Chapter 6

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 endorsement 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 rushing and pushing 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.

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 quantity 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~" | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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 Essex 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. | | | |[Illustration: Pratts Animal Dip] | | | |There are other dips that look like the original Pratts, but they are | |not the same in efficiency. Refuse the substitutes. 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~" | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The quarters in which the sickness first appeared should be thoroughly cleaned, all bedding and rubbish burned, and loose boards and old partitions torn out and burned. If the pen is old, knock it to pieces and burn it. Disinfect pens and sleeping places using Pratts Dip and Disinfectant on the floors, walls and ceilings. Whitewash everything. If a hog dies from any cause, the carcass should never be exposed where it may be devoured by the other hogs or by passing birds or beasts, but should be burned at once or buried deeply and the pens thoroughly disinfected immediately. If possible, do not move the carcass from the place where it falls; but if this cannot be done the ground over which it is dragged should be disinfected. Hog-cholera bacilli can live in the ground for at least three months. Care must be taken to maintain an absolute quarantine between the sick and well hogs. The same attendant should not care for both lots unless he disinfects himself thoroughly after each visit to the infected hogs. Dogs should be confined until the disease is stamped out.

Treatment of hogs suffering from cholera or swine plague is not always satisfactory. The disease runs its course so rapidly that curative measures are more or less ineffectual, and prevention of an outbreak should be relied upon rather than the cure of sick animals. Pratts Hog Tonic has been successful in less virulent outbreaks when administered as soon as signs of sickness are shown.

Pratts Hog Tonic should be thoroughly mixed with the feed, which should be soft, made of bran and middlings, corn meal and middlings, corn meal and ground and sifted oats, or crushed wheat, mixed with hot water. If the hogs are too sick to come to the feed, the tonic should be given as a drench. Pull the cheek away from the teeth and pour the mixture in slowly. Care should be exercised, as hogs are easily suffocated by drenching. Do not turn a hog on its back to drench it.

Hogs often suffer very much from vermin. Lice are introduced from neighboring herds, and the losses in feeding are often severe, especially among young pigs, when death is sometimes a secondary if not an immediate result. When very numerous, lice are a very serious drain on vitality, fattening is prevented, and in case of exposure to disease the lousy hogs are much more liable to contract and succumb to it.

Newly purchased hogs should be carefully examined for vermin, and they should not be turned out with the herd until they are known to be free from these pests.

When the herd is found to be badly infested with lice all bedding should be burned and loose boards and partitions torn out. Old boards and rubbish should be burned. The quarters should then be thoroughly disinfected by spraying with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.

Vermin are most common around the ears, inside the legs, and in the folds of the skin on the jowl sides and flanks. In light and isolated cases they may be destroyed by washing the hogs with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant, properly diluted, applied with a broom.

In severe cases, however, especially where the whole herd is affected, thorough spraying or dipping should be resorted to. In this case a dipping tank will be a great convenience.

Whenever any animals are brought to the farm, or when animals are brought home from shows or from neighboring farms, they should be kept apart from the rest of the herd for at least three weeks. If they have been exposed to hog cholera or swine plague the diseases will be manifested within this time, and the sick animals can be treated or killed and disposed of at once.

_Galway, N.Y.

I bought two spring pigs the 15th of April and began feeding them Pratts Animal Regulator until the 15th of December when I butchered them. One weighed 415 pounds, the other 420 pounds. I know this Regulator does what you claim it to do.

BALDWIN O'BREY._ -----------------------------------------------------------------

If cholera breaks out in the neighborhood the farmer should maintain a strict quarantine against the infected herds. He should refrain from visits to farms where they are located, and should insist on requiring that his neighbors stay out of his hog lots. Visiting of all kinds at this time should be carefully restricted. Dogs, cats, crows, and buzzards are very active carriers of infection from farm to farm, and should be guarded against as far as possible.

~COMMON DISEASES OF SWINE~

(Symptoms and Treatment)

~Diarrhoea or Scours~

_Cause._--By milk of the dam being affected by feeding of food tainted with the elements of decay; by making a sudden change in the food; by some disordered condition in the health of the sow, and by excess of milk furnished by the dam.

Usually occurs before the weaning stage, as a rule in swine not yet ten days old.

_Symptoms._--Very soft condition of the voidings which are sometimes almost watery.

_Treatment._--Being highly contagious, spray the floor thoroughly with Pratts Disinfectant. Keep the young swine comfortable and remove the voidings carefully two or three times a day. Correct the food given the dam, mixing Pratts Hog Tonic with her feed. Also give a small tablespoonful of sulphur daily to the sow.

~Hog Cholera and Swine Plague~

Hog Cholera and Swine Plague are very much alike. Both are characterized by inflammation of stomach and intestines, enlarged and inflamed lymphatic glands and sloughing of portions of the skin. The treatment and preventive measures are alike in many respects.

