Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-06-24
CONSTRUCTION OF
HOG HOUSES

tNc HOB- mouse HOT ~ an uNhbllltu
question. a good floor is the ground
with woven wire stretched on top 10
prevent the hogs from roofing Elcc-
tricully welded corncrlb wire Is very
satisfactory This makes a floor which
Is easy on the hogs, almost free from
rats, and II properly bedded, warm
and dry II Is however. more diff
cult 10 KEEP free from dust than some
other floors, Many concrete floors
are used, but they are cold, liable to
be wet, and are hard on the hogs
fet, often almost an entire pig crop
and many sows are lost by taking cold
on concrete floors. Concrete flors are,
however, very satisfactory when COW
cred with plank oyerlays, or false
floors, which should be raised from
the concrete about an inch by mailing
cleats on the under side, The wood
portion Of this floor consists OF by
inch timbcrs laid about one-fourth
inch apart to allow drainage.
Board floors are expensive. short
lived, cold II up OFF the ground, and
make tho worst kind Of rat harDors
The writer once visited an old hog
house with wood floor in which the
owner said the rats had gotten over
half Of the pigs Several men report
that rats may be kept out by packing
sand or cinders 10 the top OF the joists
before laying the floor. but these
materials are often too expensive TO
be used for this purpose.
In making the inside partitions
care should always be taken to have
for about 10 or ~ inches above, so
that young pigs cannot crawl through,
and so sows in the adjoining pens can
not get hold OF them and pun them
/ through a SOW viii often pull a
newly born pig through under a par
| tition ana eat 1t, when, If the pig
| was in the pen with her, II would be
| perfectly safe. Above the first 10
| or 2 Inches II is better to have the
| partitions open enough so the hogs
can see out otherwise at every sound
the sows will be up on the partitions
TO see what is going on.
Pig rails or guardrails should be
| placed on the inside Of the pen, from
| q to 10 inches from the floor ac-
| cording to the size OF the SOW, and
/ should stand out or Inches to
prevent the SOW from mashing the
/ pigs against the wall.
1t will be found convenient to have
the alley gates removable by lifting
out. 1t is sometimes helpful by mt
| ing out 1t is sometimes helpful, also
/ to have part or all OF the partition
/ fences removable. All partitions
| should be 80 to 36 inches high.
Six by feet is generally found to
| be a very satisfactory size for pens,
but If feeding is to be done inside
| the pens will need to be longer in
order to give room 10 feed and water
without getting the bed bcfouled. Very
large sows. such as are sometimes
/ kept by breeders, may need more
room, but the producer OF pork will
not need a larger pen. Small sows do
not need this much room, and 1t might
be good economy to make half OF the
pens feed wide. Five by feet will
acomodatc a small sow very well.
Hog doors should be 22 to 23 inches
wide and 80 to 81 inches high in the
clear. In cold weather piece of
burlap or ducklng hung at the top Of
the hog door, with stick a little
shorter than the width OF the door
nailed across the bottom to prevent
the wind from blowing It back, will
help materially to keep the pigs
warm. The pigs will soon learn to
lift the curtain when they want TO go
through, The board doors in cots
would not then ned to be closed, ex-
copt In very bad weather or while
the pigs are very small.
In most cases. either ventilation Is
lacking or the house is drafty. In a
well-yentilated, double-walled build
ing, little moisture will gather on the
walls even in very cold weather, while
In a poorly ventilated one thick coats
Of frost will often gather. and the
whole house will be damp when the
frost mets. 1t g not easy to secure q
good supply OF fresh air and prevent
all drafts from striking the pigs
There are, however. several quite sat
isfactory methods of ventilation II
use. The cOmmonest one It to make
some of the windows so they vii
either slide or swing on hinges. The
cloth curtain window also does goot
work.
WhItewashing the inside OF the
house is an excellent practice. Be
sides going a long way toward disin'
fectlng, it Increases the light materi
ally. When the sunshine strikes
whitcwashcd wall. much Of 1t 's re
Elected to the floor and does grea
deal of good. Dark houses which
must be used will be much improved
by whitewashing.