THE FEEDING OF PIGS

Waipa Post, Volume 31, Issue 1765, 1 June 1926, Page 6

THE FEEDING OF PIGS

VALUE OF MILK. LESS GRAIN NEEDED. J. M. Elvvard, of the lowa Experiment Station, once made the statement, “There is- only one feed better than skimmilk to supplement grain for pig feeding and that one. feed is whole milk.” We can’t use whole milk for pig feeding, but tve can save a lot of grain and make a lot of good pork from skimmilk, buttermilk, and whey.

These feeds are at their best when used as supplements to gi’ain in dry lot feeding!, although limited quantities may be used very efficiently for the younger pigs on pasture. One of the outstanding things about these dairy by-products is the quality of protein furnished. The cereal grains that form the basis of the pig ration are low in efficient high quality protein. Supplementing these with skimmilk, buttermilk, or whey makes an ideal combination for pigs on the dairy farm. Aside from being rich in protein, these by-products of the dairy are also well supplied with calcium and hosphorus, two minerals very much needed by the rapidly growing pig. Most of the fat soluble vitamin has been removed in the fat from milk and for this reason skimmilk is best fed in ration that has this vitamin supplied in the other feeds used. Pigs fed in dry lot on cereals and cereal by-products do not make satisfactory gains as compared with the gains made where these feeds are supplemented with protein carriers of animal origin such as skimmilk, buttermilk, etc. Buttermilk which has not been diluted at the churn is equal to skimmilk in feeding varue. In a feeding trial conducted by Morrison and Bohstedt at the -Wisconsin Station, some surprisingly good results were obtained from whey and ground barley. The barley was fed in self-feeders and the whey was likewise allowed to the limit of appetite. Starting with pigs weighing 125—150 lbs., a gain of 2.22 lbs per head daily resulted from 7.8 lbs of ground barley and 15.4 lbs of whey. The protein in whey proved to be of excellent quality. Where these dairy by-products, are fed with grain to pigs on pasture, the allowance is reduced to about onehalf as much as when fed in dry lot. In feeding skimmilk or buttermilk in dry lot, the amount fed daily is of considerable importance if one ,is to obtain the greatest value from them. Starting with weaned pigs, 4 to 6 lbs. of skimmilk for each pound of grain fed is sufficient. This proportion is reduced gradually to where pigs weighing 100 to 150 lbs are getting 2 to 2.5 lbs for each pound of grain. There are some precautions to be observed in feeding dairy by-products to pigs. Skimmilk should not be fed sweet one day and sour the next. One is just as good as the other, but to alternate frequently from one to the other is to invite digestive disturbances. Skimmilk, buttermilk, and whey should be kept in fit feeding condition. Clean sour milk is fine, but filthy sour milk has no place in any ration.

Dairy by-products should either come from cows free from tuberculosis or be properly pasteurized. The- ease with -which pigs become infected with tuberculosis from infected milk is shown by an experiment conducted at the lowa Station a number of years ago. One lot of pigs was fed on skimmilk containing virulent bacilli of tuberculosis artificially added.