Comfort for Cow and Milker
Milking is a twice-a-day job. And if the cow has a sore, feverish and inflamed udder, cut, cracked or sore teats, milking time is most uncomfortable for both the cow and the one who does the milking.
Whenever a cow gives any indication of tenderness or soreness of udder or teats, apply
Pratts Bag Ointment
and speedy improvement will follow. It quickly penetrates to the seat of the trouble, softens and soothes the feverish parts, and heals up the sores.
Use it for caked bags, or garget, for cuts, cracks, scratches or sores on udder or teats. It works wonders. Better keep a package on hand for quick use.
"Your Money Back If YOU Are Not Satisfied"
Treatment.—Blanket the cow in a warm stable, and three times a day give hot drinks and hot mashes of wheat bran to which two tablespoonfuls of Pratts Cow Remedy have been added. When the after-birth comes away, continue treatment giving one tablespoonful of Pratts Cow Remedy until full recovery. The vagina and womb should be syringed with a solution of one ounce of Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to a gallon of warm water. Repeat daily until all discharge has disappeared.
Prevention.—If the cow has been given Pratts Cow Remedy during pregnancy or from two to four weeks before calving, there will be very few cases of this trouble.
Barrenness and Sterility
When a cow persistently fails to breed and bear young, she is said to be barren. That a barren cow cannot be a profit maker, goes without saying.
Causes.—Barrenness in many cases is due to malformation of the generative organs, tumors or other diseased conditions. Very frequently it is a result of Contagious Abortion, and this should always be suspected. Cows bred at too early an age frequently produce calves which prove to be barren, due to constitutional weakness.
Treatment.—The true preventive of such conditions is to be found in sound hygiene. Use Pratts Dip and Disinfectant freely about the premises.
The breeding animal should be of adult age neither overfed nor underfed, but well fed and moderately exercised.
In proof of the beneficial results of exercise, it is of record that a cow pronounced barren, when driven to a new owner, living several miles distant, became fertile and for years thereafter produced healthy calves.
Vigorous health must be sought, not only that a strong race may be propagated but that the cow may breed with certainty.
For toning up the generative organs, so that they can perform their natural functions, Pratts Cow Remedy is safe and positive.
The usual dose is a level tablespoonful twice a day in the feed.
Thus for less than a cent a day, you can make sure of the cow enjoying health and being productive.
Aphtha, Sores on the Lips and Tongue
Symptoms.—Painful blisters which become sores on the lips and tongue. Occurs often in sucking calves.
Treatment.—Wash the mouth twice a day with one ounce of borax and one fluid ounce of myrrh mixed in one quart of water or a mild solution of Pratts Dip and Disinfectant. Give Pratts Cow Remedy daily. If the mouth is very sore give the remedies in gruel form. Feed animal on regular gruel feed. If it occurs in calves, give Pratts Cow Remedy with milk and use borax as mentioned above.
Pittsfield, Ill.
Am using Pratts Bag Ointment on young heifer with a very sore bag and she is doing fine.
I would not do without it.
F.E. STORCK.
Bloat
Symptoms.—While eating, or shortly afterward, a swelling appears on the left side, and as the swelling increases the animal appears to be in great distress, pants, strikes belly with its hind feet, the belching of gas is noticed and the animal does not chew its cud. Later the breathing becomes difficult, the animal moans, its back is arched, eyes protrude, the tongue hangs out and saliva runs from the mouth.
Cause.—Eating damp grass, succulent grass of early spring and second crop clover in autumn when wet with dew or rain. Also caused by a change of food or over filling the paunch of animal with indigestible food.
Treatment.—At this stage mix one ounce aromatic spirits of ammonia in one pint of water and give the mixture as a drench. Repeat in twenty minutes if necessary. In extreme cases a mechanical treatment can be successfully employed by the use of Pratts Cattle Trocar.
Caked Udder, or Garget
Apply Pratts Bag Ointment according to directions. It is very penetrating, and has great softening and cooling properties. Use also for chafing and inflammation.
Cold
Symptoms.—Heated forehead, sneezing, coughing, may have diarrhoea or be constipated, fever and loss of appetite. Urine deficient.
McDonoghville, La.
Pratts Animal Regulator can't be beat for sick calves—this is from actual experience.
