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Show Pigs Need Minerals For Healthy Growth Rock Phosphate, Hay Help Supply Elements The amount of pork produced by a certain given quantity of feed will depend on how well balanced the feed is. says F. II. Smith, nutritionist nutrition-ist with the animal industry department depart-ment of the North Carolina State college experiment station. He points out that the feed should contain protein of good quality, carbohydrates, car-bohydrates, minerals and vitamins, and that it should be properly fed for maximum pork production. "The practice of many farmers in confining their pigs to floored pens and feeding them rations composed com-posed chiefly of grains brings about mineral deficiencies," says Smith. "In some cases, after two or three months of such feeding, the pigs I have difficulty in getting up and I walking to the feed trough." He recommends that the pigs be given a mineral mixture of equal parts of ground phosphate, steamed bone meal or defluorinated phosphate, phos-phate, and common salt. This mixture mix-ture may be left so that the pigs may take it at will. For self feeding, feed-ing, the mineral mixture is made more tempting by mixing a pound of tankage or meat scrap to nine pounds of the mixture. "Grains may also be supplemented supplement-ed with a good grade of legume hay at the rate of 5 to 10 per cent for fattening hogs, and 10 to 15 per cent for sows and boars," Smith says. He points out that sun-cured hay is more effective than artificially artificial-ly cured hay because it contains more vitamin D. , Sun-cured, legume hay provides good protein, calcium, phosphorus, and other necessary minerals and vitamins. One of the best legume hays is alfalfa which produces high quality mineral feed supplement, in large yield per acre. Alfalfa can be grown on any moderately mod-erately heavy, well-drained, and fertile upland soils. It is not suited to bottom soils because it gets "wet feet" when the water table is high. It must be grown on good land because be-cause it is not a "poor land" crop. Electric Pig-Brooder Can Be Easily Made at Home Many thousands of baby pigs die annually from cold during their first critical weeks. Keeping pigs healthy and comfortable is the first big step toward a larger winter pork crop. An electric brooder will keep the little animals warm and cozy. If you cannot buy one, you can easily make one at a cost of $2 to $3. All you need to do is to build a low ceiling in one corner of the shed. You cut a hole in the ceiling and set a big electric bulb with a reflector re-flector over the hole. The heat of the light warms the little pigs sufficiently suf-ficiently to keep them healthy. Electric. Brooder ' 1 sr J Materials Needed: 1 1" x 8" x 4' piece lumber 1 1" x 12" x 7' " " jsides 1 2x 4"x5' " " front 11" x 4" x 5' " " bottom 15 board feet plywood or flooring for top 1 15' rubber-covered appliance cord and plug 1 standard base porcelain socket 1 100 watt bulb for warm weather 1200 watt bulb for cold weather 1 12" square piece hardware cloth 1 1-gallon can for reflector be sure to fix can at least 1" above cloth 2 hinges 1 screen door hook Sufficient nails and screws NOTE: A 2" by 4" or a 2" by 6 should be placed in front of this brooder for protection. (Courtesy Public Service Co. of Nortb cm Illinois.) Destroying Rats County agricultural agents have recently pointed out means of killing or starving rats, to prevent feed waste, and to save money as well as feed. Each rat can do 4 to $50 worth of damage in a year, so it is worth a little effort to destroy him now. |