract, and some of them are apparently unfavorable to the host animal. It is be- lieved that antibiotics act upon these un- favorable organisms and reduce their numbers. This theory has not been defi- nitely proved. The character of the ration also in- fluences the effect of antibiotics, with greater responses often obtained on poor rations. However, on the basis of experi- mental work, the use of poorl) balanced rations plus antibiotics cannot be recom- mended. There is no reason win anti- biotics should not be used on a trial basis, with continued feeding where re- sults justify it, but they should not be used as a substitute for an adequate 1 ration. A number of supplements containing antibiotics are on the market. The anti- biotic activity varies, and depends on the particular commercial product. The sup- plements are added on the basis of their antibiotic content. Usually, 20 to 50 grams of antibiotic per ton of ration is recommended per crop feeding, while 5 to 20 grams per ton is recommended from weaning until market age. Manu- facturers' instructions for use of these products should be carefulh followed. Antibiotic pellets are available for im- planting under the skin of the necks of baby pigs 3 to 5 days old — while the} are still too young to eat mixed teed. ( me early report stated that this practice in- creased weaning weights, but latest in- formation from the California and Illi- nois experiment stations shows no re- sponse. Some arsonic acid derivatives have been found to give results similar to [21 ] those produced by antibiotics. Little in- formation is available on these but since they are toxic, they should probably be used with caution, if at all. The materials discussed here cannot be considered as nutrients in the same way as are protein, minerals, and vita- mins. They are mainly substances which produce certain responses, as outlined above, when added to the ration. Feeding and Feed Preparation Hogs are fed in several ways. You may choose or combine feeding methods to suit your own conditions. Sometimes, for example, you may hand-feed one con- centrate and self-feed another; or you may self-feed grains to hogs on pasture. Self-feeding is the method most often used to give grains and other concentrates or supple- ments to fattening hogs. In self-feeding, you put the feed in a self-feeder and let the hogs feed at will until they clean it The growth curve below shows how fast ani- mals in the University of California herd grow. It applies both to breeding and fattening hogs under average conditions. Figures at the bottom show average weight for each week. Many conditions affect the growth rate of swine. But you can compare the growth rate in your own herd with this chart, and thus meas- ure your own feeding efficiency under your own conditions. Breeding animals usually average around 400 pounds at 12 months of age. Mature sows should weigh at least 500 pounds and boars 600 pounds or more in breeding condition. HBBWtlE! Hill HOW FAST SHOULD SWINE GROW? WHEN PIG IS THIS MANY WEEKS OLD IT SHOULD WEIGH THIS MANY POUNDS : -. '•. • • . • # BIRTH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3 4 8 10 13 16 20 25 29 33 10 36 11 42 12 47 up. Jf you are using two or more Feeds, you can put each one oul separately and let the hogs make their own mixture. Or you can mix the feeds in the proportion you want the hogs to have and self-feed the mixture. You may find the second way better if you want to get tlie hogs to take more of some feed they do not like very well. A good self-feeder is shown on page 7. Garbage plants usually self-feed the garbage on concrete floors; the fig- ure on page 44 shows such equipment. Hand-feeding is used when you want to limit the feed to keep hogs from getting too fat, or for brood sows before and just after farrow- ing, or for herd boars between breeding seasons. In hand-feeding you weigh or measure out the amount you want the hog to have. If two or more feeds are used, they are usually mixed first. Gleaning i- a good na\ to fatten hogs weighing 100 pounds or more. Hogs are turned out to clean up waste grain in barley, rice, wheat, or other stubble after har- vest. You ma\ leed the -Nibble alone. 01 supplement it with alfalfa pa-tun- '.i ,i protein concentrate. Further information is given on page 13. Hogging-down is a labor-saving wa\ of fattening, and can be used with hogs weighing 85 pounds or more. Hogs are turned into the fields to harvest their own feed — a method now being used b) man) farm- ers for harvesting milo or milo and cow- peas. (See also page 39.) Pasturing is good for all classes of hogs, but i> especially valuable for the breeding herd 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 AGE IN WEEKS 69 75 82 89 96 106 114 122 136 148 157 167 176 183 WEIGHT- IN POUNDS and young pigs. When pasture is avail- able, this is the best way to feed alfalfa and other forage crops. Hogs get sun- light and exercise in addition to an ex- cellent feed. Cooking grains or forage does not increase food value and, in fact, probably decreases it. Cooked corn, bar- ley, wheat, oats, and grain sorghums have a feeding value about 10 per cent lower than uncooked. Cooking whole potatoes or beans, on the other hand, increases their value for hogs. Potatoes can also be prepared by drying at a temperature of 145° and grinding into a meal (see page 13). Dry heating is not satisfactory for beans; but steaming, drying, and grinding into a meal is just as good a method as cooking, and it usually takes less labor in the long run. Raw beans have a bitter taste, and hogs do not eat them well. Grinding, rolling, or crushing is advisable for barley, wheat, and grain sorghums. If you cannot do this, feed these grains soaked. Chopping or grinding alfalfa hay usually pays; hogs make better use of it than of whole alfalfa hay. Do not grind feeds so fine that they are dusty. A pipe runs down through the center of this homemade steamer, and carries steam into the bottom of the tank. Pipe is unscrewed and turned aside when steamer is tilted to empty. I 24 | ANAGING the BREEDING HERD includes feeding and care of boars, sows, and young pigs; ear notching; and keeping records A boar should be fed carefully, especially during the breeding season when his condition must be maintained during heavy service. At this time he should be fed a high-energy ration with plenty of protein, vitamins, and min- erals. If he has green pasture, a ration that will meet his needs is a mixture of rolled barley and tankage in the ratio of 9 to 1. Or you can use a mixture of 7 parts rolled barley, 2 parts wheat mid- dlings, and 1 part tankage. The amount of feed depends on the boar's condition and the intensity of the breeding season. If he is working to full capacity, it is not too much to feed him all he will clean up twice daily. After the breeding season is over, reduce the boar's daily ration and slowly change it to one with more carbohy- drates and less protein. If he has lost weight, let him regain at least medium condition before reducing his ration. The boar lot is usually located apart from the rest of the herd. A quiet place, accessible to forage and large enough for plenty of exercise is desirable. Clean, dry, well-ventilated quarters, with shade in summer, are necessary. Boars often become nervous, restless, irritable, and refuse to eat. Generally this condition can be overcome by placing a barrow or bred sow with them. There are two breeding methods: hand, or individual, mating, which is the better, and promiscuous mating, where the boar is allowed to run with the sows. With hand mating, a mature, vigorous boar ran serve about 30 bows during lli«' active breeding season. The besl practice is for him to serve one sow a day. He ma) be mated to two bows a da) . if one is bred in tin- morning and the other in the evening, and if he has a da) of rest occasionally. \\ hen t he sow Is in heat, she ma) !"