_ CHAPTER XV. PIG-FATTENING
If there be one task which is considered to be within the capacity of any individual, it is that of feeding a pig. In the good old times, the one thing needful was a good supply of barley meal, as much of this as the pig could possibly eat was placed into its trough each day until the pig was thought to be fat enough for slaughter. This was a very simple and at the same time a very costly process and was looked upon as the second of the two chief acts in the life of a pig. The first consisted of building up a frame on which fat could be stored. Just why these two processes were not combined has never been fully explained. One excuse made for this uneconomical process is that our forbears must have considered that there must be two distinct periods in the life of any animal intended for the food of man, that in which the structure was erected, and that in which the building was completely furnished with the material--flesh--in a state which most nearly satisfied the requirements or fancies of humanity. The system of first growing the frame and then packing it with flesh was not alone followed by the owners of pigs, as it was also adopted with cattle, which in the good old times passed three or four years in a state of semi-starvation ere they were placed on our best pastures to produce beef. Sheep, again, spent two or three years in building up their frames and in the production of a limited quantity of wool of inferior quality and strength, before they were considered in a fit state to make mutton economically. Another excuse which could have been offered by our forbears, but which is not now available, is that the cattle, sheep, and pigs of former times required age before it was possible to render them sufficiently fat for slaughter.
The very great improvement which has taken place during the past half century, in wellnigh every breed of pig, has deprived our present day pig-breeders of such an excuse, yet they persist in far too many instances in following the old-fashioned and uneconomical system of first growing the pig and then fatting it, whereas it is not only possible but infinitely more profitable to combine the two operations. So many persons have been in the habit of looking upon the pig as a mere scavenger or an animal to put out of sight certain articles containing a small amount of nutriment which, undisposed of, would become a nuisance or offensive to one or other of our organs. Even the pig itself has been considered by many farmers, especially those termed gentlemen farmers, as a necessary nuisance, whereas the pig is really a machine for the conversion of farm produce into meat, and like all machines, its output will depend entirely on the quantity and quality of the raw material, and the manner in which it is supplied. If the raw material be of inferior quality and supplied irregularly, or in too limited quantities, the article manufactured will be more costly and of an inferior quality. An extension in the time of manufacture means increased cost for fuel and for labour in attendance on the machinery. A certain quantity of fuel is being continually used in the furnace whether the engine is running at full power or at half power. It is exactly the same with the meat making machine, the pig every day of its existence consumes a certain quantity of food for which it gives one return only, its life. It has been conclusively proved that each pig weighing 100 lbs. requires 2 lbs. of food daily to enable it to sustain life, i.e. to replace loss of tissue, to provide heat, progression, etc., so that if a pig lives six months longer than is actually necessary to enable it to manufacture a certain weight of meat, it will have eaten to waste over 3 cwt. of good food.
A pig is like unto any other machine, it will produce the manufactured article most cheaply when it is fully supplied with the most suitable raw material. There is not the slightest doubt that the least costly pork is that which is produced by the pig which spends its whole time in the object of its existence, the manufacture of pork.
There is a further point of great importance. Wellnigh all those materials which are used in the feeding of pigs contain the constituents necessary for the building up of the frame and for the accumulation of fat or, as it is commonly termed, the making of meat. Evidently nature intended that the two operations should be carried on simultaneously. Those constituents which are required in the building up of the frame cannot be entirely used in the formation of fat, consequently if the frame is first built up and then an attempt is made to lay on flesh, a considerable portion of the building up constituents are simply wasted, since the pig has no need for them and cannot make complete use of them. They simply pass through the pig after taxing it to digest them, and are wasted.
Opinions and practices with regard to pig fatting have changed very much during the past half century, and especially so since the full effect of the fearful war has been felt. Rather before the first-mentioned period, the late Sir John Lawes, whose researches and experiments have been of lasting benefit to agriculturists, undertook to carry out experiments in connection with pig-breeding, and the result which appears to have impressed itself most upon the writers of the day was that barley meal was the best single food for the fatting of pigs. At the time named, our importations of maize and of many other materials now used in stock and especially pig-breeding were not of anything the magnitude of the period prior to the war, still, it seems to be strange to the enlightened pig-breeder of to-day that more serious endeavours should not have been made to determine the value of a mixed diet for pigs, since this had been proved to be beneficial and necessary in the case of human beings whose organs are so very similar to that of the despised pig.