E.M. HUBERT.
Treatment.—Give large doses of Pratts Cow Remedy in gruel form and gradually reduce quantity. Keep animal warm, bandage legs and rub throat and lungs with Pratts Liniment.
Colic
Animal will be uneasy, gets up and lies down, and suffers much pain.
Walk the animal for a few minutes, then give one pint of Glauber Salts dissolved in a pint of warm water, and inject a quart of warm water, with two fluid ounces of laudanum, into the bowels. Give regularly Pratts Cow Remedy mixed with warm water as gruel until animal is relieved, then mix with the feed. In extreme cases give four drams of carbonate of ammonia, two drams of belladonna, mixed with one pint of water. Blankets wrung out of hot water and applied will help to relieve the pain. Another remedy is one ounce of sulphuric ether and one ounce tincture of opium in a pint of warm water. A pint of whiskey in a pint of warm water is also good.
Constipation
Cause.—From eating dry, coarse food, lack of exercise and not enough water.
Treatment.—Give Epsom salts or a pint of raw linseed oil and plenty of green food, linseed meal, bran mashes, roots and Pratts Cow Remedy daily. Exercise is necessary.
Cow Pox
(Variola)
Symptoms.—Round inflamed spots appear upon the teats. They enlarge and form large scabs. The milk yield is always diminished. It is very contagious. This is the vaccine-virus used as a preventive for smallpox.
Treatment.—Separate the cows affected. Do not break the pox. Apply Pratts Healing Ointment to the sores and give Pratts Cow Remedy to all the cows, whether affected or not.
Use Pratts Self-Retaining Milking Tube. Never use a solid probe or needle.
Cut, Cracked, Injured or Sore Teats
Apply Pratts Bag Ointment according to directions on box.
Diarrhoea
(Scours)
Treatment.—Give large doses of Pratts Cow Remedy at first, then reduce to regular quantity. Give starch gruel or flour and water. Another remedy is two fluid drams of tincture of kino three times daily.
Foot and Mouth Disease
Symptoms.—Sore feet and blisters form in and about the mouth and on udder. Animal shivers, has fever, becomes lame and teeth become loose. It is very contagious.
Treatment.—Separate all sick animals and wash mouths with one part Pratts Disinfectant to 100 parts water, or one-half teaspoonful of tincture of aloes and myrrh. Stand animals in a trough containing one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 20 parts water. Repeat in five days. Disinfect all stables, litter, etc. Give daily Pratts Cow Remedy with the regular feed. Use Pratts Bag Ointment on teats and udder. When recovered, sponge all over with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 20 parts water.
Foot Rot
Treatment.—Clean stalls and disinfect with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 100 parts water. Pare away all ragged portions of the foot and keep animal on clean floor until cured. Make a poultice of one part Disinfectant to five parts water and stir in a little flour to the proper constituency and apply to the foot.
Lice
Lousy stock cannot grow fat for the nourishment given is absorbed by the lice.
Treatment.—Clean stable thoroughly and spray Pratts Dip and Disinfectant everywhere. Sprinkle a small quantity on an old blanket and tie it around the animal for two or three hours. Spray the legs and such places the blanket does not cover. Repeat if necessary.
If Pratts Powdered Lice Killer is used, dust the animals thoroughly with the powder, rubbing the hair the wrong way, then rub it thoroughly into the skin.
Lump Jaw
Cause.—A vegetable parasite. It is contagious.
Treatment.—Remove the tumor by surgical means or paint daily with tincture of iodine. Give daily two drams of iodide of potash. Give nourishing feed with Pratts Cow Remedy daily. Disinfect stable with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.
Milk—Bloody or Stringy
Cause.—By rupture of minute vessels in the udder due to injury, irritation or inflammation and derangement of the system.
East Point, Ga.
Please send me a box of Pratts Cow Remedy and some Pratts Bag Ointment. I sure do need it. I found no other that will do the work. It brings in calves easy.
MRS. MATTIE BROWN.
Treatment.—Change the food and pasture. Give large doses of Pratts Cow Remedy at first, and gradually reduce to regular quantity. Give good nutritious feed with bran mashes and clean fresh, water. Rub udder twice daily with Pratts Bag Ointment. Four drams of hyposulphite of soda in feed twice a day has produced good results.