■ broughl to the boar or the boar ma) be driven to her pen. \<»t over two services should be permitted, for this is enough to insure pregnancy if both are normal. After the sow is bred, it is good practice to separate her from the open bows. Mso, write down her number and the date of mating on her breeding record. When either boar or sou is overl) large you can use a breeding (rate. A young boar is fed and managed much like a mature animal. For best growth, a young boat needs a ration high in protein with plent) of calcium and phosphorus. Rolled bar- ley, alone or with wheat middlings, sup- plemented with skim milk, buttermilk, tankage, or fish meal, will pn>\ ide energ) and growth-promoting nutrients. In ad- dition, he should have access to alfalfa pasture, where he can also exercise naturally, and free access to a salt mix- ture (page 19). \ good ration is given on page 36. \ young boar should be kept in a lot awa\ from the sow herd, especiall) dur- ing the breeding season. \n animal 8 to l ) months old ma) be used on a lew BOWS without retardment ol his growth. \ da) or two of rest between services is ad- visable. [ 25 ] The brood sow should produce two litters a year, with proper management, one in spring and another in fall. Some garbage-feeding plants prefer to leave the pigs with the sows for about 12 weeks and thus plan to have each sow produce three litters every two years. Most of these plants dis- tribute the breeding of their sows so that litters are farrowed every month of the year, instead of just in spring and fall. Spring litters are usually farrowed on or after March 1. However, if pigs are born in February, they do very well in most sections of the state if weather is normal. Sows should farrow before May 1, because after that date hot weather and flies often slow the growth of young pigs. Fall litters are usually born on or after September 1. It is best not to have sows farrow during winter months because too many baby pigs die in cold, wet weather. Also it is much harder to keep suckling pigs in a thrifty, vigorous con- dition during winter. Breeding for spring litters should be- gin about November 10, and for fall litters about May 10 in order to farrow pigs in March and September. Swine, like cattle, may become in- fected with brucellosis (infectious abor- tion). When this happens, they do not reproduce naturally. If at all possible, avoid this disease. (More details are given on page 48.) The time to breed a gilt depends more on her growth than on her age. She should be mature enough so that the demands of her growing litter and their later suckling period will not greatly affect her own development. In general, it is all right to breed a gilt to farrow at 12 months of age. If you want size in the mature sow, let her rest one season after she farrows her first litter. Another method for obtaining large- aized BOWS i- to breed them to farrow at 18 months of age. By that time, a gilt is practically full-grown, and she should produce regularly every 6 months there- after. As a general rule, gilts farrow fewer and smaller pigs than do mature sows. At breeding time, the sow should be medium fat and gaining % to 1 pound daily. For best results in getting sows into this active breeding condition, put them on good pasture, preferably alfalfa, or one of the recommended per- manent pastures, and feed them enough concentrates to give the desired gain. A good mixture is 12 pounds of barley to 1 pound of tankage, plus a suitable salt mixture (one of those given on page 19) . The sow's condition largely accounts for the size of her litter and vigor of her pigs at birth, provided the boar is nor- mal and vigorous at time of service. A sow that is too fat or very thin may not come in heat. Such a sow, if she accepts the boar, may fail to conceive, or her litter often will be small. Sows usually come in heat 3 to 5 days after weaning the pigs. The period of heat lasts about 3 days and occurs every 20 to 21 days. Only during this time will the normal sow accept the boar. Time from breeding to farrowing averages 114 days, but may vary from 112 to 116 days. By keeping an accurate breeding record, you can figure the far- rowing date closely. It is highly impor- tant to know this date so that you can take extra good care of the sow during the week before farrowing. Table 3 will help you to figure farrowing dates. In feeding a bred sow, try to give her enough nourishment for her developing litter, but not so much that she will be too fat at farrowing time. This condition results in poorly devel- oped pigs and difficult farrowing. She will need very little grain during the first 1 2 weeks after she is bred if she has good I 26| Table 3. -Wh( *n Sh ould a Sow Farrow ? If sow She will If sow She will Ir Km She will was bred farrow was bred farrow was bred farrow Jan. 1 April 24 May 6 Aug. 27 Sept. 3 Dec. 25 Jan. 6 April 29 May 11 Sept. 1 Sept. 8 Dec. 30 Jan. 11 May 4 May 16 Sept. 6 Sept. 13 Jan. 4 Jan. 16 May 9 May 21 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Jan. 9 Jan. 21 May 14 May 26 Sept. 16 Sept. 23 Jan. 14 Jan. 26 May 19 May 31 Sept. 21 Sept. 28 Jan. 19 Jan. 31 May 24 June 5 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Jan. 24 Feb. 5 May 29 June 10 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Jan. 29 Feb. 10 June 3 June 15 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Feb. 3 Feb. 15 June 8 June 20 Oct. 11 Oct. 18 Feb. 8 Feb. 20 June 13 June 25 Oct. 16 Oct. 23 Feb. 13 Feb. 25 June 18 June 30 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Feb. 18 Mar. 2 June 23 July 5 Oct. 26 Nov. 2 Feb. 23 Mar. 7 June 28 July 10 Oct. 31 Nov. 7 Feb. 28 Mar. 12 July 3 July 15 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Mar. 5 Mar. 17 July 8 July 20 Nov. 10 Nov. 17 Mar. 10 Mar. 22 July 13 July 25 Nov. 15 Nov. 22 Mar. 15 Mar. 27 July 18 July 30 Nov. 20 Nov. 27 Mar. 20 April 1 July 23 Aug. 4 Nov. 25 Dec. 2 Mar. 25 April 6 July 28 Aug. 9 Nov. 30 Dec. 7 Mar. 30 April 11 Aug. 2 Aug. 14 Dec. 5 Dec. 12 April 4 April 16 Aug. * Aug. 19 Dec. 10 Dec. 17 April 9 April 21 Aug. 12 Aug. 24 Dec. 15 Dec. 22 April 14 April 26 Aug. 17 Aug. 29 Dec. 20 Dec. 27 April 19 May 1 Aug. 22 pasture, plenty of fresh, clean water, and shade — and if it is summertime. During, her last month of pregnancy, she will need a heavier ration, because 75 per cent of the growth of her litter takes place during this period. The bodies of the unborn pigs consist mostly of protein, minerals, and water; hence you must be sure to feed plenty of pro- tein supplements and mineral mixture during the last month. If the sow does not get enough nutri- ents in her feed ttt this lime, the growing fetus will take them from her body. Then she will farrow and begin nourishing her pigs in a somewhat weakened condition. As a result, her litter will not get enough milk, and there will be a large share of weak, unthrifty pigs and some dead ones. Every pig farrowed dead, or which dies while young, costs at least 140 pounds of wasted feed. That is why it is important to give sows good care before 1 they far- row. For short periods during winter months when you have no pasture, feed plenty of concentrates, such as barley, milo, or corn, supplemented \sitli skim milk or tankage. \ on can substitute leaf) alfalfa hay for alfalfa pasture, and feed it in tacks, scattered OH feeding plat- forms, or chopped and mixed with grain. Although alfalfa ha\ is bulky, it should make up 10 to 25 per cenl of the ration when there is no alfalfa pasture. Root- and tubers provide succulence. 27 ] HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTED RATIONS FOR SOWS BEFORE FARROWING DURING FIRST 12 WEEKS AFTER BREEDING ON PASTURE Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 90 Soybean meal 4 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein). ... 5 Oystershell flour V2 Common salt Vi IN DRY LOT Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 1 AVi Alfalfa meal 15 Soybean meal 4 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein). ... 6 Common salt V2 Gilts or mature sows, bred at normal weights, should be fed at an approximate rate of 2 per cent of their body weight per day, which will allow them to gain Y2 to 1 pound a day. If a gilt is small at breeding, she should receive 3 per cent of her body weight daily until she reaches a normal weight, after which she should receive 2 per cent. FROM 12TH TO 15TH WEEK ON PASTURE Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 76% Alfalfa meal 10 Soybean meal 7 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein) .... 6 Common salt V2 IN DRY LOT Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 67V2 Alfalfa meal 15 Soybean meal 9 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein) .... 8 Common salt V2 Feed this ration daily at about 2 per cent of the sow's body weight. DURING LAST 10 DAYS BEFORE FARROWING ON PASTURE OR IN DRY LOT Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 42 Alfalfa meal 25 Soybean meal 7 Wheat bran 25 Oystershell flour V2 Common salt V2 Housing is more of a problem in winter than in summer. Just before they farrow, sows too often have poor shelter or are turned into barns or sheds with other livestock. This is poor prac- tice. It is much better to have clean, warm, well-bedded sleeping quarters with enough ventilation and plenty of room outside for exercise. Good management at farrowing can easily mean the difference between profit and loss. You work just as hard and use almost as much feed for a sow with \< r i is weak oi cannot Buckle, you can probably get him to nurse b) Bti ip- ping a little milk into hi- mouth. If you can make him -wallow. I)'- will SOOU gain strength and manage b) himself. If the pigs get 'hilled. \oii < an ^'ii- erall) revise them in a warm box. or in direct sunlight, or by rubbing them vigorously between your hand-. Often a pig looks dead when born, but you can sometimes start his breathing b) remov- ing the mucus covei ing his mouth and nose, and gently slapping his side. If a sou is nervous or irritable when giving birth to her litter, let the pigs suckle and then put them in a warm far- rowing box lined with straw and lightly covered to keep in the heat. \\ hen far- rowing takes a long time, it is good prac- tice to return the pigs to the som ever) hour or two and let them suckle. If some small, weak pigs are born in a litter of strong pigs, take the stronger ones away now and then to give the weaker ones a chance to nurse. Occasionally a sow will farrow more pigs than she can properly nourish. When this happens, give some of them to another sow that has recently far- rowed a small litter. When sows do not provide milk at farrowing time, you can often start the milk flow b) applying hoi packs to the udder and b) \ igorous ma-- sage. The sow should be disturbed as little as possible while farrowing. Only the attendant should enter the pen at this time. When it appears, the afterbirth should be removed with a long-handled shovel or manure fork, and buried or burned. If it is left in the pen. the sow generalh will eat it. You cannot watch sows too closely during all the farrow ing season, i OU w ill save many pigs by inspecting the litter ever) 2 or 3 hours, because some new- born pigs ma) wander awa\. become chilled, or be unable to suckle. 