The Corvallis Gazette

OREGON.

PIG - FEEDING BULLETIN.

Result of Experiments by Prof. French and C. D. Thompson on the O. A. C. Farm.

Bulletin No. 28, issued by the Oregon agricultural experiment station, is now ready for distribution. It contains much valuable information on the subject of pig-feeding and every farmer interested in fattening hogs should have one. During the past two years two experiments have been conducted to determine first whether the best results could be attained in feeding clear grain or a mixture, while the second dealt with the subject of wet and dry foods. Prof. French is of the opinion that corn will be one of the chief foods for fattening since wherever it can be grown successfully, but in many portions of this state its growth and maturity is materially hindered by climatic conditions. The result of his first experiment is such as to dispel all doubts from the minds of those who have thought that wheat could not be made to produce, equal in quality to corn-fed pork. 'From the cuts made from photographs, which appear in this bulletin it will be seen that the fat is very heavy and thick, and, although not shown by the cuts it is very firm in texture. The lean meat was very juicy and light in color which characteristic has marked all of the results in feeding wheat to pigs, thus far carried on at the station. In the rate of gain produced, the results will compare favorably with those obtained from feeding corn, The pigs used in the first experiment were taken from a litter of nine. Two pigs were placed in one pen and fed on chopped wheat; the other two put in another pen and fed on a mixture of chopped oats. They were fed for sixteen weeks and a complete record kept of the amount of grain consumed and increase in weight each week. Chopped grain to the amount of 2447 pounds at a cost of $19.14 were fed to the first lot during this period being 3.9 cents for each pound gain in live weight. Two thousand three hundred and twenty-five pounds of the mixture costing the same as lot one-$19.41 was consumed by lot two making a cost of 4.66 cents for each pound gained in live weight. During eleven months the average gain per pig in lot one was 248 1/2 pounds, while in lot two,the gain was 208 pounds. After butchering, the pigs were hung up for twenty four hours when the per cent. of shrinkage was thirteen in lot one and fifteen in lot two.

In the other experiment four well-bred pigs about four weeks old were taken from the same litter and two placed in each pen as in the experiments spoken of above. Those in pen No. 1 were fed chopped wheat, oats, bran and shorts, with fresh water in a trough. Those in pen No. 2 were fed on the same kind of food and under exactly the same conditions as those in pen No. 1, except that each ration was thoroughly wet with cold water. Each lot were given all they would eat, without leaving the food to stand in the trough too much, They were fed at 8 o'clock in the morning and at 5 in the evening. These hours of feeding were strictly adhered to, as it was believed that the best results in feeding any kind of stock can be realized only where regularity in the feeding and care of the animals prevails. It was found it required 4.64 pounds of dry shorts to make a pound of gain, while the same result was obtained from 4.46 pounds of the wet shorts. While these experiments were being carried on wheat sold from 45 to 60 cents per bushel. Lard retailed from 15 to 17 cents per pound. Twelve pounds of gain in live weight were produced from each bushel of wheat. The cost per pound of gain in pen No. 1 was 3.9 cents and in pen No. 2 3.6 cents, thus showing that better results are obtained from wet feed. The pork sold for 5 cents gross, but with the small per cent. of shrinkage the profits were materially increased by slaughtering and selling at 6 cents. The experiments also proved that much is to be gained by early maturity; the pigs slaughtered when 8 months old weighed 306.8 pounds. The bulletin is illustrated and can be had free on application.