Fortunately for us, and indeed for the stock-keepers in all parts of the world, experiments in the feeding of stock have been carried out in various countries, Denmark, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Germany, and indeed in nearly all countries, save to any great extent in England. In connection with pigs, the practices of a few of our more intelligent pig-keepers have been confirmed. Amongst these ideas which the old-fashioned ones looked upon as fads, was that of feeding pigs of all ages and especially fatting pigs on a certain proportion of vegetable food. Experiments have conclusively proved that the substitution of some 10 per cent of vegetable matter in place of an equal amount of meal or concentrated food, does not result in the slightest reduction in the live weight gain of the fatting pig, and further that the old idea that a limited quantity of vegetable food fed to a fatting pig tended to render the pork soft and to waste in the cooking was not founded on fact. Another fact which has evolved from these experiments is that the pig will make far greater progress on an equal amount of a mixture of foods than if fed solely on one food. This was clearly proved in many experiments as at the Wisconsin Agricultural Station, where one lot of pigs was fed on middlings alone, a second lot on corn meal alone, and a third lot on a mixture of corn meal and middlings. To make an increase of 100 lbs. in their live weight, the pigs in Lot 1 ate 522 lbs. of middlings, those in Lot 2 ate 537 lbs. of corn meal to make an equal increase in weight, whilst Lot 3, which were fed on a mixture of corn meal and middlings, required only 439 lbs., or a saving of one-fifth in the weight of food. In experiments with regard to the food value of corn meal and middlings carried out at the Missouri College, middlings also gave the best returns, but unfortunately the ages of the pigs used in the trials are omitted. This is important as middlings are considered to be of more value in the feeding of young than of older pigs, whilst the reverse holds good of corn or maize meal. Other trials were carried out at Wisconsin with the use of wheat meal alone as compared with a mixture of half wheat and half corn meal. In these the average quantity of wheat meal required for 100 lbs. increased live weight was 500 lbs., whilst only 485 lbs. of the mixture of wheat and corn meals was needed to obtain an equal increase or a saving of some 5 per cent was obtained by mixing the meals.
In the good old times it was considered to be the height of folly to make a change in the food on which the pigs were being fattened, yet our forbears would have been horrified had they been informed that it was imperative that they themselves should have no variety of food, that day after day the food at their various meals should be exactly similar; surely what is good for one animal should be good for another animal whose organs are of an exactly similar character. There is not the slightest doubt that advantage is derived from the variation in the food on which the pigs are being fattened. By this, it is not intended to suggest that a complete change of food should be made at stated times in the fatting pigs' food, as this would certainly result in a loss of time and food, but that a slight variation in the proportions of the different kinds of food is beneficial, or in the case where several different kinds of food are being fed as a mixture, another kind of food may be substituted so that the change made secures a variation which has the effect of whetting or enticing the appetite. A long continuance of the same kind of food has the effect of dulling the appetite. In addition to this, it is considered that a variation in the food tends to stimulate the digestive organs.
It is a mistake to allow too long a time to pass between feeding times; the pig is not endowed by nature with a capacious paunch which enables it to stow away a large quantity of food. Even the old system of feeding twice a day might be improved upon, and the fatting pig fed three times per day would make greater thrift, even should the actual daily quantity of food be not increased.
Again, so many persons are apt to give to the fatting pig a greater quantity of food than it requires or can eat with comfort to itself at one meal. Should this be pointed out to them, their usual reply would be that what the pig did not eat for their breakfast would be there in readiness for the evening meal unless they ate it during the day, as they frequently would do. This sounds plausible until the argument be closely examined. What would the pigman think if he were treated in a similar manner and an excessive quantity of food placed on his plate, and then at the next meals the stale food be again placed before him until it was finished? This certainly would not increase his appetite nor aid his digestion. Yet the most successful pigman is he who succeeds in so feeding his charges that they daily eat and thoroughly digest the greatest amount of food possible. In pig fattening, as in many other things, time is money. Further it is just as much a mistake for fatting pigs as for human beings to be continually eating, or at irregular intervals, small quantities of food. The two most certain indications that a lot of fatting pigs are thriving is to find that they are asleep and that their feeding troughs are empty. When pigs are fed a greater quantity of food than they can eat at once they will be frequently getting up to eat a little more of the surplus, and each time they rise from their bed they will evacuate their bowels, and in most cases before the major portion of the nutriment has been extracted.