29 It is usually recommended that pigs be left with the sow until they are 7 to 10 days old. If this is not possible, it is con- sidered good practice to leave them with the sow until they are at least 48 hours old. The time from birth to weaning is the most critical in a pig's life. Good care then is sure to pay good profits later on in more live pigs per litter, healthier pigs, and faster gains. Normal sows will not eat their pigs if fed properly during pregnancy. It is commonly believed that rations low in protein and minerals, if fed during the last two months before farrowing, may help cause this habit. In some cases you may be able to remedy the situation by feeding tankage, meat meal, or fish meal after farrowing. If a sow has formed the pig-eating habit, fatten and market her. An electric brooder (see illustration below) will help to save a larger share of the pigs farrowed. It may be used at any time except during the hot summer months. The pigs them- selves are the best guide as to how long to keep it going. As long as they crawl under it for warmth, it will pay you to leave it on. If you have a central farrow- ing house, you can arrange the brooders as shown in the picture on page 5. This makes it easy to take the pigs out for marking and other operations. "Wolf" or "black" teeth are eight needlelike teeth in the upper and lower jaws of a young pig. They seem to be useless. They should be re- moved about a day after farrowing by carefully cutting them with small diag- onal pliers, as shown in the illustration. If not removed, they are likely to cause trouble. Pigs bite each other while nursing, and this often results in cuts around the mouth that become infected. The pigs also bite the sow, and she jumps and sometimes injures or kills some of her litter. Pigs should be marked when they are a few days old, with either an individual number or a litter num- ber — that is, the same number for every pig in one litter. This identification will tell you the number of pigs raised by each sow, so that you can pick out the unproductive sows and fatten them. You can also choose breeding stock of known parentage. Leave the electric brooder on as long as the baby pigs continue to use it. 30 | For identification, some growers have tried metal ta«i- in the pig's ear, hut thi^- system does not work out too well and is not recommended. Metal tags usually tear out, no matter how carefull) you put them in, and a ta<_' in each car i- jn-t so much extra trouble. Besides, tags do not work wt\ well on small pigs because their ears are too small, and in an) case the numbers are hard to read. Most growers use the ear-notch B) stem because it is easiest and best. You can mark young pigs only a few da\s old without injury I see illustration), and the) stay marked for life. The numbers are easy to read if you make the notches large enough. Here is the system used at the University of California at Davis: The pig s left ear is used for numbers 1 through 9, and his right ear for 10. 20. 30, and so on up to 90. If a pig was num- bered 69, the CO would show on his right ear and the 9 on his left. The position of the notches on the ear tells you the pigs number. There are five notches around each ear, indicating numbers 1 through 5, or 10 through 50, as shown in the drawing on this page. Pliers shown at right are useful in removing "wolf" Notches are numbered from outside to inside 200 100 and 200 are indicated by tip notches Notches for number 297 Ear notches may be used to number litters or pigs up to number 399. [M ] \<»tice that numbers 1 and 10 are always on the outside, and the numbers read around the pig's ear toward his nose. How do you get numbers 6, 7, 8, or 9? Just put two notches in the ear and add the figures which they represent. For instance, to show number 7, notch the number 5 and 2 spaces. Do not use the number 4 and 3 notches because they are both too near the tip of the ear, and ears notched this way tear too easily. To show number 6, use the 5 and 1 notches; for number 8, the 5 and 3 notches; for number 9, the 5 and 4 notches. In feeding orphan pigs, a good ration is about 1 quart of whole cow's milk per pig, at each feeding, plus mixed shelled corn or rolled barley and tankage, which can be self-fed. You can add green alfalfa meal or alfalfa leaves to this diet. For best results, give this feed five or six times daily for awhile, and gradually cut it down to three feedings. These are the recommendations based on a five-year study by Iowa Experiment Station workers. Artificial sow milks have received much attention in recent years, and sev- eral such products are now available. These can be used for orphan pigs, or to feed pigs early in life so that the sow can be rebred sooner, or as a supplemental feed for pigs nursing a sow. The arti- ficial milk is a dried product to which water is usually added. It may be fed in a poultry type fountain or a trough. Ex- treme sanitation is necessary for raising pigs in this manner, and some hog men have had only limited success with this method. In feeding a sow after farrowing, increase her ration slowly at first. You may or may not feed her the first 24 hours after her pigs are born, just as you choose. Practical hog men have followed both methods with good results, but a lot depends on tin- sou's condition. All agree, however, that sows should be fed lightly the first 3 or 4 days after their pigs are born. A good rule to follow for the first feed- ing is to give 1 or 2 pounds of a suitable concentrate mixture, such as rolled bar- ley and wheat bran, equal parts by weight. On the next day, give 2 or 3 pounds, and increase the amounts daily until you are feeding 8 or 9 pounds at the end of the first week. Under normal conditions, the sow can be on full feed in 10 to 14 days after farrowing. Watch constantly for any digestive disturbances that show up in suckling pigs, and regulate the sow's feed accord- ingly. Overfeeding the sow, constipation, and lack of exercise may cause scours in pigs. If this happens, it is often helpful to reduce the sow's feed. If she is consti- pated, give her 5 ounces of Epsom salts in her feed. The feed requirements of a sow suck- ling a litter are much the same as for a high producing dairy cow. The sow needs nutrients to maintain her body and to produce plenty of milk for her litter. To satisfy these demands, feed her a ra- tion high in proteins, vitamins, and min- eral matter, especially calcium and phos- phorus. You can supply these materials with home-grown grains, supplemented with such high-protein feeds as wheat middlings and tankage. Underfeeding often makes the sow lose too much weight. It is surprising how hard a sow works to feed her litter. Production records were kept on two sows for 10 weeks. During that time, each produced, on the average, 539 pounds of milk, which con- tained 100 pounds of solids, in addition to maintaining herself and increasing her weight. Thus it is important to feed sows well after their pigs grow large enough to consume lots of milk. If you do, the pigs will grow fast and the sow will keep her own good health. I 32 | Some suggested rations for bows after farrowing are given below. Changes in rations should be gradual. Feed the first ration carefully, not more than 2 pounds for the first 3 days, and gradually increase it up to 8 01 ') pounds on the seventh day. DURING THE FIRST 7 DAYS Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 62'/2 Alfalfa meal 15 Soybean meal 6 Wheat bran 10 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein). . . 6 Common salt Vi By 7 to 10 days after farrowing, the sow will be on full feed. This is as much feed as she will clean up readily twice daily in 20 to 30 minutes. From 7 to 14 days after farrowing, the ration is grad- ually changed so that at 10 to 14 days the sow will be on the ration which she will receive during her entire lactation period. Typical rations for sows are as follows: FROM 14 DAYS UNTIL WEANING ON PASTURE Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 87 Soybean meal 7 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein). ... 