The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1880-09-22
SELECTING AND RAISING
BROOD SOWS.

A brood SOW should be a good
mixer. However good in Other
respects, if deficient in this she
should hardly be retained as q bree
der. An abundance Of milk for the
first eight or ten weeks OF their
existence is the best preparation
young pigs can have to fit them
for profitable growth in after life.
It is not always possible to decide
with certainty whether or not a
young SOW viii prove to be a good
mixer but as with COWS, so with
pigs, we may learn from observa
ton and trial to know in some
degree, Judging from their general
appearance, what to expect. Much
will depend upon the dam and
grand dam in this regard. Milking
qualities in swine are as surely
transmissible to progeny as IN cat
tie. Thus it is as true of swine as OF
cattle that this trait may be greatly
improved by retaining only good
mixers for breeders, SIS well as by
feeding them when young with a
view to their development as milk
producers rather than as fat pro
ducers. For this reason spring
and early summer litters are usually
the best from which 10 select young
brood sows. They can be kept
through the summer almost entirely
on grass, which, if abundant in
variety, will make them grow nice
", and at the same time the ezer-
else required in grazing will keep
them in good health. and thrift,
By the time cold weather comes on
and corn is to be fed they will have
become nearly old and large enough
for service. But even after this
continued care must be taken that
too much corn or other fat-pro-
ducing food should not be given
them. We must, however, bear in
mind that at this period all ami
mails naturally lay up fat which
afterwards goes to enrich the milk.
Hence, while they should not be
allowed to become over fat, they
should yet be so fat as to supply
this demand OF nature and to retain
the general health and vigor Of the
system. When they have dropped
their first litter the most they will
need for the first five or eight days
will be cooling drinks and very little
rich food. Wheat bran scalded and
then thinned with cold water, to
which may be added a handful Of
shipstuf or middlings, may be
given. In ten days or two weeks
the richness of the food may be
gradually increased, great care be-
ing taken, however, both as to the
quality and quantity, that these
changes may not injure the health
of the SOW or so affect her milk as
to cause scours in the pigs. It is a
very common mistake in feeding
sows having young pigs to give
them too much strong food when
the pigs are quite young. It is not
until the pigs are some three or
four weeks old that they really be-
gin to tax the SOW heavily. Then
il is that the SOW should be ibe-
rally and regularly fed on good, nu-
tritious milk-producing food, and
at the same time the young pigs
should be taught to feed by them
selves at a trough out of the reach
of the SOW. If thus managed, both
sow and pigs are benefited. The
strength of the former is kept up,
and her disposition to produce an
abundance of good, rich milk is so
encouraged as to fix this as one Of
the best traits Of her nature, while
the pigs, by the extra feed given
them, make a corresponding rapid
growth, and that at comparative
" small cost. Young sows brought
up in the manner suggested and
thus cared for with theil: first htters
may be depended upon to do as
well or better with their next, pro-
vided they have anything like fair
treatment. In case, however, a
SOW fails to prove herself good
mixer after a fair trial, she should
be replaced by one Of better prom
ise, unless for some special purpose
it is thought best to retain her.
BERKSHIRE Bulletin.