Milk—Blue and Watery
Treatment.—Keep stable perfectly clean, disinfect thoroughly with Pratts Disinfectant and treat same as for bloody milk. Sometimes blue milk is the sign of tuberculosis. If so, have the cow killed and burned or buried deep.
Milk Fever
Symptoms.—There is a feverish condition and inflammation of the brain; a complete stoppage of milk, weakness in hind quarters, animal staggers and when down is unable to rise, throws head to one side and goes into a state of stupor.
Cause.—By trouble peculiar to calving or running into rich pasture during hot weather; by lack of exercise and from costiveness. Usually attacks fat cows.
Treatment.—(From Circular 45, Bureau of Animal Industry, U.S. Department of Agriculture.) "Of all known methods of treating milk fever, the injection of sterile atmospheric air into the udder is by far the most simple and practicable as well as the most efficacious and harmless one at our disposal." Pratts Milk Fever Outfit for air treatment should always be kept on hand. The price is $3. This treatment has cured 97 per cent. of cases treated.
Prevention.—Feed pregnant cows with nutritious and laxative feed, give plenty of water and Pratts Cow Remedy daily. Keep stable clean, well ventilated and disinfected with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.
Milk—To Increase the Flow of
Treatment.—To increase flow of milk give Pratts Cow Remedy daily with a good nutritious ration and plenty of water. These supply just what a cow needs to make her food appetizing, to regulate the blood, bowels and digestive organs, to turn all the nutriment of the feed given into flesh and milk without waste. Pratts Cow Remedy has been used for over 40 years by successful and conservative feeders, and wherever used, according to directions, has produced wonderful results.
Ophthalmia—Sore Eyes
Treatment.—Separate affected animals at once and put them in clean, well ventilated but dark stalls as this is contagious. Disinfect entire place with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 75 parts of water. Give physic of a pound and a half of Epsom salts, dissolve in a pint of warm water, to which add two ounces of powdered ginger. Give sloppy feed with one dram of powdered nitrate of potassia added and Pratts Cow Remedy daily.
Fasten a cloth over the eyes and keep it wet with a lotion of chloride of zinc, one dram; carbolic acid, two drams; water, one gallon. Apply to the cheek below each eye, to the space of about two inches, a small portion composed of Spanish fly, 2 drams; lard, two tablespoonfuls. Apply in the morning and wash off with soap suds and a sponge, six hours later. Apply lard. Keep separated from herd for a month after recovery.
Rheumatism
Symptoms.—Hot, painful swellings at the joints, stiffness in walking and difficulty in rising.
Cause.—By exposure, badly ventilated and wet stables, damp, marshy pasture and impure food.
Treatment.—Bathe joints with Pratts Liniment. Give a physic of a pound of Epsom salts in warm water. Give two drams of salicylate of soda every three hours for two days. Keep animal warm and dry. Give nutritious feed of a laxative nature with Pratts Cow Remedy daily.
Sore Throat
Symptoms.—Difficulty in swallowing, pain and difficult breathing.
Treatment.—Place in dry, clean, well ventilated stable. Use nose bag. Rub throat with Pratts Liniment. Give physic of one pound of Epsom salts in warm water. Give one-half ounce of tincture of belladonna every six hours. Syringe throat three times a day with an ounce of following solution: one and one-half drams nitrate of silver and one pint of distilled water.
Sprains
Use Pratts Liniment, nothing better.
Teats—Obstructed
Treatment.—Wash off with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant and 50 parts of water. Use Pratts Teat Opener. Pratts Self-Retaining Milking Tube can then be inserted until teat is better. Rub teats with Pratts Bag Ointment.
Ticks
Treatment.—All cattle infected with ticks should be sponged or dipped at once with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 20 parts water. Repeat in ten days. This will not only kill the ticks but cure mange, soften the hair and make the skin healthy.
Tuberculosis—Consumption
Symptoms.—Not well marked in early stages. Disease develops slowly. There is a loss of flesh, a short dry cough, irregular appetite, rapid breathing, weakness, bloating, diarrhoea, the milk is lessened and is watery and blue in color. The coat is rough and back arched. Whenever an animal is suspected of having tuberculosis, have a competent person give the "Tuberculosis Test" at once.
