Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 175, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 July 1912 — The Milking Qualities of Brood Sows [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Milking Qualities of Brood Sows

By W. W. SMITH,

Pi Jm Scheel es Agriodtsie,

Pordae Uaiverrity Arricwltaal Ertrnte

The sows which are the best mothers are invariably the heaviest milkers. We judge of a sow’s goodness as a mother by the number and thrift of the pigs she produces and raises. That the qualities of a good motherhood are directly expressed in the quantity of milk flow Js a fact demonstrated by daily observation among the sows and their litters. For the first weeks of a pig’s life the mother’s milk is its sole support The size and growthiness of the pig prior to weaning is limited chiefly by this factor. Furthermore, it has been observed that the litter which grows most rapidly during the first few weeks of its life will generally hold this advantage during its entire period of development A gen erous flow of milk insures a foundation in thrift and growing capacity that remains permanent with the pig. It seems to be a fact, too, that the heaviest milking sows are the most prolific, or produce a large number of pigs to the litter. This means that the litter of eight or ten is as well nourished individually as the litter of three or four. The sow which is incapable of responding to liberal feeding with a generous milk flow is usually the mother of small litters of unthrifty pigs. According to observations made at tge Wisconsin experiment station the milk flpw of the average sow Is 5.8 pounds tally about a week after farvewing. The significant fact estab-

lished by all such observations, how ever, is that some sows give as mucl ns eight pounds and others less than four. There is practically as wide a variation in the milk producing capacity of sows as there is to ba found among the cows in a dairy herd. The milking qualities of a sow can be judged by the size and growthlness of her pigs at weaning time, and her own condition of flesh. Since milking qualities are so closely associated with free and regular and prolific breeding qualities, and since these are fundamental in profitable pork production, the sows and litters should be observed closely and selections of future breeding stock made at this season of the year. “Good individuals from good mothers” is a safe rule to follow in deciding the eligibility of gilts and boars for places in the herd, The sow whose maternal instincts are so strong as to cause her to “milk down” and become thin in flesh is* the one whose blood should be propagated in the herd and bpeed.