They are germ diseases, contracted in purchasing swine which may contract the germs when in transit on cars; by exhibiting at fairs; through persons who have visited infected herds; through the feet of dogs and birds to which the germs may have adhered; through the water of an infected pond or stream.

The most dangerous source of infection by far is coming in touch with diseased animals.

Reduced stamina and filthy quarters favor the spread of these diseases.

~Hog Cholera~

_Symptoms._--Dullness, loss of appetite or depraved appetite and a disposition to lie down; constipation or diarrhoea; stiff gait; red spots or blotches discernible about the ears and under the neck and belly; in some instances there is difficulty in breathing.

_Treatment._--Authorities agree that there is no known cure for real hog cholera. Preventive measures, therefore, are of vital importance. Pratts Disinfectant should be used frequently and to build up the general health of the hog, giving it full disease-resisting power, Pratts Hog Tonic should be added to the ration. Besides, it is a valuable tonic and fattener.

~Swine Plague~

_Symptoms._--Extensive inflammation of the lungs, by which it can be distinguished from hog cholera. There is coughing and labored, painful and oppressed breathing.

It frequently comes as a pneumonia or an inflammation of the lungs and pleural membrane. The animal is in a sleepy and even comatose condition much of the time. If it walks it staggers. The skin reddens in a marked degree and the bowels become constipated. This disease, though not nearly so common as hog cholera is usually very fatal. Preventive measures, as indicated for hog cholera, are all important. Use Pratts Hog Tonic as directed and disinfect with Pratts Disinfectant.

~Thumps~

_Cause._--Too liberal feeding and lack of exercise, resulting in poor digestion. The diaphragm contracts suddenly at irregular intervals, thus giving the name to the disease. The pig becomes unthrifty and stunted. If the sow is a liberal milker, nursing pigs may be affected. Treatment is usually preventive, consisting of exercise and careful feeding, Pratts Hog Tonic being added to the feed.

~Tuberculosis in Swine~

The losses from this disease are beginning to assume enormous proportions. It results largely from swine drinking the milk of tuberculous cattle.

_Symptoms._--Digestive disorders, such as diarrhoea and vomiting; a stunted condition and a staring coat and breathing more or less labored.

_Treatment._--There is no positive cure for this severe disease, but good sanitation is the best preventive. Use Pratts Disinfectant freely and maintain health and vigor by regularly using Pratts Hog Tonic.

The importance of testing heads of cattle that may be affected with tuberculosis is thus further emphasized.

~Worms~

There is perhaps no other animal troubled to so great an extent or with so many varieties of worms, as the hog. Indeed it is almost a rule with some growers when a hog is sick and it cannot be told exactly what is the matter that they doctor for worms.

There are four species of worms that live in the intestines of swine, resulting in more or less harm. The Common Round Worm, Pin Worm and Whip Worm develop from eggs taken in in food and water. The Thornheaded Worm develops from a white grub which swine eat. To a great extent these are kept in check by Pratts Hog Tonic.

As preventive measures, drain stagnant pools and wet places where these eggs may be found; plough up yards and pastures; do not feed on floors not properly cleaned, or on ground that may have been much used for such feeding; do not give water from a deep well, do not allow the swine to wallow in the drinking trough.

_Symptoms._--Frequently a gluttonous appetite without corresponding improvement in flesh. Again a much impaired appetite is found; diarrhoea or constipation; excessive itching, causing the animal to rub, especially the hind parts. These symptoms will only exist when worms are present in large numbers.

_Treatment._--Give each adult hog one heaping tablespoonful of Pratts Worm Powder with the feed once a day for four days. After the last dose give a bran mash to loosen bowels.

Repeat this treatment two weeks after the first to insure killing any worms which may have hatched in the meantime.

Even if you are not sure that your hogs have worms--as they _probably_ have--you should use Pratts Worm Powder as above as a matter of precaution.

_Woodsboro, Md.

I bought four pigs, four months' old, weighing about 16 pounds each, and, in bad condition. Began to feed Pratts Animal Regulator and at 5 months' old they averaged a gain of one pound a day per pig.

CHARLES W. HOLBRUNER._ -----------------------------------------------------------------

~POULTRY~

"One hundred hens on every farm" was the small number set by the United States Department of Agriculture in its great war drive for increased production of foods. And certainly this number of fowls, and many more, can be easily and profitably maintained on the average farm. Easily, because under free range conditions, which are possible on the farm they require but little attention. Profitably, because under these conditions, where they pick up much of their living, the cost of production is comparatively low, while eggs and flesh sell at good prices. Further, these delicious and nutritious foods add variety to the farm table.