Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1914-09-04
Hog House. Showing

Y CU6s
storms when the attendant is away.
Unless the cot is unusually well built,
1t is somewhat difficult to keep warm
in very cold weather than the large
house.
The variety of individual hog houses
is greater, If anything, than that Of
large houses, but they are readily sep
aGable into two general classes-the
A-shaped cot, and the various cots
with perpendicular sides. The A
shaped cot is quite satisfactory when
we'll built and provided with window
and ventilating door, but generally
these are lacking. Nearly all Of the
cots with perpendicular sides have
doors in the roof or in the south side
to be opened in sunny weather. 1t is
easier to care for sows in these
houses than in the A-shaped cots. All
cots should be built on skids.
The hog house floor is an unsettled
question. The ground with woven
wire stretched on top to prevent the
hogs from roofing makes a good floor.
| Electrically welded corncrib wire is
very satisfactory. This makes a floor
which Is easy on the hogs, almost
free from rats, and, II properly bedded,
1t is warm and dry. 1t is, however,
more difficult to keep free from dust
than some other floors. Many con-
crete floors are used, but they are
cold, liable to be wet, and are hard
on the hogs feet. Often almost an en-
tire pig crop and many sows are lost
by taking cold on concrete floors.
Concrete floors are, however, very sat-
| isfactory when covered with plank
overlays, 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 two by four inch timbers
laid about one-fourth inch apart to
allow drainage. Cork brick on con-
crete makes an Ideal floor from the
standpoints of warmth and sanitation,
but is very expensive and the brick
are sometimes eaten out by the pigs.
Board floors are expensive, short
lived, cold, If up off the ground, and
make the worst kind of rat harbors.
An old hog house with wood floor was
visited in which the owner said the
rats had gotten over half the pigs.
Several men report that rats may be
kept out by packing sand or cinders to
the top of the joists before laying the
floor but these materials are often too
expensive to be used for this pur-
pose.
Pig rails or guard rails should be
placed on the inside of the pen, from
six to ten inches from the floor &C.
cording to the size Of the SOW, and
should stand out six or eight inches
to prevent the SOW from MASKING the
pigs against the wall.
1t will be found convenient to have
the alley gates removable by lifting
out.
Six by eight feet is generally found
to be very satisfactory size for pens,
but if feeding is to be done inside,
the pen will need to be longer in order
to give room to feed and water with
out getting the bed befouled. Very
| large sows, such as are sometimes
kept for breeders, may need more
room, but the producer of pork will
not need larger pen. Small sows do
not need this much room, and 1t might
be good economy to make half of the
pens five feet wide. Five by eight
| feet will accommodate a small sow
very we'll.
In most cases, either ventilation is
lacking or the house is drafty. In
well-ventilated double-walled build
ing, little moisture will gather on the
walls even in 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 melts. 1t is not easy to Sc
cure a good supply of fresh air and
prevent all drafts from striking the
| pigs. There are, however, several
quite satisfactory methods Of ventila-
ton in use. The commonest one is
to make some of the windows so they
will either slide or swing on hinges.
Whitewashing the inside of the
house is an excellent practice. Be-
sides going long way toward disin-
fecting, it increases the light mate
rally. When the sunshine strikes a
whitewashed wall, much of it is re-
Elected to the floor and does a great
deal of good. Dark houses which must
be used will be much improved by
withdrawing.