Still another of the fallacies of our forbears was that the fatting pig made the greatest increase from a given quantity of food when it was at least approaching maturity and ripeness, or complete fatness. It was useless to argue with them, since anyone could see that it was so. If you suggested the use of the scales, the idea was scouted, since a person of any experience in pig fatting must be able to notice the increase in bulk of the pig. It is true that apparently the pig would be making a greater increase of weight as it approached the completion of its fatting process, since the addition to its weight and bulk would be almost entirely composed of fat which could only be deposited on the outside of the carcase. All the vacant space in the interior of the pig would have been occupied, the pig would have stored fat away in its muscles, around its kidneys, on its stomach, its bowels, and wherever it was possible to stow it away, but these additions to the weight of the carcase which had been proceeding in the early stages of the fatting could not be observed, nevertheless they were proceeding, and in this was the pig enabled in its early stage of fatting to make a profitable return for the food consumed.
Fortunately we are not left on this point to mere conjecture; many experiments have clearly proved that in the early stages of the life of a pig it is enabled to manufacture pork at a far less cost than in its later stages of life. The young pig also possesses over its older companion the great advantage of being able to eat and utilise a greater quantity of food in proportion to its weight or, in other words, the young pig can convert a greater quantity of raw material into the manufactured article than the more matured pig, in proportion to the amount of food required for the mere upkeep of the machinery. Experiments which most clearly prove this have been duplicated in Denmark, in the United States, etc. At Copenhagen nearly seventy different experiments were carried out with pigs of varying weights, with the result that pigs weighing about 275 lbs. live weight were found to require nearly twice as much food to make an increase in their live weight as did pigs weighing from 35 to 75 lbs. That this was not an exceptional case is clearly proved by the fact that the increase in the amount of food required to enable them to make an increase in their live weight was gradual, and shown in every stage; thus pigs of from 35 to 75 lbs. consumed 376 lbs. of food for each 100 lbs. increase; pigs of 75 to 115 lbs., 435 lbs.; pigs of 115 to 155 lbs., 466 lbs.; pigs of 155 lbs. to 195 lbs., 513 lbs.; pigs of 195 lbs. to 235 lbs., 540 lbs.; pigs of 235 lbs. to 275 lbs., 614 lbs.; and pigs of 275 lbs. to 315 lbs., 639 lbs.
Even if this series of experiments stood alone they surely would prove most conclusively that the common belief in old and nearly fat pigs giving the best return from the food consumed is founded on fiction, but similar tests were made at many of the American Experiment Stations, these tests together numbering some hundred. The results are given in tabulated form in Henry's
Feeds and Feeding, where the various points are so clearly brought out that we have taken the liberty of lifting the whole of the notes relating to "weight, gain, and feed consumed" by pigs. "At many of our stations, records of weights and gains of pigs and feed consumed by them have been so reported as to permit of studies concerning the influence of increased size and weight of the animal on the consumption of food.
"All of the available data from trials of this character conducted in this country" (the United States) "up to the time of going to press, enter into the composition of the table given below. In compiling this table, six pounds of skim milk or twelve pounds of whey are calculated as equal to one pound of grain, according to the Danish valuation of these articles. For convenience of study, the data are presented for each period covering fifty pounds of growth, the actual average weight of the pigs, however, being given for each division:
DATA RELATIVE TO FEED, WEIGHT, AND GAIN OF PIGS--
MANY AMERICAN STATIONS
------------+-----------+------------+----------+---------+
| | | | |
Weight of | Actual | No. of | Total | No. of |
pigs in | Average | stations | No. of | animals |
pounds. | weight. | reporting. | trials. | fed. |
| | | | |
------------+-----------+------------+----------+---------+
| lbs. | | | |
15 to 50 | 38 | 9 | 41 | 174 |
50 " 100 | 78 | 13 | 100 | 417 |
100 " 150 | 128 | 13 | 119 | 495 |
150 " 200 | 174 | 11 | 107 | 489 |
200 " 250 | 226 | 12 | 72 | 300 |
250 " 300 | 271 | 8 | 46 | 223 |
300 " 350 | 320 | 3 | 19 | 105 |
------------+-----------+------------+----------+---------+
350 " 400 | 378 | 1 | 5 | 36 |
400 " 450 | 429 | 1 | 5 | 36 |
450 " 500 | 471 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
------------+-----------+------------+----------+---------+
------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
| Average | Feed | |
Weight of | feed | eaten per | Average | Feed for
pigs in | eaten | 100 lbs. | gain per | 100 lbs.
pounds. | per day. | weight. | day. | gain.
| | | |
------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs.
