Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-04-02
MODEL HOG HOUSE
FOR The DAK0TAS
Is Clean, Warm, Well Lighted
and Ventilated.
DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION
BY r. M. DOLVE, North Dakota Ex.
pertinent Station.

The hog is not by nature an IN.
clean animal and does not thrive in
filth, but the fact that he is endowed
with a great power of resistance and
the ability to make the most of his
surroundings has created the popular
notion that anything will do for a hog.
The hog will invariably choose a clean
place to lie down on if the opportunity
is given him and because a hog wal
lows in mud does not indicate that
he prefers filth but that. owing to the
fact that he p%erspires but little. he
requires moisture to cool him during
warm weather. A concrete hog wal
low should, therefore, be provided in
the hog lot for this purpose. Hogs
in order to give the best returns
should have clean, warm, well lighted
and ventilated quarters free from
draft and dampness.
A hog house built along the lines
Indicated in the above cut will be
found excellent for Dakota conditions.
The plans show a house 56X24 feet,
containing twelve SKIS pens with re-
movable partitions so that the pens
may be readily enlarged when de-
sired. Fenced pens are arranged out
side as shown in the perspective and
communicate with the inside pens by
doors through the side walls OF the
building. Instead OF the doors shown
in the perspective, self-closing pen
doors may be substituted. These
doors have the advantage Of being al
ways closed. thus excluding dampness,
cold and drafts from the building. The
doors must be made to swing both
ways and this can be accomplished
by ~suspending them from the upper
part of the door casing by means of
bolt hooks and by bolts or suitable
hinges. This permits the hogs to
go in and out as they please, the
doors closing after them. These
doors must be fastened up when the
pen is occupied by a SOW with a litter
of pigs. If it is desired to have the
doors fit closely leather strips form
ing a flexible but tight joint with the
door when closed may be nailed
around the casing. Some hog raisers
prefer extra slide doors which may be
closed during cold weather.
The cost Of the building may be
somewhat lowered by dispensing with
the eight-foot driveway and substitute
ing a four-foot feeding alley, thus re-
ducing the width of the building four
feet. 1t will be found, however, that
the added convenience and the great
er volume of air provided by the
driveway make it desirable. AS in
Dictated, the floor Of the driveway and
inner half Of the pens is made of on
crete, while the outer half of the
floor is dirt. This is arranged so that
the hogs may sleep in the back part
of the pens, where the floor is not
cemented, to comply with the objec-
ton of some hog raisers that con-
crete sleeping floors make the hogs
subject to rheumatism. This arrange.
ment is not entirely satisfactory and
a better way is to make the entire
floor concrete and place a removable
wooden floor on top of the concrete in
the sleeping quarters. This wooden
floor should be laid on cleats SO as to
permit an air space between it and
the concrete and the boards should
be laid with quarter inch spaces so
as to facilitate drainage. A drainage
gutter with a sufficient slope may be
provided in the concrete underneath
the board floor and along the side
wall. The concrete should be laid
with a gentle slope towards the gut.
ter. These wooden floors are desir
able, but concrete is not Objectionable