Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1868-04-03
AGRICULTURAL.
From the American Stock Journal.
Care and Management OF Breeding Sows.

Thinking perhaps few hints from an old
breeder, on the care and management of
breeding sows would be acceptable to the
readers Of the JOURNAL at this season, we
propose devoting an hour or so this stormy
day to the subject.
Sows should not be fed too highly; they will
never be successful as breeders il they are
Good keeping condition should be aimed at;
and what thatis, every pig>keepcr knows, or
ousht to know. Before iarrom wing, the sows
should be fed better than they have been, in
order 70 stimulate the secretion of milk ; in
deed, during the whole sixteen weeks, they
should il possible be kept gradually improy
ing in condition, They should have exercises
this they Will take themselves tt they have
! plenty OF range Poor sows will often pro-
7 ducc The most healthy, and sometimes the lar
| gest pigs, but in nine cases out o! ten the
milk supply runs short, and then many death
may bc expected. Fat sows are equally OBJ
I lectonable; their pigs are generally weakly
and they arc certain 10 destroy some by lying
on them. At the time Of tarrowing. the SOW
must be separated from her companions, and
| placed in a proper house for the purl oc, fit
! ted mp with a railroad, to prevent her from
| crushing her young ones against the walls
!, small quantity of cut straw chaif should
only be allowed as bedding long straw is
particularly Objectionable for this purpose, as
| the little pigs become entangled in it before
they are strong and then the sow, il she moves
about much. is almost certcin to kill some by
trraiing or lying on them. Some men recon-
! mend the removal oflhc li,tlc pigs as they arc
TO II, and have hamper placed in one COR
ner OF the house 10 hold them until The sow
has done farrowng, then they are all returned
to her. This plan is, however, only to recon-
menled in the case Of very fat sows, when
they are long time in farrowing. As a rule
the less the attenCa II n,erfercs the better
We would not. however, have all sows left to
themselves in cases Of nal presentation,
G;tle help may be judiciossly given. For
few days after rigging the SOW should not
have forcing food: if she appears to DO quite
! RICH, at HE end of that time, she can then be
treated we'll. Nothing will produce more
milk than Il little skim milk given warm. y
great deal of the after success of the pigs de-
ponds upon how they arc treated At this stage
4 At about two weeks old the little pigs should
begin 10 eat on their own account and small
trough, par;tioned OF so that the mother can
not get al it, must be provided for their use
Skim milk with a small quantity OF -four in i,
will be most readily taken to, and they will
soon begin to feed freely. In the ease of pigs
which arc TO be freed for exlili ion, they
may beindnced TO drink little milk when a
few days old; after tumhling into the trough,
few times they will soon learn 10 drink
In the case of ordinary rearing, however, it
will hardly pay to feed them so young. II
must be remembered that more than half the
breed of pig goes in at its mouth On no
account should yonng pigs be allowed TO de-
pend entirely their mother milk until
weaving time. If they have been freely fed
and it will pay to feed young animals we'll
they will not go back when wcanad--a
great dssideratum, every one must know
HOW ionS IL taxes IOf any animal to overcome
the effects Of being pihched when yonng. We
would urge upon all pig breeders very strong
ly the advan.as &c having their pigs castra-
ted before being weaned, care being
taken that they have nothing given them for
two meals beforehand. There will be fewer
losses by adopting this plan than By allowing
to get a greater age. Pigs may be weaned
from seven to ten weeks old this will delcnd
upon the season and their general condition.
The better they have been fed, the sooner
they may be weaned; and for some time they
should be literally fed. No reason has yet
been assigned why in some cases little pigs
loose their tails, and in others do not The
blame canno! be laid on the weather, rs they
fall off in all seasons; indeed, il is complete
mystery to pig breeders. Nominal will take
SO kindly to the young Of another as a sow
and in some cases it will be founl very con.
venient TO give one sow the whole two litters
to bring up. The only danger incurred is
that the SOW from which the pigs are taken
may suffer from her milk /; but with care and
proper attention, no bad results nee. follow.