Cause.—Poor feed and water, badly ventilated stables, dirty stables, from over-feeding and inoculation. It is hereditary. May also follow abortion and catarrhal trouble of the genital organs.
Treatment.—Disease is incurable. Kill and burn all animals affected at once and disinfect thoroughly stables, yards, etc., with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 50 parts of water. Disinfect every week until every germ is destroyed. Use Pratts Dip and Disinfectant in all whitewash and sponge or dip all the cattle in a solution of one part Disinfectant to 100 parts water.
Wire Cuts, Wounds, Bites, Etc.
Treatment.—Wash with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant and 50 parts water and apply Pratts Healing Ointment or Healing Powder three times a day.
Worms
Give Pratts Specially Prepared Worm Powder according to directions. It is quick in its action and has a strong tonic effect.
Many years ago the sheep industry of America flourished. Then came a period of depression in this line accompanied by a steady decrease in the number of sheep kept. But the tide turned again about 1914 and the sheep are rapidly coming back to American farms and ranges.
This change is doubtless due to the steadily increasing cost of grain and labor accompanied by correspondingly high prices of lamb, mutton and wool. Also to a general recognition of the economic value of sheep—both of the mutton and wool breeds—as quick producers of income, no little part of which should be profit. The latter point is due to the fact that sheep are inexpensive to maintain as they thrive upon the roughest of pastures and coarse feeds which will not sell to advantage, and their care consumes but little time. Low production costs—feed and labor—and high prices for the products make a most satisfactory combination.
Methods of successful sheep management vary in different sections of the country. The beginner may well consult the successful sheep-growers in his section and adopt the methods which give good results under the conditions existing in his locality. At the same time he should neglect no opportunity to secure more information from all sources, in order to know and use the most advanced methods and so make the maximum profits.
Here are a few basic facts:
Sheep raising requires careful attention, but does not demand a great amount of heavy labor or expensive equipment.
The best time to make a start is in the early fall when good breeding stock may be selected.
While pure-bred breeders are best, a pure-bred ram and ewes of good grade will prove very satisfactory.
A start may be made in a small way, but it is best to have at least twenty to forty breeders for economy of time, labor and other expenses.
As a rule it is most profitable to push the lambs for growth and market them when they weigh 65 to 75 pounds.
This weight can be secured in about four months.
If a very large pasture is available the flock will thrive on this. Otherwise fields must be fenced off and forage crops provided.
Breeding ewes must be exercised in the winter to insure strong lambs. But protect them from rain or wet snow as soaked fleeces cause colds and pneumonia.
SHROPSHIRE SHEEP
Thrifty condition and vigorous health must be maintained at all costs. Otherwise the lambs will be small and weak and fleeces of inferior quality. The regular use of Pratts Animal Regulator will improve condition, insure health and vigor, increase number and quality of lambs, promote growth of flesh and wool. And in large measure, it keeps common diseases away because Pratt-fed sheep are in condition to resist disease.
Shearing should be done after lambing, usually in late spring or early summer. If lambing time is late, the shearing may be done before the lambs arrive. Tie up the fleeces separately, first sorting out dung locks and tags.
After lambing, the individual ewes should be carefully watched to see that they have plenty of milk and are in good condition. They should be kept in pens for about three days, when they may be permitted to run with the flock. Feed lightly for two or three days, then heavily to stimulate the milk flow so lambs will be well-nourished. They may profitably receive one to two pounds of grain per day during the nursing period.
Inferior ewes should be marketed as rapidly as they are identified. Get rid of the barren ones, producers of poor lambs, poor milkers, light shearers.
Sheep must be protected against blood-thirsty dogs and external and internal parasites. In many sections sheep growers have united to fight sheep-killing dogs and good results have been secured. United action against a common enemy is best, as public sentiment may thus be aroused.
Because of their thick fleeces and helplessness, sheep suffer greatly from the attacks of ticks, lice and other parasites. Ticks are particularly injurious. They annoy and weaken the adult animals, torture the lambs and check their growth. The result is always a money loss to the sheep owner.
Fortunately it is a simple matter to exterminate the ticks and lice and overcome the ordinary skin diseases of sheep. Merely dip the sheep in a solution of Pratts Disinfectant. It is non-poisonous, inexpensive—does the work!