5 Oystershell flour Vi Common salt V2 IN DRY LOT Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 68V2 Alfalfa meal 15 Soybean meal 8 Meat and bone scraps (50% protein). ... 8 Common salt V2 At this stage, feed the sow all she will eat. Even when on full feed, heavy-milk- ing sows will lose 25 pounds or more during lactation. The number of pounds for a full feed varies with the sow r and her litter. If you feed her a little less than [33 she will clean up readil) twice a day, she i- on full feed. Her appetite 1- 8 good guide in feeding. Put sows and pigs on clean pasture from 10 to I I days after farrowing, weather pet mitting 1 see illustration 1 . Forage i- valuable because it helps pro- duce milk, provides proteins and plent) of minerals and vitamins, and allows pigs lots of exercise in direct sunlight. Legume pasture, growing on recently plowed lot-, i- best Vftei you have raised hogs <>n a pasture for one season, you should not use the land in llii- wa\ again for at leasl a year. If you use pas- ture repeatedly without such a rot. you may have trouble with roundworms or other parasites. Your pastures should be large enough for two to four sows and their litters, and they should be tightly fenced. Clean, warm, well-bedded houses are essential. A good type of house is shown on page 4; this is big enough for two sows and litters. You will get best results by running a few sows together. You can give the smaller pigs more attention in feeding and they will have a better chance to grow normally if they do not ha\e to compete with larger pigs. If you have no small pasture, you can put more sows and their litters on a large pasture, but the pigs should all be about the same size. Do not turn a sow with 2- or 3-weeks'-old pigs in with a -<>\\ whose pigs are ready to wean. This usu- ally results in too main small, unthrifty pigs. When pigs are 2 to 3 weeks o\d, they will eat a little grain. The] should feed from their own self-feeder placed inside a small enclosure or "ereep"* -.> that larger animals cannot disturb them (see page 7). The common farm grain- meet their demands at this age, but as the pigs grow older ami eat more grain, give them some protein supplement like Sows and their pigs should be put on clean pasture when the baby pigs are 10 to 14 days old. skim milk, dried skim milk, middlings, tankage, fish meal, or soybean meal. A 17 per cent ration is adequate. Skim milk plus grain is one of the best feeds for young growing pigs. Give small amounts at first and increase the amount gradually — just what they will clean up. When baby pigs are kept on concrete or board floors longer than their first 10 days, they are likely to develop anemia. Mild cases are hard to detect, but in later stages, anemic pigs breathe hard, their skin turns pale, they grow poorly, and Wooden trough on cart holds young pig se- curely during castrating operation. some of them may even die. These things happen because sow's milk, which is their only feed, does not contain enough iron and copper, and baby pigs appar- ently use up their own supply, which is stored in their liver, soon after birth. The best way to provide iron is to move the sow and litter to pasture when the pigs are 10 days old. They can usually get enough iron and copper from the soil. If you cannot do this, throw a shovelful of fresh, clean dirt into the pen every few days. You can also mix 3% ounces of iron sulfate in 5 quarts of water and give 1 teaspoon of this solution to the pigs daily. Or you can throw a little of it on the floor where the baby pigs will lick up enough of it to meet their needs. Or you can paint the sow's udder with it. The iron sulfate contains enough copper im- purities to supply the pigs' needs. Young pigs can be castrated easily and without much danger if you take proper precautions. The best time to castrate is while the pigs are from 3 to 6 weeks of age and still suckling. At this age pigs are small enough to be handled easily, which makes the operation simple. El hardly slows their growth, because [.'54 there is almost no shock to the pig. \ good plan is to feed nothing but mothei - milk the day before and the day aftei castration. If your hands and the knife are clean and disinfected, and if you make the cuts large enough to insure good drain- age, there will be less danger from infec- tion. Afterward, sows and pigs should be placed in clean pastures or lots. You will find castration and similar operations easier if you have a table or a cart such as that shown in the illus- tration on the opposite page. Rooting can be prevented before the pigs are weaned. If hogs are allowed to root, they may dig up the pasture. Then, too, they are more likely to get infected with parasites in the soil, especially lungworms. Placing a small ring in the cartilage of the snout is the most common method of preventing rooting. With a small pig, one man holds the pig and another inserts the ring with the ringer. Older and larger hogs can be snubbed to a post by looping a small rope around the upper jaw. Then the ring can be inserted as with smaller pigs. Rings and a ringer can be purchased at most hardware stores. It is not good practice to cut the snout to prevent rooting. Pigs are weaned between 7 and 9 weeks of age, under the two-litter-a-year system, which is the common one. At this age they will be eating a pretty heavy feed daily. The best practice is to leave the pigs on the same pasture that they used while suckling, and put the sows on another pasture. About a week before weaning, grad- ually reduce the sow's ration to decrease her flow of milk. This helps indirectly to avoid possible injury to her udder. If you are feeding skim milk to pigs at weaning time, it should be gradually increased, but never feed more than they will clean up in a short time. Keep feeding the Bame grain ration to pigs at this time. It you must change the feed, Btretch the change ovei to 5-da) period. \n\ sudden ch probabl) will upsel the pigs, and some- times will kill them. After the pigs are weaned, put the son* in a separate pasture and feed ficr lightl) until her milk flow stops. Then increase her feed, according to her condition. ^ on should be feeding her heavily enough at breeding time bo that she gains from \U t ( > 1 pound daily. While caring for pigs after weaning, select the gilts and boars that you intend to save for breeding stock and separate them from those to be fattened. As a rule, only gilts and boars out of the best t\ pe and best producing sows should be kept. This is where the ear-notching system of identification proves useful. If yon are raising a fairly large number of hogs, it is hard to pick out the stock from your best sows unless young pigs are marked. Experiments at the University of Cali- fornia show that pigs can be made to gain a pound a day after weaning it they are fed right. More important, pigs on pasture gain faster a nil need less con- centrates per pound of gain than similar pigs in dry lot. The gilts saved for breeding stock, and how they are fed and cared for. de- termine your future sow herd. \\ itli these animals, your aim is for as much thrifty growth as possible, not lor fat. The re- sults depend larger) upon the common sense and judgment of the feeder. To obtain good growth, put your gilts in a pasture. In most cases, best growth results from hand-feeding, especially after the animals reach about 100 pounds in weight. Their ration should include plenty of energy producing carbohy- drates and large amounts ol proteins, salts, and green pasture or green alfalfa meal or chopped hay. \ good combina- I 35 | tion of feeds to promote a gilt's growth is alfalfa pasture plus 3 parts of skim milk or buttermilk to 1 part of grains or other carbonaceous concentrates, by weight. Young boars saved for breeding should be fed and managed much like the growing gilt. The two should be sep- arated after weaning. Here is a suggested ration for young boars and gilts in the breeding herd, weighing 175 to 250 pounds: Lbs. feed per 100 lbs. mix Barley or other grains 90 Soybean meal 5 Tankage 3 Oystershell flour 1 Salt 1 Feed this ration at from 2 to 2 1 /* per cent of the animal's body weight, plus green pasture. The production-registry program is one for testing and proving the effi- ciency of purebred swine. It has been adopted and is supervised by the various national breed associations. The litters which are tested must be purebred, and the sows and boars must be registered. To qualify a litter for the Production Registry, a sow must raise at least 8 of her own pigs to a minimum litter wean- ing weight at 56 days, depending on her age. If she is over 15 months old at farrowing, the minimum litter weaning weight is 320 pounds; if she is younger than 15 months, 275 pounds. For further information write your national breed association. Accurate breeding records are important, whether your herd is grade or purebred. Keep them up to date. Your records for each sow should show breeding date, boar used, farrow- ing date, number of boars and gilts far- rowed, and number of each raised. You can make up 3 x 5 inch cards showing this information. A swine herd improvement program for California is described in "Produc- tion Testing in Swine," a circular avail- able from your University of California Farm Advisor. The California program is based on the Production Registry Program of the national purebred swine associations, and differs from it in only two respects — the entire breeding herd must be tested, not merely outstanding individuals, and swine need not be purebreds. This program not only encourages production testing of swine, but also sets up record keeping systems. Improve- ment will be along two lines. First, the herd production will be increased by weeding out poor animals. Second, av- erage individual production will be in- creased because superior producing breeding stock can be selected. Pigs fattened in dry lot should be fed extra protein supplement and alfalfa meal. I 36 | F ATTENING PIGS for MARKET requires grain and protein-rich legume pasture. There arc six ways of fattening bogs for 5. Hogging-down crops. market: 6. Feeding barlej and rice stubble. I. Full feeding (self -feeding) of grain on alfalfa or other pasture from wean- Fu " feeding on forage ing until marketing. 