Report on the Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1953 Page: 41
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ANIMAL HUSBANDRY RESEARCH 41
pounds heavier at 5 months than the litters from straightbred gilts.
By practicing moderate inbreeding and critical selection of progeny
in an experiment designed to obtain high performance characters, the
Louisiana station has developed a herd of Durocs that farrows and
weans large litters, with good growth rate and a high feed efficiency.
In 1952, 93 percent of the litters qualified for production registry,
with an average of 9.5 pigs weaned per litter and an average weight
of 40.8 pounds at 56 days.
Advances in baby pig nutrition
Better knowledge of swine nutrition through research and improved
systems of management and rations for raising baby pigs, now being
developed by some of the State agricultural experiment stations, are
contributing toward improved litter performance and more efficient
production. Current weaning weights on farms average about 28
pounds. At the Iowa station, pigs permitted to nurse their mothers
for only one week, then fed a limited quantity of synthetic sow's
milk along with a dry, sugar-coated, pelleted pig starter until they
were 8 weeks of age, averaged 63 pounds at 56 days and made this
growth on 1.78 pounds of feed per pound of gain.
The Illinois station reports that supplemental creep-feeding of suckling
pigs, either under dry-lot or pasture conditions, results in more
rapid growth and heavier pigs at weaning. Pigs weaned at 7 weeks
of age and continued on a mixed pig starter improved their weaning
weight by about 4 pounds under dry-lot conditions. When sows and
litters were grazed on rye pasture and self-fed shelled corn and supplement,
creep-fed pigs out of these sows gained 20 percent faster
than those not creep-fed. Hulled oats and pig supplement, dry artificial
milk, or a mixed pig-starter ration were all equally effective
in producing more rapid gains. Contrary to what might be expected,
daily gains of pigs creep-fed rations containing 17 percent protein
were as high as pigs fed rations containing 20 or 23 percent protein.
Improved rations for growing hogs
Research conducted by the Missouri station indicates that certain
rations commonly fed to growing and fattening swine may be deficient
in one or more of the B-complex vitamins. A corn and soybean oil
meal ration when supplemented with riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and
nicotinic acid produced 13 percent faster gains on weanling pigs than
did the basal ration. The addition of these three B vitamins to a
corn and tankage ration also improved the rate of gain and reduced
the amount of feed required per 100 pounds of gain.
The Ohio station reports that a B vitamin concentrate or a natural
source of B vitamins, such as dried distillers grain solubles, were
equally effective in improving health, growth, and feed efficiency of
pigs in dry lot. The pigs were fed an all-plant-protein type of ration
fortified with trace minerals and an antibiotic.
The Nebraska station has found that 16 percent protein is adequate
for weanling pigs fed a well-balanced ration containing vitamins and
minerals. The protein level was reduced to 14 percent when the pigs
averaged 75 pounds, and to 12 percent when the pigs weighed 125
pounds, and there was no loss in rate of gain or feed efficiency comn
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United States. Office of Experiment Stations. Report on the Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1953, book, 1953; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5989/m1/43/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.