Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-05-25


cured from an unreliable source, was
not administered properly or that it
was injected after the animals were
sick. Many persons seem to forget
that the serum is recommended as
preventative, not as a cure. If hog
has developed cholera before the
serum is used. in all probability he
will die before the serum has chance. /
Fresh serum from the biological lab /
oratory of the Illinois live stock COM /
administered by competent /
veterinarian before cholera has in |
Tested the herd is a sure preventative |
of hog cholera. This fact has been /
thoroughly tested, yet while this is
true, there are other necessary precau- |
tons that the swine husbandman
should not fail to observe in order that
his farm may be free from swine
plague in every form.
Hon. c. c. Pervier. a prominent
member of the Illinois legislature, from
Bureau county, in an address before
the State Farmers Institute, among
other things, had the following to say
on this subject:
Il do not know any cure for hog
cholera. l do believe it is possible to
so handle swine as to make them able
10 resist disease Only once in So
years have we had disease on our farm
and then one-third of our hogs sur
vived the attack.
There are three things we think
absolutely essential to the health of
the herd and these are clean feed, pure
water and dry comfortable sleeping
quarters. The food of the hog should
be as clean as that given any other
animal, because every particle of dirt,
filth and indigestible matter that is TAX
en- into the stomach impairs digestion
and reduces the gain as well as in
jures the health of the animal. There
should be a clean feeding floor in win
ter or when 1t is too muddy to feed
elsewhere. The floor should be located
with due regard for the comfort of
the animals while eating-never on the
north or west side of buildings. The
hog is the only farm animal that wears
his summer coat all winter, and is,
therefore. liable to colds, coughs and
lung trouble.
1T is a law of nature that the ex-
crement of all animals is poisonous
to themselves. but not 10 other ami
mails. Hogs may follow cattle without
| injury, but the thing most essential
and most difficult is to keep the food
of the hog from becoming contaminat-
ed with his own excrement, hence, the
value of the feeding floor and the i'm
portance of keeping it clean. Be sure
to locate the floor where the sun can
shine on it-sunshine is the enemy of
disease germs.
"a pig will not walk so rods to get
a drink of clean water If water of
any kind. no matter how filthy, is
nearer Forty per cent of the pigs
body is water, and if the supply is
below normal requirements, gains Will
be prOportionately low and the health
of the animals impaired.
an very cold weather pigs will not
drink enough water to supply their
need, unless II is warmed. There
should be an abundance of clean water
before the hogs at all times. We use
what is known as the barrel and
float" plan which consists of a con
crete barrel with a concrete drinking
box about 70 inches square and five
inches deep built on the side of it
The box is separated from the barrel
by a piece of sheet iron with holes
about two inches from the bottom
through which the water passes from
the barrel to the OK. With this plan
no mud or filth can enter the barrel
and the box can be readily cleaned. By
putting a tank heater in the barrel
pigs are supplied with pure water Of
right temperature 10 winter.
} We are using concrete floors in oul
hog houses and have found that We
need very little bedding, just enough
} to keep the body of the pig from com
. ing in contact with the concrete. L
is easy to keep a concrete floor warn
: if the cold air can not get under it
With 100 pigs in the house, during zero
weather, We had TO keep some of thu
windows and the upper end doors opel
for ventilation We have never hat
any pigs get stiff from lying on con
crete floors. Good dry bedding, straw
or shredded fodder. is used and is re
: moved as soon as it becomes damp
and replaced with a fresh supply, an
ventilation is such as that cold wind
can not blow in on the pigs. w
n disinfect the houses often with all
Stacked lime.
A dipping tank is essential not onl
: for destroying lice but also for ,prc
. noting health conditions in genera
r I'VE dip our pigs once in tw
7 months, more often if the animals ar
r bothered with lice, and use any of tn
dips on the market that have crud
:. oil as basis. We do not dip in VIII
Z ter, but crowd the hogs into the hous
@ and spray them, leaving them unit
e dry. We spray hogs, walls, beddin
d and all.
e I'VE keep wood ashes and a httl
t lime in a self-feeder before our pig
: all the time. Hogs need more miners
e matter than they usually get
T During the summer, hogs shoul
e be provided with ample shade it wi