As a rule young pigs will commence to eat when they are from three to four weeks old. If the sow is fed in the sty in which the little pigs are, these will endeavour to share in the food; at first they may content themselves with licking any food which may be outside the trough, but they quickly show a desire for more, and attempt to get into the trough. When this is evident, it is advisable to feed the little pigs apart from the sow; a low flat trough is best, as one with high sides is said to cause "high backed" pigs, or pigs suffering from a curvature of the spine. If a little milk can be obtained, the pigs will promptly drink it, if the milk be whole they will thrive best, but even if only skim or separated milk be obtainable, or butter milk, providing that it be drawn off ere the salt is put into the churn, a small quantity will be beneficial, but the pigs will not be able to digest so large a quantity of the separated as of the whole milk. The former is apt to have a constipating effect on the bowels of the youngsters. Should an ample supply of separated milk be available it can be fed through the sow, who will be better able to digest it, and whose yield of milk will be increased, provided that sufficient separated milk to affect her bowels be not given to her. A few kernels of wheat or white peas will be readily eaten by the little pigs, which will benefit therefrom.
If no other food is available, sharps, or whatever the local term for the finer miller's offals may be, mixed with a little warm water and fed to the piglings, will prove beneficial, care being taken to give only so much as the pigs will eat up readily, or that any surplus is taken away, so that it does not become sour, as in this last condition it will cause diarrhœa in the young pigs.
When the pigs are about six weeks old the sow can be allowed to remain from them for a longer time, and the youngsters fed two or three times each day. The sow's milk will then gradually dry up, and the pigs will become accustomed to the food, so that when the latter are about eight weeks old they will have become weaned naturally, and receive no check from the loss of the sow's milk. This system, will also prevent any trouble arising from the collection of milk in the sow's udder, and the occasional attacks of inflammation or garget which follow a chill to the sow when her udder is in an inflamed condition from being closely impacted with milk.
Assuming that the economical and beneficial practice of supplying the suckling sow with vegetable food of some kind after the pigs are some three or four weeks old has been adopted, the pigs will have become accustomed to its consumption. It will be found to be advisable to continue this whether it has taken the form of cooked potatoes, of mangolds, swedes, kohl rabi, cabbages, artichokes, etc., as not only will the food bill be reduced, as the pigs will make equal growth and thrift on food containing say ten per cent of vegetable matter as they will if fed wholly on sharps, but the vegetable food will have a beneficial effect on the health of the pigs, and tend to prevent those attacks of constipation and diarrhœa which are so frequently the result of food of too rich a character.
Of the vegetable foods, cooked potatoes and raw artichokes are the most nourishing and the most readily eaten, lucerne and clover in a green state come next in food value and favouritism with the pigs; cabbages are credited with causing constipation when fed to young pigs, whilst mangolds are said to have the opposite effect, and in addition when grown on light land by the aid of artificial manure mangolds are apt to affect the kidneys and cause excessive urination. Kohl rabi are not so much used in the feeding of pigs as would be advisable. They are easily grown and will take the place of swedes on land on which swedes are subject to mildew; they are very nutritious, and are readily eaten by both old and young pigs.
Coleseed is not used in the feeding of pigs in this country to anything approaching the same extent as in Canada and the United States; its value and results are of a very similar character to those of cabbages. Tares or vetches contain too large a proportion of water for young pigs, and they also have a tendency to cause looseness of the bowels. The growth of maize for feeding to pigs in a green state has been recommended by some writers, but in practice we found it most unsuitable for young pigs, and of little value for aged pigs, owing to the small proportion of nourishment contained in it in comparison with its bulk. Further, pigs both old and young will refuse to eat it unless driven by hunger. It is needless to remark that no pigs, especially young ones, will thrive under such conditions.
One of the most common mistakes made by pig feeders is allowing too long a time to pass between feeding times. Twice or three times per day is considered to be quite frequent enough, whereas prior to their being weaned the pigs would have had a meal wellnigh each two hours both day and night. Infrequent meals result in the pigs becoming so hungry that they bolt their food, and a greater quantity than is desirable, and then suffer from indigestion.
It must also be remembered that the pig's capacity for storing food is very small, especially as compared with some others of our domesticated animals. Four or five meals per day at least should be given to newly weaned pigs. That most troublesome of ailments commonly termed cramp more generally results from injudicious feeding than from all other causes combined. Even when the young pigs are properly fed on suitable food there is a tendency in some little pigs to attacks of cramp. One of the best preventatives and even remedies is to compel the pigs to leave their nests late in the evening or prior to the pigman retiring for the night, as they will then relieve the bowels and bladder. Otherwise, particularly in cold weather, the pigs would remain quiescent in their nests from feeding time in the afternoon until they were fed the following morning, or in winter a period of some fifteen or sixteen hours—far too long a time for the good health of the young pigs.
Another point which requires attention is the provision of a dry bed. Pigs are naturally clean animals, and will not as a rule foul their bed when they are in a healthy state. Still the straw will in winter time become damp solely from the moisture thrown off by the pigs when huddled together in their nest. All damp litter should be carefully removed at least once each day.
The best of all materials for the bedding of pigs is wheat straw. This will absorb a larger amount of moisture than any other kind of straw, whilst the skin and hair of the pigs will remain of a brighter colour than if bedded on oat or barley straw. Of these two, the former is more suitable than the latter, which so readily becomes damp and foul. In those parts of the country where comparatively little corn is grown, sawdust and wood shavings are commonly used for litter for pigs. So far as the comfort of the pigs is concerned there is little difference as compared with straw with regard to pigs of all ages in the warmer weather, but in the winter little pigs suffer, as they are unable to make the warm nest which straw enables them to make and enjoy.