2. Feeding a limited ration I hand- feeding) on pasture. 3. Garhage feeding. 4. Full feeding (self-feeding) in dry lot. fallens pigs most iapidl\ : hut local con- ditions will determine whether it is work- able and economical. The rations given in Table 1 were fed at the California Experimenl Station, with the results shown. Table 4. — Full Feeding on Alfalfa Pasture Lot number and ration Average initial weight Average daily gain Feed consumed for 100 pounds of gain 1. Rolled barley, self-fed pounds 90 90 88 103 103 83 82 81 pounds 1.27 1.34 1.04 1.27 1.54 1.66 1.76 1.48 pounds Barley 434 Barley 421 Tankage 18 Barley 299 Coconut meal 111 Barley 360 Wheat middlings 110 Ground milo 400 Tankage 10 Barley 361 Tankage 24 Barley 136 Raisins 136 Rice bran 136 Tankage 27 Raisins 220 Rice bran 220 Tankage 29 2. Rolled barley and tankage, self-fed 3. Rolled barley and coconut meal 4. Rolled barley and wheat middlings 5. Ground milo and tankage, self -fed 6. Rolled barley, 15 parts By weight, mixed Tankage, 1 part / and self-fed 7. Rolled barley, 5 parts .... 1 Raisins, 5 parts (By weight, mixed Rice bran, 5 parts | and self-fed Tankage, 1 part J 8. Raisins, 7 J ■> parts ] Rice bran, 7 ' , parts \ B * weight ' mixed Tankage, 1 part ..) and self-fed All data from California Agricultural Experiment Station feeding tests. I 37 | You can see that the pigs self-fed bar- ley and tankage, or ground milo and tankage (lots 2 and 5), did not eat a great deal of tankage if they also had good alfalfa. Those self-fed mixed barley and tank- age on pasture (lot 6) made their gains on less feed than any other lot, but they gained more slowly than lot 7. They used less feed because in a given amount of barley there are more total digestible nutrients than in raisins or rice bran. On one Tulare County hog ranch, 50 good-quality 3-month-old feeder pigs, averaging 57 pounds in weight, were put on a ration of barley, figs, yellow corn, and skim milk, with Sudangrass pasture. They gained 1.7 pounds a day and con- sumed 315 pounds of concentrates and 680 pounds of skim milk (377 pounds of feed on a dry basis) per 100 pounds of gain. Thirty of these hogs shown at the State Fair placed second. Their carcasses graded Good to Choice hard hogs, and the dressing percentage was 78 — unusu- ally high. There is simply no substitute for pro- tein-rich pasture for growing pigs. They seem healthier and thriftier than if kept in cramped quarters. Pigs on legume pasture need less protein supplements than those in dry lot. Table 5 gives some suggested rations for different weights of hogs on pasture. With limited grain and pasture, it is good practice to feed 1 or 2 pounds of concentrates for each 100 pounds of live weight. You can use cull fruits, veg- etables, and grapes under this scheme. At the California Experiment Station, 31 pigs were rotated between two %- acre plots of alfalfa from June to Novem- ber. They also were fed a limited ration of I part rolled barley to 3 parts skim milk by weight. The aim was a 1-pound daily gain per pig. using as much alfalfa pasture and as little grain mixture as possible. The pigs gained 0.9 pound per head and required 27.") pounds <>f barle) and 825 pounds of skim milk for 100 pounds of gain. Pigs may be fattened in dry lot if you have little or no pasture. But you will need to feed more protein supple- ments, such as dairy by-products, tank- age, fish meal, linseed meal, soybean meal, and wheat middlings, than if your pigs were on pasture. This must be done to insure proper growth. You can put pigs in dry lot (see photo, page 36) soon after weaning, when they weigh from 45 to 75 pounds. They should have plenty of shade and clean water and a suitable salt mixture. Their quarters should be kept clean. Growing and fattening pigs need vi- tamin A. Pigs in dry lot may develop a deficiency in about 45 days on most rations. To avoid this, add alfalfa hay or meal, or some other vitamin-A carrier to the ration. A young pig uses almost all his feed for maintenance and growth. Besides providing energy, his ration should con- tain nutrients to build muscle and bones. The common farm grains do not furnish enough of these materials for fast growth, so protein-rich feeds are needed as supplements. There are two advantages to adding a protein supplement to barley or corn in dry-lot rations. First, pigs fatten faster; and second, they need less feed for 100 pounds of gain. Pigs make excellent, eco- nomical gains when fed barley and tank- age, barley and skim milk, or ground milo and skim milk, as shown in Table 6. Barley and corn are about equal when supplemented with either tankage or skim milk. As the pigs grow older and the weight increases, gradually cut down the amount of protein supplements and sub- stitute more grains or other carbonace- ous feeds. Table 5 suggests some rations for different weights of hogs on pasture and in dry lot. 38 Table 5. — Suggested Rations for Fattening Pigs on Pasture and in Dry Lot Weight of pigs Expected daily gain Rate of feeding Crude protein level of ration Ingredient Pounds per 100 pounds mix Green pasture In dry lot pounds 40-74 pounds 0.90 per cent body wt. 5 J 2 per cent 16 Barley or other grain Alfalfa meal pounds 84', 8 7 i ., pounds 72 10 10 1 ., Soybean meal Meat and bone scraps f50 per cent protein; Oystershell flour . . Common salt 75-124 1.50 5 14 Barley or other grain Alfalfa meal 89 5 5 10 7 6 Yi Soybean meal Meat and bone scraps (50 percent protein) Oystershell flour . . Common salt 125-174 1.75 4H 13 Barley or other grain Alfalfa meal 91 > 2 4 3 1 M 81 7 7 4 ', M Soybean meal Meat and bone scraps (50 per cent protein) Oystershell flour Common salt 175-225 1.80 4 12 Barley or other grain Alfalfa meal 95 3' 2 1 '2 85 ! 2 5 4 4 1 Soybean meal Meat and bone scraps (50 per cent protein ) Oystershell flour . . Common salt More nutrients, succulence, and vari- ety may be added to dry-lot rations by feeding roots, tubers, pumpkins, or al- falfa hay occasionally. Table 6 summarizes dry-lot feetlina trials with various combinations of the more common feeds. Hogging-down has been successful in tests at this station (see photos, p. 43). Hogs do at least as well when they harvest the crop thein- [39 selves as when hand- or self-fed in th • feed lot. You will get faster and cheaper gains during hogging-down if you feed a protein supplement or legume forage. In some places, barle) is hogged- down, but this practice has not yel been tested experimentally. found, however, that a should be hogged-down at one time water should be close at hand, and there should be either natural or ficial shade. i Producers have laiiK small area thai that arti- Table 6. — Fattening Pigs in Dry Lot Lot no. Ration used Feed used per 100 pounds of gain, pounds Number of trials Average initial weight, pounds Average daily gain, pounds Self-fed, each feed in separate self-feeder, mineral mixture self-fed in addition 10 11 Rolled barley I Rolled barley Tankage I Rolled barley Raisins Tankage (45 per cent protein in one trial). Rolled barley | Rice polish Tankage Rolled barley Alfalfa meal (in racks ) Corn { Corn 1 Protein supplement Corn Skim milk or buttermilk . Rough rice, finely ground Tankage Ground milo . Skim milk . . Ground milo Whey 546 420 42 252 166 75 j 270 ] 121 j> 25 j 465 ] 38 / 544 436 288 \ 567 / 461 \ 56 / 289 ) 896 / 349 ) 1,346 ( 3 74 1 86 2 65 2 110 35 88 35 118 1 118 10 60 2 80 1 73 1 73 0.7 1.5 1.2 1.9 0.9 1.0 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.3 Tankage self-fed in separate self-feeder, other feeds mixed and self-fed; mineral mix- ture self-fed in addition 12 13 14 Rolled barley, 50 parts Rice polish, 50 parts . Tankage Rolled barley, 50 parts Rice bran, 50 parts. . . . Tankage Rolled barley, 33 \ :i parts Raisins, 33 ' :i parts Rice bran, 33 \ :i parts. Tankage 183 183 33 202 202 54 161 161 161 31 57 56 57 1.4 1.3 1.1 | 40 Table (Continued) Lot no. Ration used Feed used per 100 pounds of gain, pounds Number of tnals Average initial weight, pounds Average daily gain. pounds Mixed and self-fed, mineral mixture self-fed in addition 15 Rolled barley, 25 parts Skim milk, 75 parts ... 