MERINO RAM
July and August is the popular time for dipping, but the work can be done as soon after shearing as the shear cuts heal. Two dippings are necessary, about twenty-four days apart. The first treatment may not kill all the eggs, but the second will kill the young ticks, thus completing the job. For successful results, it is necessary to use a dipping tank or vat large enough to hold sufficient of the solution to immerse and thoroughly saturate each animal.
Intestinal parasites, of which the stomach worm is perhaps the most dreaded, cause great loss to sheep owners. These worms live in the fourth stomach. They are easily identified, being from one-half to one and a quarter inches long, marked with a red stripe. Their eggs are found in the droppings of the sheep, so infection is secured in the pasture.
Augusta, Me.
As a constant user of Pratts Animal Regulator, for sheep, I find that it not only helps them to put on flesh but keeps their system in fine condition. I take great pleasure in recommending it, knowing its benefit to Cloverdale Shropshires.
H.J. O'HEAR, Samoset Farm.
No other class of animals kept upon the farm brings returns so quickly as swine, with the exception of fowls. Swine are specially valuable for utilizing food that would otherwise go to waste. They are an invaluable adjunct to the dairy, particularly when the whole milk is separated on the farm.
You can grow big, healthy, profit-paying hogs, if you will merely meet certain clearly defined hog requirements. If you do this, and it's easy, you need never worry about profits. You are sure to succeed.
The world needs and will pay you well for all the hogs you can produce. Aside from the pork products required for consumption in America, the hog growers of the United States must for years export to Europe more pork in various forms, and more lard, than ever before.
The European herds of hogs have been sadly depleted. Dr. Vernon Kellogg, of the United States Food Administration, has personally investigated the situation. He reports decreases in hogs in leading countries as follows: France, 49 per cent.; Great Britain, 25 per cent.; Italy, 12-1/2 per cent. And, of course, conditions are even worse in Germany, Austria and the Balkan Nations, all of which are big producers in normal times.
Properly handled, kept healthy and vigorous, the American hog is a money-maker. Many farmers know this from experience: others fail to realize how useful and profitable the hog really is.
The experts connected with the United States Department of Agriculture make the following assertions in Farmers' Bulletin 874:
"No branch of live-stock farming gives better results than the raising of well-bred swine when conducted with a reasonable amount of intelligence. The hog is one of the most important animals to raise on the farm, either for meat or for profit, and no farm is complete unless some hogs are kept to aid in the modern method of farming. The farmers of the South and West, awakening to the merits of the hog, are rapidly increasing their output of pork and their bank accounts. The hog requires less labor, less equipment, less capital, and makes greater gains per hundred pounds of concentrates than any other farm animal, and reproduces himself faster and in greater numbers; and returns the money invested more quickly than any other farm animal except poultry."
The University of Minnesota, in Extension Bulletin 7, sums up the matter as follows:
"From a business point of view, the hog is described as a great national resource, a farm mortgage lifter and debt-payer, and the most generally profitable domesticated animal in American agriculture."
And this summarizes the general opinion of progressive hog growers and the experts connected with the United States Department of Agriculture and the various State Agricultural Experiment Stations and Colleges.
Breeds of hogs are divided into two general classes—bacon type and lard type. Where milk is plentiful, and especially where such foods as barley and peas are grown, the bacon type will be the most profitable, as they furnish the largest litters and also make pork that brings the best price in the market. The lard type of swine are usually kept where corn is the cereal that is most grown.
The large Yorkshire and Tamworth are the leading bacon breeds. The Poland China, the Duroc Jersey, and the Chester White are leading lard types. The Berkshires, Cheshires, and Hampshires are intermediate between the bacon and lard types. When bacon sires are crossed upon sows of any of the other breeds, the progeny are excellent for pork.
The farmer who is about to adopt a breed should be sure to select one of the standard and common breeds of his own neighborhood. Many men make the mistake of introducing a breed new to the section, and when the time comes that a new boar must be secured much difficulty and expense are incurred before a satisfactory one can be found.
