Pratt's Practical Pointers on the Care of Livestock and Poultry Part 11

Just who deserves credit for originating or developing this plan cannot be stated. That it is a good one is evidenced by the fact that it has received the endors.e.m.e.nt of the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture; of many Agricultural Experiment Stations; of the specialty swine journals; of practical hog breeders in all sections of the country.

For this self-feed plan it is claimed that both feed and labor are saved, thus reducing production costs. That a 250-pound hog can be grown in thirty days less time than is possible where slop-feeding is practiced, thus getting the hogs to market earlier and avoiding danger of loss during this time. That it produces pork of highest quality, the meat being fine in flavor, firm, and with lean and fat well distributed.

Advocates of the self-feeding plan make the following comparison with the old-time slop-feeding method:

When dry food is supplied in automatic feeders, the attendant may fill the feeders at any convenient time of day and that at intervals of several days. In slop feeding, the meals must be prepared and fed twice daily, usually when other duties are pressing and time especially valuable.

When dry, ground grains are kept before the hogs at all times, they eat when they feel the need of food and are not liable to overeat at any time. Because of the dry character of the feed, they eat slowly, masticating the food thoroughly and mixing it with saliva. This means more thorough digestion and an absence of indigestion and bowel troubles. And, of course, quicker growth.

Slop-fed hogs, on the other hand, get very hungry between meals. At feeding time they pile up around the troughs, the stronger rus.h.i.+ng and pus.h.i.+ng away the weaker ones, those that really need the feed the most.

Then they bolt the food without chewing it, taking all they can hold and leaving little for those that cannot find a place at the "first table."

The quality of the dry-fed pork has been mentioned. Equally important, from the standpoint of the butcher, is the loss in dressing of hogs.

Tests have shown that slop-fed stock loses six to eight pounds more per hundredweight than does the dry-fed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ~BERKs.h.i.+RE BOAR~]

Another big advantage of dry-feeding lies in the fact that large numbers of swine, including those of various ages and sizes, can be safely kept in one herd. The writer has seen over two hundred head of swine, ranging in size from pigs just weaned to 250-pound porkers ready for market, living in peace and contentment in one building, eating and sleeping and sharing the forage pastures together. Of course this means a big saving in buildings and fencing and a great reduction in the amount of necessary labor.

The self-feeder may be used all through the life of the hog, beginning when the pigs are still nursing and continuing until they reach market weight. During all this time the ration should contain Pratts Hog Tonic, the guaranteed hog conditioner, in order that at all times the herd may be maintained in vigorous condition, be kept free from disease, may avoid wasting feed through imperfect or sluggish digestion, may earn for the farmer the maximum amount of profit. We suggest that you make a test of this results-insuring, profit-producing tonic. Watch results. If _you_ are not satisfied the dealer from whom you purchased the goods will refund the full amount you paid for them.

The self-feeding plan of growing hogs gives best results when the animals are given access to growing forage crops. The feeders may be placed under cover out in the fields or kept in the hog house if the latter is reasonably near the pasture lots. An unlimited supply of fresh water must be available at all times because dry-fed stock drinks many times the amount of water that slop-fed hogs do. The reason is plain.

There are many different systems of handling hogs under this plan, varying according to local conditions. We will give in detail the method used most successfully for many years on a Pennsylvania farm which each season markets several hundred hogs of a quality which commands a premium above current quotations.

On this farm, particular attention is paid to keeping the hog houses clean and sanitary, light, sunny and dry. Dampness is always a fertile source of loss. Further, the houses are never crowded. Each animal is given plenty of room.

The brood sows are placed in separate pens at farrowing time and watched carefully when giving birth to the pigs. They are fed a rich slop, a small quant.i.ty at first, but in gradually increasing amount until they are receiving enough to insure a big flow of milk.

When the pigs are eight to ten days of age they are permitted to go at will to the self-feeder containing a mixture of ground grains. As a rule, several sows farrow at about the same time and the pens are so arranged that the pigs from several litters may all use one feeder.

This arrangement results in the pigs taking more exercise, eating more food and making more rapid growth. It reduces the danger of thumps and gives the youngsters a wonderfully strong start in life.