261 783 2 48 1.6 16 Rolled barley, 25 parts Whey, 75 parts ... 331 993 1 54 1.4 17 Rolled barley, 12 \ a parts Raisins, 12 ' > parts Skim milk, 75 parts 156 156 936 1 55 1.5 Mixed and hand-fed twice daily 18 19 20 21 22 Rolled barley, 78 parts Alfalfa hay chopped , 20 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 85 \ _> parts Tankage, 7 1 ■> parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts .... Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 83 parts . . Tankage, 2 1 2 parts. . . . Soybean meal, 7 \ _> parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts .... Salt, lpart Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 78 J > parts Tankage, 2' _. parts Linseed meal, 12 parts Alfalfa meal. 5 parts .... Salt, lpart Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 78 parts Soybean meal, 5 parts Linseed meal, 10 parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Salt, lpart Oystershell flour, 1 part 392 99 5 5 348 31 20 : 293 9 27 18 3>, > 305 10 47 19 4 4 275 18 35 18 3>, 3>. 1 60 2 57 2 56 2 56 2 56 0.9 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.4 (Table 6 concluded on next page) 141 ] Table 6 — (Concluded) Lot no. Ration used Feed used per 100 pounds of gain, pounds Number of trials Average initial weight, pounds Average daily gain, pounds Mixed and hand-fed twice daily — (Concluded) 23 24 25 26 27 28 Rolled barley, 81 parts Soybean meal, 12 parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 75 parts Linseed meal, 18 parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 79 ^ parts Soybean meal, 12 parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Bone black, 13^ parts Rolled barley, 60 >£ parts Tankage, 2y 2 parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Lima beans, raw, ground, 30 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 603^ parts Tankage, 2}/ 2 parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Lima beans, steamed for 30 minutes, dried and ground, 30 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Rolled barley, 603^ parts Tankage, 2j^ parts Alfalfa meal, 5 parts Salt, 1 part Oystershell flour, 1 part Lima beans, cooked 2 hours, cooled, fed separately, 30 parts 285 42 18 291 70 19 4 4 t 269 41 17 5 307 13 25 152 5 5 230 10 19 114 4 4 226 9 19 3^ 112 2 56 2 57 1 61 1 66 1 66 1 66 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.0 1.5 1.4 All data from California Agricultural Experiment Station feeding tests, except for corn tests, which are averages of several experiments reported in Pork Production, by W. W. Smith, revised edition, pp. 173 and 300; published by the Macmillan Company, New York City, N. Y., 1937. [42] Gleaning of stubble fields (barley, rice, or wheat) is an important method of fattening hogs in California. But hogs should weigh at Leasl \^ { ^ pounds before they are turned into stubble. Younger pigs will not gain well on stubble. Two systems are used. In the more common one, no effort is made to pro- vide any protein, either as pasture or supplement. Hogs are just turned into the stubble fields and kept there until they are fat or they have cleaned up the field. Water and shade are provided. This method produces excellent gains on rice stubble in the Sacramento Valley, where it is common practice. It is a prac- tical and economical way to fatten hogs, and most of them are marketed directly from the stubble fields. Rice is better than barley or wheat subble. In the second system, some producers provide alfalfa pasture in addition to barley or rice stubble. In some cases where there is no alfalfa pasture, tank- age is supplied in a self-feeder. Garbage feeding in California is an important part of the hog business. Probably no other state has more large garbage-feeding plants than California. In normal times, one third of the hogs in the state are fed gar- ;e as part or all of their ration. Gar- bage-fed hogs averaging about 220 pounds are marketed throughout the year. From a nutritional standpoint, there is probably no difference between the poik from grain-fed bogs and thai from garbage-fed bogs. However, the car asses of garbage hogs are usuall) softei than those of grain-fed bogs. This is due to the larger amounts of oil> and Eats found in garbage. Because tin- carcasses are softer, garbage hogs often sell at a dis- count when hogs are plentiful. Garbage-feeding plants cover fairly small acreages and are made up of allej b, feeding floors, shelter sheds, farrow in". houses, and small lots. Fences are I 6 inch boards or woven wire. The farrowing houses are usuall] small. On one side of the farrowing pen is an outdoor pen with a concrete floor. On the other side is a small unpaved lot. V While in the farrowing houses, the s<.\\- and their litters are fed garbage in the outside pen on the concrete floor illustration on next page) . The usual arrangement for fattening pens is to have an alley with a concrete feeding floor on either side. Feeding floors are usually 8 to 12 feet wide and have enough slope so that they can be thoroughly washed. Behind the feeding floors are lots with shelters. They pro- vide exercise, shade in summer, and pro- tection from rain and cold in winter. A herd of 85-pound fattening pigs was put on a field of dwarf milo and cowpeas (left). Picture at right shows same field after "harvest." This type of equipment is usually found in southern California and the central valleys. Around San Francisco, equipment and feeding methods are dif- ferent because hogs usually are kept in- side and only occasionally allowed to range outdoors. No. 1 garbage, the best, comes from hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and Army and Navy camps. No. 2 garbage, which is more bulky, comes from city residen- tial areas and the refuse from vegetable markets. Garbage feeders generally sign contracts on a tonnage basis. Garbage from Army and Navy camps is usually on a per-man-per-day basis. In most cases, garbage is hauled by truck. However, garbage from Los An- geles is shipped by rail. Pigs that are fed garbage are some- times bought as feeder pigs; usually gar- bage feeders raise their own pigs. Exper- ience has taught them that moving pigs long distances and changing from grain feeding to garbage feeding often cause heavy losses. Also, they have found that small pigs should be fed garbage at an early age so that their digestive systems can get used to the bulky feed. Most breeds do fairly well on a garbage ration, but Hampshires are preferred for this type of feeding in southern California. Garbage is a bulky feed with fairly high moisture content, as Table 7 shows. In most garbage feeding operations, only garbage is fed. In some, however, grain is also given. The more progressive feeders are beginning to feed more grain than they formerly did. In one of the largest plants, when pigs weigh about 100 pounds, they are self-fed grain and are allowed to consume what garbage they want. In other plants the sows are fed a little barley or other concentrates shortly before farrowing. In many estab- lishments, it is common practice to feed both grain and garbage to the sows dur- ing part of their lactation period. It is possible to keep garbage plants clean if the equipment is good. Most establishments clean up once a day by clearing off the feeding floors and then washing them clean with water and a broom. After the hogs have cleaned up what garbage they will, the uneaten bones are usually picked up and put in piles to dry. The other refuse is removed from the floors, spread about 8 inches deep on other concrete floors, and al- lowed to air dry. It is usually turned over once a day. When dry, it is ground, put in sacks, and sold as fertilizer. Several serious diseases can result from feeding hogs raw garbage. These Garbage is usually dumped onto concrete platforms where hogs can have access to it. I 44 1 Table 7. — Feed Value of Garbage for Hogs Number of samples Moisture, per cent Composition of dry matter, in per cent of total dry matter Type of garbage Crude protein Nitrogen- free extract Ether extract Crude fiber Ash No. 1 No. 2 2 11 71.3 75.7 17.0 17.0 39.0 38.5 17.7 18.8 13.7 14.4 12.4 11.2 are probably caused by raw pork scraps from infected swine. One sueh disease is hog cholera (discussed on p. 48), an- other relatively new one is vesicular ex- anthema (VE) . This is similar in appear- ance to foot-and-mouth disease, but dif- fers from the latter in that it affects only swine. NOTE All ranches in California where garbage is fed to hogs are subject to regulation, as follows: Any ranch feeding garbage that is not cooked according to the instructions of the Director of the State Department of Agriculture is under continuous quarantine. This ruling is in effect for the purpose of eradicating or sharply reducing the incidence of vesicular