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Show PIG WEARS A SCANT COAT; J PROTECT HIM FROM COLD. It is still hard for many farm- ers to get rid of the notion that 4 J anything is good enough for J 4' hogs, yet there is no animal on 4 J the farm which requires better protection from the cold than 4 J the hog; none for which a good J bed is more necessary ; and none v so much in need of sunshine as Jthe little pig. The horse and T the cow have good coats of hair 4- even a calf or colt left in the 5 cold is provided with a good & fur coat ; the hens' feathers are ? the best of protection against .j. low temperature, b'lt the hog has almost nothing between his 4, fskin and the weather. One of the first requisites for success with hogs is ai shelter where J young pigs can be kept warm and well supplied with sunshine fand fresh air. A little pig takes cold very easily and recovers J J slowly if at all. To prevent tak- jjj 4. ing cold he must be kept dry, warm, away from drafts and J provided with fresh air. There 4. t is a publication of the United ? States department of agricul- 4 ture which tells how to provide J quarters that will give hogs, J both young and old, all the com- ij ? forts they need. It is Farmers' ? J Bulletin 438, "Hog Houses." If you have the welfare of pigs or 4 J hogs in your charge, send for it. All TO REDUCE "PIG MORTALITY Serious Attention Demanded at Farrowing Time to Save Litters This Year. FEEDING SOWS IS IMPORTANT Get Plans of Practicable Hog House From Federal or State Sources-Good Sources-Good Quarters Are One of 3est Investments. Save the u-ar litters! Every owner of a brood sow, whether wheth-er he lives on a large farm and has many, or whether he is a suburbanite and owns one, should feel a personal responsibility to see that the pig litters lit-ters born this spring are received with the utmost care. That means the . matter of providing proper housing for the brood sows, and their young should have immediate attention. Saving Sav-ing every pig possible In order that one of the most urgent war needs of the nation more pork can be supplied, sup-plied, should be the aim of every man who owns hogs. The high mortality among young pigs In some parts of the country can be materially reduced if proper housing hous-ing and feed are provided for the sows. Investigations of the mortality among pigs on the reclamation projects show that approximately one-third of the pigs born die before reaching the weaning wean-ing age. Losses on several northern projects last season were even above this average because of a severe season. sea-son. According to one investigation which covered about fifty herds, representing repre-senting 930 brood sows, ihe average loss was about 33 per cent, while some farmers lost 50 to 70 per cent of the pigs. Death Rate Is Large. That the average death rate of young pigs, not only on the projects, but elsewhere, is unnecessarily large, and that losses are in a large measure both before and after the pigs are born. It has been found that the larger losses usually occur on farms where the housing facilities are poor. In one investigation it was learned that where good hog houses were used, the average -number of pigs raised in a Utter was 5, while on farms where the housing was poor the average number num-ber reared from each litter was only 3 1-10. The average saving, therefore where good houses were used, amounted amount-ed to more than two pigs to the litter. There are many kinds of satisfactory satisfac-tory hog bouses which can be built at comparatively low cost. Anyone of these will soon pay for itself in the increased in-creased number of pigs saved. Both the individual house and the colony hog house have a place on the hog farm. Both give very satisfactory results re-sults if they are properly constructed. If only one can be had the colony house usually is to be preferred, especially es-pecially where a large number of sows are to be kept. The farrowing period usually extends over several weeks if there are many sows. In such cases each pen in the house may be used for two or more sows during the period. Assuming that two sows use a pen and that by reason of the satisfactory quarters quar-ters provided two additional pigs are saved In each litter, It would not be long until the hog house paid for itself. it-self. Good quarters are one of the best investments the swine grower can make. Satisfactory Houses. The satisfactory hog house provides warmth, dryness, abundance of lir;ht, ventilation, sanitation, and comfort. To meet these requirements the house need not be expensive. As n matter of fact, many expensive hog houses are not. satisfactory, because they do not possess all these requirements, while many less expensive ones properly planned and built give excellent satisfaction. satis-faction. Information as to details and suggested plans of buildings may be obtained from field represenrat ive of, the department of agricuiln:- "r trolu the state agricultural colleges. The care given the brood s w. especially es-pecially in her feeding. Is. equally important. im-portant. Help on this point can he obtained ob-tained from bulletins which state agricultural ag-ricultural colleges or the U. S. department depart-ment of agriculture will furnish. 5M? j iji j. j ij j j ji j j j j j ,j, , j j ji j PERSONAL ATTENTION TO PIGS WILL REDUCE HIGH MORTALITY. X Faithful, personal attention to X J the sows at farrowing time, even J though it means long hours of X hard work by day aud by night, T g is the only assurance that the X T 1918 war litters can be made to T i. reach the necessary high aver- X X age. The hog grower who is on T 4 the job at this season will be 5 able to save the lives of many X pigs that might otherwise perish in passing through the hazards of the first few days. In ex- X tremely cold weather the pigs T will be in danger of chilling un- X less the hog house is heated. X 4 To remedy this, place a few X heated bricks in the bottom of X f a basket or small box. Cover X with chaff or straw and put a X T cloth over the top to keep in X the heat. Unless the sow ob- jects too seriously the pigs may be rubbed dry with a soft cloth X X and placed in a receptacle as X 4- fast as they arrive. The de- 4 tails of attention which the sow X and the pigs need at farrowing 4 time are set forth in a recently X revised publication of the Unit- . ed States Depurtmeul of Ari- X :- culture, "Swine Management," Farmers' Bulletin 874. j.uAi it, ,t, it, it. .t. it, ,t. .t. -V4m1. .j..M'.M'4'44"fr 1 preventable, is the belief of the officials offi-cials of ihe department of agriculture. To remedy this situation in time to prevent heavy losses in the next pig crop, the department urges immediate preparation along two lines providing provid-ing satisfactory houses for the brood animals at farrowing time and better management and feeding of the sows Hold to Breeding Stock. Every farmer should hold fast to hi breeding stock and raise two litters of pigs a year from each brood sow. Thl? Is the patriotic thing to do, and will doubtless prove highly profitable ai. well. |