| Show gilts better than sows bows in raising market pigs an eight year breeding experiment recently completed by the united states department of agriculture bears out the belief of many swine breeders bleeders bre eders that gilts are more economical nor breeding animals than mature sows bows E Z russell of the bureau of animal industry reports that pigs from gilts were raised at less cost per pound of marketable weight than pigs from mature sows bows this includes all periods of growth gestation suckling growing and fat three groups were tested in the experiment mature sows bows gilts from mature sows bows and gilts from gilts pigs from the second group were raised to a marketable weight at 47 cents a hundred pounds less than the first group of pigs from the third group at 42 cents a hundred pounds less one of the advantages in using gilts for breeding russell points out is that if a gilt should prove to be a non breeder the animal still would sell well as a butcher hog there was no drop in the production ability of the gilts from gilts as the records show that at the end of the eighth year their litters average 1420 pounds at days of age the best record for this group for the entire eight years |