exanthema. Obviously, it affects the marketing of hogs since they cannot move out of a quarantined area. Therefore, any rancher who is feeding garbage, other than on an approved hog farm where it is being prop- erly cooked, should contact the State Depart- ment of Agriculture. Because of diseases such as these, some hog men cook garbage before feeding it to swine. For this purpose, government agencies recommend heating the gar- bage, in a fluid consistency, to the tem- perature of boiling water (212° F) and holding it at that temperature for one- half hour. (Cooking would also reduce the incidence of trichinosis. See p. 50.) Cooperative research by the California Experiment Station has indicated thai cooking of garbage lowers the feed value up to about 15 per cent. Although, in many cases, differences between raw and cooked garbage were small, groups of pigs fed raw garbage gained Easter and utilized feed to a greater degree than did similar pigs fed cooked garbage. How- ever, research at the Hawaii Experimenl Station indicates that high quality gar- bage can be cooked with little or do lowering of feed value, and in other countries, cooking of garbage for swine feeding has been practiced successfully for years. In many cases, cooking of gar- bage would probably be economical, and is a recommended procedure. For further detailed information on garbage feeding, refer to University oi California Extension Circular 166, "The Garbage Hog Feeding Business in Cali- f" 55 ornia. How much feed does it take to produce 100 pounds of live hog? Some answers are given by cost studies made by the California Agricultural Extension Service, in cooperation with hog producers. These and records on the University of California herd give the following figures for California: If hogs are fed concentrate feeds in dry lot, it takes about 500 pounds of concentrates to produce 100 pounds of live hog in California. These figures are higher than those shown in some feed- ing tables in this circular because thej include an allowance for the feed to maintain the breeding herd. If pasture, farm wastes, and stubble are used, they replace some of the con- centrates. On the average, they replace about 100 pou n< Is of concentrates on California hog ranches. [45] How many pigs are marketed per sow each year? The cost studies mentioned above give the following fig- ures on numbers of pigs farrowed, weaned, and marketed in California. These figures have been checked with the opinions of hog producers. Average number of litters farrowed per sow per year 1 .6 Average number of pigs weaned per litter 6.1 Average number of pigs marketed per litter 5.7 Average number of pigs weaned per sow per year 9.8 Average number of pigs marketed per sow per year 9.1 Theoretically, it is possible to raise two litters a year, and many producers achieve this with most or all of their sows. But the average is considerably below this, because in practice there may be difficulties. On some farms, because of local conditions, there is only one litter a year. And some garbage plants raise about three litters every two years. Losses among young pigs are high in most garbage-feeding plants because of their all-year breeding program and di- gestive disturbances among the pigs. These losses reduce the average pigs weaned and marketed per litter. The best market weight for both producer and consumer is from 175 to 235 pounds. Hogs are sold to local butchers, shipped directly to packers, marketed through cooperatives, or consigned to commission firms for sale at union stock- yards. A cooperative hog auction in the southern San Joaquin Valley and coop- erative shipping groups in the Sacra- mento Valley have been highly suc- cessful. It is good business to produce the kind of hogs the public demands and to sell them to the highest bidder, no matter who he is. Market grades for slaughter barrows and gilts and their carcasses were extensively changed in 1952 by the United States Department of Agriculture. These changes were made Table 8. — Weight and Measurement Guides to Grades for Barrow and Gilt Carcasses* Carcass weight f and lengthj Grade Choice 1 Choice 2 Choice 3 Medium Cull Average back fat thickness, inches § Under 120 lbs. or 27 inches 120-164 lbs. or 27-29.9 inches 165-209 lbs. or 30-32.9 inches 210 lbs. or 33 inches or more 1.4-1.7 1.5-1.8 1.6-1.9 1.7-2.0 1.7-2.0 1.8-2.1 1.9-2.2 2.0-2.3 2.0 or more 2.1 or more 2.2 or more 2.3 or more 1.0-1.4 1.1-1.5 1.2-1.6 1.3-1.7 less than 1.0 less than 1.1 less than 1.2 less than 1.3 - From Federal Register of August 13, 1952. t Chilled, packer style carcass. t Forward point of aitchbone to forward edge of first rib. § Average of measurements opposite first and last ribs and last lumbar vertebrae. [46] so that the grades could be used in a realistic manner and would have a defi- nite relationship to the value of I lie car- cass to the homemakcr. Since the 1930's, the comparative value of lard has decreased greatly. Formerly lard was more valuable, pound for pound, than was carcass meat. To- day this is reversed. As a result, the homemaker wants as little fat as pos- sible on retail cuts of meat. This con- sumer reaction is reflected in a demand by hog buyers for meat type hogs with a high yield of primal or lean cuts (ham, loin, Boston butt, picnic butt). Research has shown that the average back fat thickness, in relation to carcass weight or length, is a reliable index to the yield of primal cuts as well as to the general ratio of lean to fat in the carcass. Three general grades of pork carcasses are now recognized — choice, medium, and cull. The choice grade is divided into three grades — choice 1, choice 2, and choice 3 — on the basis of back fat thick- ness and primal cut yield. The choice 1 grade includes those carcasses with a minimum of back fat, and yet with suffi- cient condition to yield a firm carcass, firm belly, and choice cuts of meat. Choice 3 carcasses are overly fat, requir- ing excessive trimming of fat on the wholesale cute, but -till yielding choice cuts when trimmed. ( Ihoii e 2 are intermediate. Medium and cull gi ades are l"r thinner animals. Table 8 gives a Bchedule for grading carcasses. In extreme cases, where use of weight and length gives different grades, dual grade can lx- determined b) considt (ra- tion oi other factors, Buch as length in relation to weight, conformation of hams, loins, bellies, and shoulders, and uniformit) of width, depth, and fat covering. Live grades are the same as the car grades — for example, a choice 2 carcass would be obtained from a choice 2 live barrow or gilt. In the case <»l the live animal, grading must be dune l.\ esti- mation. The importance of meat) hog- cannot be overestimated. However, length and lack of condition can be overemphasized to the point where hogs will be poor doers and uneconomical. The desired type of hog can be found in all breeds of swine, and proper breeding and se- lection of this type can be carried out in any herd without the addition of a new breed. Desirable types, however, ma) In- more easily found in some breeds than in others. I 17 I I) ISEASES, WORMS, and PARASITES can be discouraged by healthful surroundings. Up to 35 per cent of all pigs farrowed die before they are marketed, according to reliable estimates. You can cut down your own losses from diseases, which may run into a good many dollars, if you will do these things: 1. Provide clean premises. 2. Keep your barns well lighted and ventilated. 3. Plow the lots close to the barn once or twice a year, and seed them to some annual crop, such as barley and rape. This helps to control roundworm infes- tation. 4. Scatter air-slaked lime in the pens and on the feeding floors occasionally. 5. Keep the troughs and feeding equip- ment clean. These steps will help keep down infec- tion and provide healthful surroundings for the growing pigs. Hog cholera, pneumonia, swine en- teritis, brucellosis, and parasitism are the diseases causing the heaviest losses in swine. It is essential that strict steps be taken to control these diseases, includ- ing getting competent veterinary advice. The suggestions given here will not take the place of a veterinarian. Hog cholera is caused by a virus and is highly con- tagious. Usually many animals are af- fected at once. The first signs are loss of appetite and high temperature, followed by weakness and staggering gait. Pigs usually die in 2 or 3 days after symptoms appear. \ on can control hog cholera by vac- cination with serum and virus, with sei urn alone, or with other vaccines, such afl B.T.V. or crystal violet. Your local veterinarian can tell you which to use under the conditions in your herd. Pneumonia often causes heavy losses in swine of all ages. The symptom you can recognize most easily is heavy, labored breathing, or thumping, as it is sometimes called. If you cannot get a veterinarian, sep- arate the sick hogs and divide them into small groups. They should be housed with plenty of bedding and provided with water and a little feed. Swine enteritis is usually related to unsanitary condi- tions, overcrowding, and