The bulletin quoted above further says: "To the production of pork, then, in the largest amount, in the shortest time, and with the minimum of money and labor, all the details of the hog-raising industry are directed." Here is the whole secret—pork in largest amount, in shortest time, at lowest production costs. And the very foundation is perfect health and vigorous condition of the hogs, both breeding animals and market stock.
Health and vigor are necessary in the breeding animals if they are to produce big litters of sturdy pigs—in the market animals if they are to consume large amounts of food and economically and quickly convert it into fat and muscle. Weak, sickly, run-down hogs are a constant source of trouble and are never profitable under any conditions. Disease is one of the greatest drawbacks in the hog industry.
POLAND CHINA PIG
When selecting brood sows of any breed, the preference should be given to those which have reasonably long sides and limbs of medium length. When selecting boars make sure that vigor is present in a marked degree and also strong limbs. Any weakness in the back of male or female is to be carefully shunned.
During pregnancy two facts must be borne in mind. The first is that the sow is doing double duty. She is keeping up her own bodily functions, as well as developing her fetal litter. Therefore, feeding should be liberal. The mistakes in feeding breeding animals are more frequently those which keep such stock thin. The importance of ample feeding at this time is a demonstrated fact, as well as one which appeals to common sense.
In the second place the sow is building new tissue. Hence the kind of feed is important. Bran, peas, oats and barley and such forage plants as clover, alfalfa, vetches and the like. Ordinary pasture grasses are of much value.
All breeders lay great emphasis on the condition of the bowels during pregnancy, and particularly at farrowing. The special danger to be avoided is constipation. It is right here that Pratts Hog Tonic shows its great worth to hog raiser. It puts the digestion organs into healthy condition and the result is safe farrowing and a healthy litter which is not apt to suffer from scours or thumps.
DUROC-JERSEY BOAR
Good health is inherited from vigorous, healthy ancestors. It is intensified and preserved by proper management. "The time to begin fitting pigs for market is before they are farrowed. For this reason it is advisable to pay particular attention to the feed and care of the brood sow from breeding to farrowing time." And "It must be understood that it is much easier to continue an animal (hog) in a thrifty, hardy condition than to bring the animal back to his normal appetite and rate of growth, once he is out of order." (Circular 90, New Jersey Agr. Exp. Station.)
These common-sense statements must appeal to the reason of every thinking hog producer. And they make plain the wisdom of regularly supplying Pratts Hog Tonic to the entire herd, to breeding stock, growing pigs, fattening hogs.
This remarkable natural tonic and conditioners is not a specific for any single disease. It is a health-builder and health-preserver. In this connection we wish to particularly mention that most dreaded and destructive of all hog diseases—hog cholera. We do not claim that Pratts Hog Tonic will entirely prevent or cure this scourge. But it will put and keep your herd in such fine condition that the individuals will be more resistant and will not as readily contract cholera or other germ diseases. It will prevent and control such troubles as indigestion, diarrhoea, constipation and the like, which are such a source of trouble in the average herd.
You may not appreciate the value of using such a conditioner, but the Kentucky Agr. Exp. Station, in Bulletin 181, contains the following statement which deserves the careful consideration of every thoughtful hog raiser: "General conditioners have been found to be advantageous in the maintenance of healthy conditions in hogs."
Brood sows should not produce their first litter under twelve months. Whether they should produce one or two litters a year will depend largely upon the conditions, especially of climate. Sows should be kept for breeding as long as they will produce good, even litters. Well-chosen sows should rear an average of eight to the litter.
Brood sows should have ample exercise. They get it in good form when they are allowed to turn over litter in the barnyard on which a little grain, as corn, has previously been sprinkled. Two-thirds of the winter rations may consist of mangels or alfalfa hay—the other third being grain or swill. Alfalfa for hogs should be cut before blossoming.
When sows farrow they should be fed lightly for the first three days. Later give all they will eat of milk-making foods. A combination of ground oats, wheat shorts, and some corn is excellent. And Pratts Hog Tonic will be found especially valuable during the nursing period. Meal is fed ground and soaked. As soon as young pigs will take skim-milk they should get it in a trough apart from the sow. They are weaned at seven or eight weeks where two litters are grown in a year, and at twelve weeks where but one is grown.
