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Show KEEPING BROOD SOW HEALTHY Preferable to Keep Animal as Near Grass or Vegetable Diet as Pos- j sible Roots Urged. (By R. G. WEATHERSTONE.) Grass and vegetable matter are the most natural foods for pigs, although they will eat and can digest a great variety of things. The nearer a sow can be kept to a grass or vegetabla diet the healthier she will he, and this system is preferable to dry, rich foods consisting mainly of grain, barley oi other meals. Bran is most useful when grass is not available, but where it is not pos-, Bible to give sows a grass run, lucerne, tares and other green forage crops can sometimes be substituted. Roots, except that mangels must not be given at all freely as farrowing approaches ap-proaches or the pigs are almost certain cer-tain to be born dead, are useful and where there is a large garden it will provide a great deal of vegetable stuff that can be advantageously employed for in-pig sows stuff, too, that would be otherwise wasted. Large quantities of dry grain, and especially corn and barley, must be avoided as too heating; heat-ing; and hotel waste, butcher's offal, slaughter-house refuse indeed animal matter in any form are also bad, and may, it is said, be an exciting cause of cannibalism. When at grass or getting green forage or garden stuff, a few old beans or some dry corn may be given once or twice a week. The food for the in-pig sow for the last week or so of her time should be as nearly as possible that on which she will be fed for three or four weeks after she is farrowed. A well-known breeder says: "We have ceased to give barley or other meal to our sucking sows until the pigs are at least a month old. Our newly farrowed sows are fed sharps, or what is locally termed thirds, middlings, mid-dlings, etc., and a varying amount of bran, determined by the richness of the sharps, the number of the litter and the age of the sow, also condition." condi-tion." His recommendation for feeding feed-ing the in-pig sow is: "Vegetable-food, with a little dry grass, beans, peas or corn until within a week of farrowing." |