faulty nutri- tion, but its actual cause is unknown. If enteritis occurs, separate the affected animals, feed them a limited ration of bulky feeds, part of which might be wheat bran, and disinfect the premises. Brucellosis, also called infectious abortion, is caused by the porcine strain of the same abor- tion germ that causes Bang's disease in cattle. Some results of the infection in swine are sterility in gilts, loss of litters, pigs weak at birth, uneven size of pigs in the same litter, and litters with some pigs dead, others weak, and maybe a few strong ones. There is no known cure or immuniza- tion for this disease at present. The only way to stop brucellosis is by pre- ventive measures. The only sure way of knowing whether it is in your herd is by means of a laboratory test of a blood sample. Brucellosis is very infectious. You can easily bring it into your herd by buying infected animals. If you are starting a 18 I herd, or if your herd is negative, be sure that any hogs you buy are tested. Never bring a positive reactor into a negative herd! The California State Departmenl of Agriculture has set up a system of certi- fying brucellosis-free herds of swine Any licensed veterinarian can conduct this program for you. You can get more information about it from the State De- partment of Agriculture in Sacramento or from your local Farm Advisor. Pork measles can be prevented by keeping human ex- creta away from pigs. Roundworms can be controlled by following the McLean County system, first used in Illinois. It gives excellent results. Before farrowing season begins, wash and scrub the farrowing house thor- oughly with scalding water and lye (1 pound to 30 gallons of water). Do an especially good job on the walls, parti- tions, and floors of the farrowing pens. Then disinfect the pen thoroughly with any standard disinfectant and put in fresh, clean straw. Before putting the sow into this pen, wash her thoroughly with warm soapy water, especially her udder and under- line, to keep her from carrying round- worm eggs into the clean pen. After she has farrowed and her pigs are strong enough, put them on clean, noninfested pasture. A pasture is considered non- infested if it has grown a crop since hogs were last on it or if it has lain idle for one or preferably two years. Lice, until recent years, were controlled by the standard method of using crude oil and other petroleum products. The use of these products has been unsatisfactory in many instances, and they have largely been replaced by the chlorinated hydro- carbon insecticides. Some of the chlorinated hydrocarbons that haw received considerable attention in hog lice control are DDT, benzene hexachloride, chlordane, and toxaphene. These compounds are applied as sprays, dips, and dusts. In mOSl I BSes, one ap- plication is enough to eradi< ate li< . DDT is effective in Bpra) 01 dip con- centrations of 0.50 to 0.75 pei cent, and is u s 1 1 a 1 1 \ used a- a I to ."> per ccnl du-l. Chlordane* is used al 0.25 per cenl as a spra) or dip, and al 2 per cenl as a dust Toxaphene is ver\ effective al 0.5 pel cent as a spra} or dip, and benzene hexa- chloride is used at 0.3 per cenl concen- tration of its gamma isomer (lindane) in sprays and dips. When using any of the above com- pounds, it is important to obtain com- plete coverage of the animal. This is most easily done by use of a dipping vat. but equally good results are obtained with careful spraying especially if pressures of 200 to 250 pounds are used. It is important to follow the manufflu turer's directions explicitly when apply- ing the chlorinated hydrocarbons, and since these compounds are toxic to man as well as to animals, to observe all safety precautions. Watch for lice on swine of all sizes. Mange should be diagnosed by a veterinarian if it appears in the herd. This is especially important because one form of mange (sarcoptic or common mange* is a re- portable disease. This means thai au\ cases must be reported to the State De- partment of Agriculture and treated under the supervision of its members. The treatment of demodectic <>r Eolli - ular mange has not proved economical, and in most cases, swine infested with this disease are slaughtered. Chlordane, benzene hexachloride. and other com- pounds have shown promise when used against mites of this group, but the re- sults are not always satisfactory. I'M Myiasis is an infestation of wounds with mag- gots. To prevent it, first clean the wound with a 90 per cent solution of commercial benzol and then cover it with pine-tar oil or similar material. Carcasses should be burned. Lungworms get into hogs by way of earthworms. Therefore, if you keep pigs from rooting by ringing their noses, you reduce the chances of infection. The lots and pas- tures should be kept free of trash, litter, boards, and other debris. Good drainage will reduce chances of infection. For kidney worms, a precautionary measure is to have a bare area around the sides of the pasture and around the feed and water troughs. Thorny-headed worms can be stopped largely by keeping the pigs from rooting. Trichina infection can be reduced or perhaps wiped out by keeping the premises en- tirely free of rats. Garbage-fed hogs may develop trichinosis from eating uncooked pork scraps in the garbage. 50 Lhecking hog rations shows whether the ration you feed is adequate. If hogs are self-fed, they usually balance their ration fairh well themselves, provided the feeds of- fered contain all of the needed nutri- ents, and provided tin- Feeds an- ones hogs like. But if, for example, you feed raw beans as the protein supplement, the hogs will not eat enough of them to get the protein they need. You ran tesl whether they are getting a properly bal- anced ration if you know how much of each feed they are eating each day; the test is then made just as with the hand- fed ration in Table 1 1 . If you are feeding some liquid, such as skim milk, you will need to make an allowance for the high water content. The total daily ration given in Table 9 is, you may note, on an air-dry basis. Skim milk and buttermilk are about 90 per cent water, so that for each pound of these you feed, you would count only 0.1 pound toward the total daily feed on an air-dry basis. But enter the full weight in column 3, because the amounts per pound in Table 10 are given on a wet basis. If your hogs are on green pasture, they will get some of their nutrients from that. Of course you cannot tell how many pounds of pasture your hogs are eating each day, but you can make some allowances for the nutrients the) gel from pasture. You can assume that they will get all the vitamin A and riboflavin they need, so that you will not need to give additional amounts of these. It the pasture is legume, it will suppl) a pari of the protein needs and about 5 OF L0 per cent of the total digestible nutrient-. The feed mixture should supph the rest. If you feed the rations suggested earlier for the different ages and classes of hogs, your hogs should get the nutrients they need for normal growth. But you may have other feeds or prefer to use differ- ent proportions of the same feeds. You can find out whether the ration you are planning to use contains the needed food values by using tables 9 and 10. It will pay you to check a new ration with the tables. If you try to balance a ration by guess, one or two of the needed nutrients may be low enough to keep you from getting the best results. The failure of the pigs to gain all they might can cost you many times what it would cost to balance your ration. Table 9 tells you how much of each nutrient your hogs need. The amounts will be different for the breed- ing herd and for fattening pigs, and even for different weights of pigs. Table 10 shows the amounts of the nutrients found in 1 pound of many common hog feeds. Table 7 7 shows how to use tables 9 and 10. The sample ration given in table 11 is tested for a 100-pound pig hand-fed in dry lot. The steps taken in filling out the columns are listed. When we compare the total nutrients in the ration with the amounts needed by the pig, this ration turns out to be adequate for its purpose. If the one you test is not, you can change the propor- tions of it or add other feeds to increase whatever nutrients are deficient. If pro- tein is low, for example, you can increase the percentage of tankage or some other protein supplement. 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Co-operative Extension work in Agriculture and Home Economic*, College ol Agriculture, Unlverait) of California, .<• I DeparUawstl of Agricadtara: cooperating. Distributed in furtherance ol the Acta of Congress of Ma) 8, and June 10 ".mi ' i .ri Coke, Director, California Agncultursl ) i L0m-10,*54(1760)LL 'IS POQK 15 DUE OM THE LAST ~ "r IjiUb ON THE LAST DATF Here is the type of brood sow that swine rais- ers should strive for. This manual discusses the steps to take to produce quality animals. Other manuals on animal husbandry in this series include: California Beef Production-Manual 2 . $1.00 California Sheep Production-Manual 16 .50 Net Price 50c