When pigs are weaned, and previously, there is nothing better than shorts and skim milk. They should be grown subsequently to weaning on pasture, with one to two pounds of grain added daily. In season, winter or spring rye, clover, alfalfa, barley, and rape all make excellent pasture.
The fattening period with swine covers from six to eight weeks. Unground corn and water will fatten swine in good form. The same is true of barley and rye, ground and soaked. They may be fattened nicely while grazing on field peas. They may also be similarly fattened by hogging off corn or gathering it from the excrement of cattle that are being fattened on it. Swine well grown should make an average gain of a pound a day. Bacon swine may be best sold at 175 to 200 pounds in weight. Lard types are usually grown to greater weights.
Swine breeders have long recognized the value of Pratts Hog Tonic as a disease preventive and fattener. Progressive breeders now consider it a necessity in profitable hog raising.
If a second litter is wanted during a year the sows should be put to the boar during the first heat after weaning. Many breeders do not like to pass periods of heat for fear that the sows may become "shy," and there is little reason why a sow should not have two litters a year. In any case, the sows should be carried on comparatively light feed until time to breed again, gaining a little in weight; and their treatment after breeding should be as already detailed for pregnant sows.
When the boar arrives at the farm he should be dipped in a solution of Pratts Dip and Disinfectant, as a matter of ordinary precaution against the introduction of vermin. As an additional precaution, a quarantine pen should be ready for him, especially if epizootics are prevalent. His feed before change of owners should be known, and either adhered to or changed gradually to suit the new conditions. If he has come from a long distance it will be well to feed lightly until he is well acclimated.
TAMWORTH PIG
Breeders generally advocate the practice of keeping a boar to himself during the entire year—out of sight and hearing of the sows. However, a boar is often allowed to run with the sows after they are safe in pig; but during the breeding season it is by far the best policy to keep him by himself, admitting a sow to his yard for mating, and allowing but one service. The litters will generally be larger and the pigs stronger.
The boar should not serve more than two sows daily, preferably one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and can serve 50 to 60 in a season without difficulty.
In order to keep the boar in vigorous physical condition, he should be given Pratts Hog Tonic regularly. The beneficial results will be seen in the way of larger litters and stronger pigs.
The greatest drawback to the hog industry which breeders in this country have to contend against is found in the losses which may be experienced through the infestation of the animals, especially young pigs, by parasites, through outbreaks of hog cholera or swine plague, or through the contraction of tuberculosis.
In dealing with the diseases of hogs, preventive measures must be most relied upon. The animals must be given dry and well-ventilated quarters, which must be kept clean. Contrary to common belief, hogs have some habits which raise them above other domestic animals from the standpoint of cleanliness. For example, unless compelled to do so, a hog will not sleep in its own filth. If part of the floor of the pen is raised and kept well bedded with straw, while the rest is not, all excrement will be left on the unbedded portion of the floor, and the bed itself will be always clean.
CHESTER WHITE BOAR
In addition to cleanliness, close attention should be given to the feed which is supplied, that nothing may be fed which will convey the germs of disease, especially tuberculosis, to the herd. If the hogs are fed milk in any form obtained from cows kept upon the same farm, the cows should be subjected to the tuberculin test, as by this means all tuberculous milk may be kept from the hogs. If they run with the cattle of the farm a tuberculin test of all the cattle is none the less desirable. Animals dead from any disease should not be fed to the hogs until the meat has been made safe by cooking. Skim milk or refuse from a public creamery should not be fed to hogs until it has been thoroughly sterilized.
Feeding and drinking places should be clean and the water supply pure. Unless the origin is known to be uncontaminated and there has been no possibility of infection during its course, hogs should not be allowed access to any stream. Wallows should be drained out or kept filled up as much as possible. At least once a month the quarters should be disinfected with a solution of Pratts Dip and Disinfectant. These precautions will be found valuable aids in the destruction of the various animal parasites, as well as a protection from some more serious troubles.
The methods of feeding and management outlined above have been successfully followed by hog growers for many years. They are conservative and safe. But during recent years a new method of feeding has been developed and is being generally adopted, especially by specialists who make hog growing a real business. This is known as the "self-fed" plan, under which system feed is kept before the hogs at all times and they are permitted to eat at will. In poultry feeding this is called "the dry mash system."
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.
BERKSHIRE BOAR
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.
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.