Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-12-03
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PORTABLE HOG PEN.

without protection they soon become
chilled through and may leave their
food to again seek warmth in the
nest. Hogs that are subjected to such
conditions soon begin to cough and
suffer from lung trouble. They be-
come gaunt, with arched backs, and
have every evidence of bumped up"
and unthrifty condition. Many farm
ers allow their hogs to work in straw
stacks for shelter from the cold. con-
slider such place a regular death trap
for swine in large numbers. Another
bedroom that is bad is the hog house
with a floor two or three feet from the
ground. Many such buildings are
open on one or more sides, so that
cold draft can get under the floor. And
again, would not allow hogs to lie
against stone wall. The earth itself,
with a little straw, makes the best bed
in the world for hog if it is dry. In
that one wcrd, dry, is the great secret
of successfully wintering swine. Di-
vide the herd into small lots of not
more than ten each; and in the case of
matured brood sows five or six together
are better than more. Keep them as
warm as possible, and have them dry.
1 would much prefer to have my
hogs 20 sleep in cold and dry than
in warm and wet. I am not GO
ing to advise anyone who has
nice permanent hog house to ADAM
don its use, but I certainly do advise
any farmer who c0ntempiates building
one not to do so. l have a hog house
and make but little use of it, and will
eventually tear it down.
1t is difficult 10 get sunlight and
warmth into large houses, and, more
than that, they are likely to become
hotbed of disease germs, and much
fertility is wasted about them. Hogs
should be changed about from lot to
lot. We want Ii rotation of hog pens,
so TO speak, turning up each lot IN
turn to the sun and air, cropping it q
season or two and putting it back to
grass. In this way the fertility IS scat
tered where lit Will be of use and the
swine are much healthier. The man
who always confines his hogs to ,oZe
small yard aod building can never at
tain great success in swine husbaudry.
/ The rough drawing herewith submitted
will convey an idea of a portable sleep
ing and breeding pen that have used
for number of years. They noaDnlE
give me splendid satisfaction. but
greatly please every man who tries
them. Swine are, of course, never fed
in these pens. feed outdoors the year
round, either on dry earth or on port
able feeding floors. These pens are
eight feet square. To make them,
construct platform eight feet square,
using 2x4 saantlings for sills and inch
stuff for floess. Next take eight boards
16 feet long, one inch thick and r.
inches wide; saw them in the center
and use them for the roof, as shown in.
the drawing. Use half-inch batterS
TO cover cracks. A ventilato- should
be placed in the roof, and a small win
dow over the door. When completed a.
man can stand upright in tine pen
nicely. Theysstand right on the ground,
so that no cald air can get under them
A door is not necessary, as they are
very warm without. They make a.
splendid breeding pen for one SOW.
by placing a 2S4 or 2x6 across the end
opposite the door and six to eight
inches from the, floor. The pen Is COM
pIeteIy rendered, as the SOW cannot lie
close to the caves, and the pigs can
get out of the way. This style eff pen
costs about kssesdollars to builG; it is
very durable Two men will easily
raise up one snti of it, when stone
boat may be pFneed under for The pur-
pose of changing its location have
several of these pens. In the SUM
mer they are moved to the pastune for
shelter against zstGrrns, and in the fall
they are moved 10 the yards. atazib-
ute much OF my sRcc, as with fall pigs
10 the use of these I.ens, and warm
food. The bedding is changed twice
week, and the pigs are always SSarTE
and dry-C. II. Everett, in Prairie
Farmer.