15 to 50 | 2.23 | 5.95 | .76 | 293
50 " 100 | 3.35 | 4.32 | .83 | 400
100 " 150 | 4.79 | 3.75 | 1.10 | 437
150 " 200 | 5.91 | 3.43 | 1.24 | 482
200 " 250 | 6.57 | 2.91 | 1.33 | 498
250 " 300 | 7.40 | 2.74 | 1.46 | 511
300 " 350 | 7.50 | 2.35 | 1.40 | 535
------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
350 " 400 | 8.52 | 2.25 | 1.98 | 431
400 " 450 | 8.18 | 1.91 | 1.71 | 479
450 " 500 | 10.00 | 2.12 | 1.77 | 562
------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
"In the above table the large number of trials reported for pigs weighing up to 350 lbs. each furnishes reliable data. After this point is reached the number of animals is too small to give reliable averages. The heavy weight hogs reported in the last three lines of the table were fed by the writer (Professor Henry). They were mature specimens, with large frames and in lean flesh when feeding began, having been summered on pasture without grain. The figures are introduced to show what may be accomplished with mature hogs when they are in thin flesh at the beginning of fattening.
"We learn from the main portion of the table that from 105 to 435 pigs were employed in calculating each line of data. The number of trials furnishing the data varied from 19 to 119, and were conducted by from 3 to 13 experiment stations.
"Amount of food consumed daily by the pig. The sixth column of the table shows the average amount of feed consumed daily by pigs of different weights. From it we learn that pigs weighing less than 50 lbs. each, averaging 38 lbs., consumed on the average 2.23 lbs. of grain or grain equivalent, daily. As the animal increased in weight there was a gradual increase in the amount of food consumed, until we find the 450 lbs. hog eating 10 lbs. of grain daily, or more than four times as much as the 50 lbs. pig.
"Feed per 100 lbs. live weight: In the seventh column it is shown that pigs weighing 38 lbs. consumed 5.95 lbs. of feed for each 100 lbs. of live weight. This is about 6 per cent of their live weight. As the pigs grew larger they consumed less feed for 100 lbs. of live weight, until with the heaviest hogs the feed consumed was little more than 2 per cent of their live weight. Here was a decrease of about two-thirds in the feed consumption per 100 lbs. between early weight and maturity.
"Average daily gain: In the next column are presented data concerning the daily gain of the pig. It is shown that the 38 lb. pig gained .76 of a lb., or 2 per cent of its own weight daily. As it increased in size the pig made larger daily gains, the maximum being reached with those weighing 271 lbs., which made a daily gain of 1.46 lb. With large thin hogs the gain reached 1.98 lb., or practically 2 lbs. per day, but these animals, because of their mature frames and thin flesh, were fed under exceptional circumstances.
"Feed for 100 lbs. of gain: The last column is of interest to all, especially the practical feeder, for it teaches a most interesting and important lesson concerning the feed requirements of pigs. Those which average 38 lbs. each made 100 lbs. of gain from 293 lbs. of feed. This exceedingly small allowance of feed for gain was probably due in part to the fact that the young pigs used in these trials received much milk, which was practically all digestible, the other feed being also more highly digestible than that usually supplied older animals. With pigs weighing 78 lbs., 400 lbs. of feed were required for 100 lbs. of gain. There was a gradual increase of feed requirements for 100 lbs. of gain, until the hog weighing 320 lbs. required 525 lbs. for each 100 lbs. of gain. This is 135 lbs. or 33 per cent more feed than was required by the 78 lbs. pig."
These tables prove most conclusively that the idea which is almost universally prevalent that the fatting pig gives the greatest increase for the food which it consumes when it becomes matured and nearly fat is an entirely mistaken one, and that the young and growing pig, if well kept, not only eats more in proportion to its weight, but gives a better return for the food it consumes, besides requiring a smaller amount of food to keep life within itself, and to replace the certain loss sustained by movement, etc. There is still another point on which the young pig scores: its carcase realises a higher price per lb. on a majority of the markets. The fatting pig which pays best is one which has a short life and a merry one, never having to seek or wait for its food.
