Feeding Hormones to Finishing Swine

Diethylstilbestrol has become a rather common additive in beef cattle rations but has not been effective as a growth promotant in swine rations. Recent research has shown that combining the female hormone diethylstilbestrol (DES) with the male hormone methyltestosterone (MT) improves feed efficiency of pigs fed these rations from a weight of about 120 lb. to market. This experiment was conducted to obtain information on the effect of these hormones on growth, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of finishing swine

Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal in Rations for Pigs and Brood Sows in Confinement

Alfalfa in the form of ground hay or alfalfa meal has been widely used in swine rations to improve litter size and survival of baby pigs. Some nutritionists suggest the possibility of valuable unidentified factors in alfalfa meal; however, the role of alfalfa meal in modern swine rations needs to be clarified to evaluate dehydrated alfalfa meal in rations for swine continually confined in pens with concrete floors, two experiments were started in 1958. Experiment 1 included four trials with growing pigs and Experiment 2 included four trials with breeding gilts

The Value of Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal and Crude Protein for Sows Kept in Confinement

The second experiment on the value of alfalfa meal in rations for confined sows is reported herein. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of dehydrated alfalfa meal and level of crude protein on reproduction and lactation performance of female swine which were reared in confinement on concrete continuously from birth

Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal for Brood Sows Kept Continuously on Concrete

In 1958 a project was initiated to study the effects of alfalfa meal in rations for growing finishing pigs and sows which were kept in confinement. The pigs and sows used in experiments have been kept in confinement and on concrete from birth . Experiments with growing pigs have been reported in the 1959 and 1962 swine day reports. The results of the first farrowing of an experiment with sows was presented in 1960 (A .H. Swine 2, 1960). This experiment was continued until these sows farrowed 3 litters. A summary of the complete experiment is reported herein

Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal in Rations for Confined Sows

This report is the third in a series of trials to evaluate the addition of dehydrated alfalfa meal in rations for brood sows who have been kept on concrete from birth. The previous trials were reported in the 1962 and 1963 Swine Day Reports. This particular trial was designed to compare 0, 10 an d 20% levels of dehydrated alfalfa meal in the rations and the addition of more protein, minerals and vitamins to a 10% alfalfa ration

The Influence of Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal in Growing-Finishing Swine Rations

In 1958, an experiment was initiated to evaluate the effect of dehydrated alfalfa meal in rations for sows reared in confinement. The results of these trials have been reported earlier and in this series of reports. A part of this experiment was to rear the gilts on alfalfa-free rat ions or with some alfalfa meal in the ration. These gilts were used subsequently in the reproductive trials. In the reproductive phase gilts fed the alfalfa-free ration as growing gilts were fed a ration without alfalfa meal as sows, whereas gilts fed alfalfa were assigned to a treatment group with alfalfa in the ration. The results of these trials show the effect of alfalfa meal in the ration on daily gain, feed consumption and feed efficiency of growing gilts. These trials were not designed to prove or disprove the need for alfalfa in rations for growing-finishing pigs

Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal and Corn-and-Cob Meal in Rations for Growing Glits

In the summer of 1958 this experiment station initiated experiments to study the effects of adding dehydrated alfalfa meal to rations for confinement reared pigs and their subsequent reproductive performance. The results of the first experiment suggested the addition of alfalfa in growing-finishing rations and in gestation rations was beneficial (Swine Day Report No, 2, 1960), Since that experiment was conducted with a limited number of females it was felt more research was needed to determine the value of alfalfa meal in growing-finishing, gestation and lactation rations. The following experiment was designed with these objectives: (a) Further study the effects of dehydrated alfalfa meal (0,2,5, 5.0 or 10.0%) in rations for growing females to breeding age and their subsequent reproductive performance. (b) Evaluate replacing shelled corn with ground ear corn for the growing female pig. Only the growing phase of this experiment is reported. Some of these gilts will farrow their first litters in the spring of 1962

Effect of Restricted Weight Gain and/or Dichlorvos on Reproductive Performance of Gravid Gilts

In recent years much of the interest in nutrition of the gravid sow has been centered around restricting feed intake regardless of the weight gain of the sow. It has now become a common practice to restrict intake so that weight gain during gestation is limited to a maximum of 75 to 100 pounds. More recently, there has been some interest in the feeding of 2, 2 – dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate (dichlorvos) near the end of gestation to attempt to increase the number of live pigs born and growth rate following birth

Supplemental Lysine in Feed and Water for Growing-Finishing Swine

At the 1966 South Dakota Swine Field Day information was reported (A.S. Series 6 6-22) on the effects of lysine in feed and water at comparable levels when the level of crude protein was slightly lower than normally recommended for the respective weight of the pigs. It was reported that pigs receiving lysine in the water gained slightly faster and considerably more efficiently than pigs that did not receive lysine or those fed lysine in the feed. In order to obtain more data on the effect of lysine in the feed or water for young pigs the experiment was repeated and is reported herein

Effects of Saline Water on Swine

Occasionally waters used for livestock in South Dakota are so saline that they are toxic. In order to establish standards for determining, from chemical analysis, whether water is suitable for livestock, experimental work with waters of various salt content has been done. With cattle, toxic levels of various kinds of salts have been quite well established. Since swine are believed to be more susceptible to damage by high salt intake than are cattle, an experiment with swine was conducted. With cattle, water containing 1.0% of either sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, or a mixture of these two salts and magnesium sulfate appears toxic, while less than 0.7% of these salts has no harmful effect on general health and well-being. This experiment was designed to test the effects of waters containing less than 0.7% of a salt mixture on swine