Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1892 — LIVE STOCK. [ARTICLE]

LIVE STOCK.

Cost -of F©«dlng: Pig:*. The .Wisconsin Experiment Station conducted a series of experiments to ascertain whether or not pigs can he fed aSTprofitably through the dam as after weaning. Four sows were placed in separate pens just before farrowing. The pigs were weighed onthe day they were born, and weekly thereafter until ten weeks old, when they were weaned. An account was kept of all the food consumed by the 60w and pigs for seven weeks after weaning. The feed consumed is charged at the following rates: Cormneal, 70 cents per hundred weight, or 40 centb per bushel; Skimmilk, 75 cemts per hundred weight. Shorts, 70 cents per hundred weight, Ground Oats, 90 cents per hundred weight, or 29 cents per bushel. Silted oats, «1.27 per hundred weight. Only summaries of the second and third lots are here given as the feeding was not uniform for the other lots. The following table shows the food consumed to produce 100-pounds of gain: lot u.—sow and pros before weaning. Cornmeal, 184 lbs. at *.70 per cwt *1 29 Skimmilk, 482 lbs. at .25 per cwt 1 21 Total, $2 50 PIGS AFTER WEANING. Cormneal, 187 lbs. at 6.70 per cwt *1 31 Skimmilk, 562 lbs at .25 per cwt 1 41 Total $2 72 EOT ILL—SOWS AND PIGS BEFORE WEANING. Cormaeal 116 lbs. at *.70 per cwt « 61 Shorts, 232 lbs. at 8.70 per cwt 1 62 Total $2 43 PIGS AFTER WEANING. Cornmeal, ,115 lbs. at 8.70 per cwt 8 81 Shorts, 239 lbs. at 8.70 per cwt 162 Total *2 42 The Combination of cornmeal and skimmilk gave excellent results, and cornmeal with shorts did equally well. "Where the sow was fed ground oats poor returns followed, this feed not, being very satisfactory when cost is considered. It will be sepn that there was little difference in the amount of feed required for a pound of growth with the pigs of Lots II and 111 before and after weaning, and we may conclude that there is no cheaper way of feeding pigs than through the dam. This being true, it is, a shortsighted policy to starve a sow with the idea that her pigs will pay better for their feed after they are weaned. Experiments teach that the sow should be fed as heavily as possible without endangering her young, and that at the same time the pigs should .be early taught to eat in a trough by themselves, and should also be fed all they will consume. Sheep Hints. Start in to winter right and feed the flock so it will be a credit to you. There is a difference detween feeding a maintenance ration and one enough larger to net the feeder a profit. The wool and manure will pay for

the keep of the sheep, «nd what the lambs bring is all profit )Vhat will show a larger per cent of profit than this?

When a man expects early spring lambs it won’t do for him to he mean with the ewes, either in board of treatment. There is a charm about wheat oran, oats and linseed meal which no sheep can resist; and the resulting products, whether lambs, wool or mutton, are bound to be first-class. Oil meal must not be fed to ewes in lamb later than four weeks after they are served because of danger from miscarriage.

Turnips are well worth feeding notwithstanding, the chemists rank them so low among foods. The beginner in sheep raising will do well to study the cheap production of roots, for nothing, not even ensilage, can taxe. their place in the economies of winter sheep feeding. Every lamb that can be put on the market before April will pay the owner well. He should make special preparations for warm and comfortable places in cold weather for sheep expected to yean early. Don’t allow the sheep to fall off in flesh as the feed fails. If they come to the barn poor in the fall, they are likely to remain so through the winter. Turn them into the aftermath, or give them a daily feed of grain or xowen. Gather forest leaves and fill one of the box stalls by pouring them through the floor above. Sheep enjoy them for bedding and will eat many of the bright ones. They like to vary their own diet and it is a hint to the shepherd.