Amongst the many other questions which have been compelled attention owing to the shortage and the high value of pig food, is that of the advisability or the reverse of cooking the food given to pigs. When the practice of showing stock became fashionable every possible means of forcing the exhibits was practised, since early maturity was of so great importance, especially in the classes for the younger animals. The cooking of the stronger kinds of food such as old beans for horses had been found beneficial, as the risk of fever in the feet and other ailments had been greatly reduced by this practice. The stock man naturally concluded that the cooking or steaming of beans having proved to be of advantage, similar good results would follow the steaming of the other kinds of food. In this fanciful theory they would have been able to find ample support in many of the books on stock feeding which were published in the first half of the last century and even later. Like many other novelties, the steaming or boiling of almost all kinds of food for animals was followed in the establishments of well-to-do persons where cost was studied less than success in the show yards. Then, as now, the Germans took little for granted, they proceeded to test the much belauded new plan by attempting to discover the fact as to whether steaming rendered hay more digestible when fed to cattle, with the result that it was clearly proved that when the hay was fed dry 46 per cent of the protein was digested by the cattle while only 30 per cent was digested from the steamed hay. But as our present business is with pig-feeding, we will confine our remarks to the results of experiments carried out to test the effects of cooking the food of pigs. Perhaps the best summary of these is to be found in the most valuable work,
Feeds and Feeding, by Professor Henry, who wrote
Experiments with Cooked Feed for Pigs.
These have been so numerous that all cannot be here presented. Those given are selected because they are strictly representative, covering a wide range of country foods and conditions.
"At the Kansas Agricultural College, Shelton fed one lot of five pigs on cooked shelled corn, while a second lot of four, similar in all respects, was given uncooked shelled corn, the trial lasting ninety days. In cooking, the corn was placed in a barrel and water poured over it; into this mass a pipe carried steam, at a pressure ranging from 30 to 60 lbs. The kernels were cooked until they were sufficiently soft to be easily mashed between the thumb and finger.
"At the Iowa Agricultural College, Stalker conducted trials for 120 days in summer with cooked and uncooked shelled corn fed to Berkshire pigs.
"At the Dominion (Canada) Station, Robertson fed grade Chester Whites, a mixture of ground peas, barley, and rye, the trials beginning in December and lasting 141 days.
"At the Ohio Station, Devol fed pure bred Poland Chinas and Berkshires for 112 days in winter. One lot of three pigs received the meal cooked, while to the second lot it was given dry and uncooked.
"At the Wisconsin Station, the writer (Henry) has conducted many trials with cooked and uncooked feed for pigs. Only the later ones are here reported. These trials lasted from 56 to 84 days each, the kinds of feed experimented being given in the table.
"The five trials reported from the Wisconsin Station, as will be seen by consulting the table, are slightly in favour of cooked food, the difference being very small, however. These are the only feeding trials reported from any experiment station, so far as known to the writer, where the results are favourable to cooking. Ten other trials by the writer with cooked and uncooked feed for swine all gave results unfavourable to cooking these, and a number of trials at other stations with cooked and uncooked feed for swine are not included for want of space."
A table showing the stations at which the various experiments were carried out, the numbers and weights of the pigs, the varieties of foods, the duration of the different trials, the daily gain, the weights of cooked and uncooked food consumed, the manner of cooking, the total increases in weight and the quantities of cooked and uncooked food required for increases of 100 lbs. in the live weights of the pigs are given. Professor Henry sums these up and writes: "Including all the trials then, so far as is known, that have been favourable to cooking feed and omitting many for lack of space, that are unfavourable to that operation, the average shows that 476 lbs. of uncooked meal or grain were required for 100 lbs. of gain with pigs, while after it was cooked 505 lbs. were required. This shows a loss of 6 per cent of the feeding value of these substances through cooking."
Some thirty-five years since the present writer made some small experiments in the feeding of cooked and uncooked whole maize; in each case it was found that the pigs ate a greater quantity of uncooked than cooked maize, and made a greater proportionate increase in weight from the food consumed. Only one opinion appears to be possible, and this is that the cooking of food for pigs, save potatoes, entails a loss of time, an increase in cost, and a reduced return. _