+ -------+ | ~MORE PIGS PER HOG--MORE HOG PER PIG~ | | | |Big litters of strong-boned, growthy pigs, and rapid growth of pigs from| |birth to maturity are the natural result of health and vigor of breeding| |stock and youngsters. Weak, run-down boars and sows produce inferior | |pigs and usually small litters. And such pigs are not money-makers. | | | | ~PRATTS HOG TONIC~ | | | |the guaranteed conditioner for swine, overcomes most hog diseases, makes| |the breeders healthy and vigorous, insures big litters of big pigs, | |makes the youngsters grow steadily and rapidly from birth to maturity | |and fatten quickly and economically. | | | |Many of the most successful hog-growers will tell you that one secret of| |their success is the regular use of Pratts Hog Tonic. You should at | |least test it. No risk on your part because | | | | "~YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED~" | | | + -------+

[Ill.u.s.tration: Care of Swine]

The feed mixture used at this time varies somewhat according to available supplies and current prices. A sample pig ration is made up as follows:

RATION FOR YOUNG PIGS

Winter wheat middlings 40 lbs.

Hominy meal 40 lbs.

Oil meal 3 lbs.

Whole oats (heavy) 5 lbs.

60 per cent. Digester tankage 12 lbs.

Fine salt 1/2 lb.

Mix thoroughly.

When the pigs are weaned they are placed with the herd, a safe practice because of the general contentment and quietness and the entire absence of meal-time stampedes. They quickly adjust themselves to their new surroundings, and, because accustomed to the use of self-feeders, at once begin eating the regular hog ration with the rest of the herd.

In the hog house, enough self-feeders are provided to permit all animals to eat at will without being crowded. One feeder to each twenty-five hogs is the rule.

The hog ration, like the pig ration, varies according to conditions. But at all times it is palatable and contains feeds which build bone, muscle and fat. A favorite formula is this:

RATION FOR GROWING HOGS

Winter wheat middlings 50 lbs.

Wheat bran 50 lbs.

Corn chop 50 lbs.

Whole oats 10 lbs.

50 per cent. Digester tankage 20 lbs.

Soft coal and salt are kept before the herd at all times. The hogs eat these at will.

The grazing system is used on this farm. Many different forage crops are planted, in order to insure a regular succession of succulent feeds. As each field reaches proper condition for grazing, a hog fence is thrown around it and the herd admitted. The hogs do all the work of harvesting, thus securing valuable exercise and at the same time saving man labor.

Under this system the fields have steadily improved in fertility, due to the turning under of the uneaten green stuff and the direct application of the valuable hog manure.

Forage crops vary in different sections of the country. On the farm in question the earliest forage is rye, followed in rotation by the various clovers and mixtures of oats, Canada field peas, vetch, soy beans, etc.

Dwarf Ess.e.x rape is a favorite crop and one that furnishes a tremendous amount of forage per acre.

When the corn crop matures, the larger individuals are given the liberty of the corn fields and the crop is "hogged down." This again saves a great amount of hand labor, a big item under existing conditions.

In the winter, when grazing is out of the question, the herd receives once daily a liberal feed of second crop alfalfa or clover hay.

Understand, the feeders containing the dry mixture of ground grains, are available to the hogs _at all times_. They help themselves at will, day and night.

_La Fontaine, Ind.

We have been trying to produce the largest hog in the world and we have done it! We have a Big Type Poland China hog, that has been fed 123 days, making a gain of 450 pounds and at this time weighs over 1200 pounds. We fed him on Pratts Animal Regulator.

H.E. HENRY._

When keeping hogs in large herds like this, it is of primary importance that the most careful attention be paid to sanitation. Pratts Dip and Disinfectant should be used regularly and thoroughly to protect against disease germs and vermin. And Pratts Hog Tonic used to keep the hogs in perfect condition _inside_.

If sickness appears in the herd the unaffected hogs should at once be removed to clean, disinfected quarters, preferably without much range, for by running over pastures they may come in contact with contagion.

Their feed should be carefully regulated, and, if they have previously been on pasture, should include some green feed, roots, or an abundance of skim milk.

+ -------+ | ~BANISH HOG VERMIN AND DISEASES~ | | | |To make a success of hog raising, dipping is almost as essential as | |feeding. At least it is second only to proper feeding. | | | |Lice and vermin, the comfort-destroyers and profit-reducers, and the | |germs which cause cholera and tuberculosis, are exterminated by the | |regular use of | | | | ~PRATTS DIP AND DISINFECTANT~ | | | |Put the hogs and pigs through the dipping vat and spray the quarters and| |feed receptacles occasionally with a strong solution of the original | |Pratts Dip and Disinfectant. Result--comfortable, vermin-free and | |disease-free hogs, less loss, more pork, more money. | | | |[Ill.u.s.tration: Pratts Animal Dip] | | | |There are other dips that look like the original Pratts, but they are | |not the same in efficiency. Refuse the subst.i.tutes. Use Pratts, the dip | |you can depend upon. It costs no more but it's worth more! You be the | |judge-- | | | | "~YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED~" | | | + -------+