Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-08-24
Breeding Swine.

D.. Y, Evans gives, in the Maryland
Farmer, what in his opinion the form of
boars and breeding sows should be:
A good breeding boar should be broad
on the back, the width extending back
we'll over the hams; the body should be
deep, broad and short for the depth; the
head should be broad between the eyes,
the snout short and broad; the jowles
h avy; the leg strong, well set under,
and he should stand firmly on his feet.
The chest should be full and deep, so as
to prove that he had health and did not
pc ;sess any weakness. The ears should
be as refined as can be consistent with
the breed.
We here have spoken of good breed
ing boar under a general heading, the
animals Of each breed exhibiting some
individual characteristics other than we
have given. We have not space here to
describe fully the breeds we have named
but may give them special attention at
some near future time. We will here
give the general characteristics of a
good breeding SOW, irrespective of the
breed:
A good breeding SOW should be rather
long in the body, as well as deep and
rather broad, so as to show that she has
room enough to carry a good litter Of
pigs, and to produce good, sound, healthy
ones, she should be rather rounding on
the rump, approaching to square, a long,
sloping rump being indicative Of any
thing but good breeding in most cases;
she should stand well upon her feet and
should have legs not too long, or yet too
short, but of medium length, so she can
handle her body well when she is heavy
with pig. Her snont should be broad
and short, ears not too coarse or large,
and eyes set well apart The jowles
should be heavy and deep. The hams
should be broad and heavy, and the
shoulders well set, so as to afford plenty
of breathing room.
A SOW should not be put to the boar
until at least six months old, and if at
eight months of age she is put to the
boar, she will produce better pigs than
if served younger. The older the SOW is
the better pigs she will produce, proyid-
ed she is good mixer and careful moth
er, and if she is not the latter, better at
once turn her into pork than keep heDin
your breeding herd; always keep good
breeding SOW as long as she will produce
pigs.
The best food for pigs we have found
to be good slop made from corn and
oats ground together All the breeding
stock should have the range OF a good
clover field during the season, and should
have moderate supply Of the above
named slop; but care must be taken not
to feed breeding sows too heavily, for
they are, when too fat, liable to injure
Il cir offspring. The boar, likewise, must
not be kept too fat, for he will soon be
too sluggish to attend to the sows, and
may prove to be an uncertain getter OF
pigs.
Before the sows are ready to drop
their young, say a week or so before, re-
move them to a separate enclosure OF
J. IN, where they should not be disturbed
until after they have farrowed. After
the pigs have been dropped, give the SOW
cooling drink, and afterward give her as
much food, principally milk or refuse
from the dairy, if possible, as she Can
stand to. When the young porkers arc
two or three weeks old. put a small
trough where the old SOW cannot get at
it, and keep this well filed with milk
cleaning it out every couple of days to
prevent it from getting foul. By giving
the young ones milk they will grow SC
much more rapidly, and will not pull
down the SOW SO much as if she had tc
supply all the food for her young. re
have good pigs it is absolutely necessary
tc keep them growing rapidly from the
time they are dropped till they are foul
or five months old, after this time those
intended for breeders should not be for
ced, but merely kept in good growing
condition.