Fifty Years of Progress in Swine Nutrition

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Abstract
About 50 years ago Dawson (1), a Poland China breeder, wrote a book summarizing his “experiences gained during 50 years of breeding and handling hogs”. At that time he wrote to each experiment station in the United States asking for details of the best and most economical rations for hogs of various classifications. Twenty replies were received. For weanling pigs, all respondents stressed the importance of good pasture, alfalfa clover or rape. Several Corn Belt stations replied that good legume pasture, corn and water was the most economical combination. In dairy regions, most of the recommended mixtures were skim milk, corn and shorts. Tankage was suggested as a substitute if milk was unavailable. The Mountain States included barley and Illinois included ground soybeans in the suggested mixtures. Slop feeding was a consistent recommendation. Wood ashes, charcoal and salt were recommended as minerals. One person stressed the importance of not overfeeding, especially with protein and especially when the pig was young. Copyright © . .