45 



Winter Exercise and Quarters. —The greatest difficulty will be en- 

 countered in giving the sows sufficient exercise during the winter. Where only a 

 few sows are kept, it is often possible to give them the run of a barnyard, where they 

 will take exercise rooting in the manure, or working in scattered straw or chaff to 

 find what little grain it may contain. If a dry, well-bedded sleeping-place is pro- 

 vided, which is free from draughts, the conditions are about as good as can be 

 obtained. 



When it is impossible to use the barnyard, a roomy shed with earth floor, and 

 a sleeping-place arranged in one corner, can be made to answer the purpose very 

 well. By littering the shed with cut straw or chaff and sprinkling a very little 

 whole grain in the chaff every day, the attendant can -induce the sows to take con- 

 siderable exercise. Another method is to use portable pens set in outside lots. The 

 pens should be placed facing the south, and fifty yards or more from the feeding- 



Fig. 12. — Large Yorkshire sow, championship winner at the English Royal Show. 



place. If kept well bedded, and banked about the bottom with strawy horse manure, 

 they make comfortable sleeping quarters. The sows are forced to take exercise in 

 walking backwards and forwards between the pen and the feeding place. 



It is better to keep not more than five or six sows in a pen of this kind, and 

 care should be taken to provide plenty of trough room. The troughs should be 

 placed on dry ground, or on a platform, and it is preferable to have them in a place 

 that is sheltered from the wind. (See under " Portable Pens," Part VI.) 



Feeding and Management during Gestation. — During the period 

 of gestation the sow should be kept in good, strong condition, but not overloaded 

 with fat. Extremes in condition are to be avoided. The very fat sow is apt to be 

 clumsy with her pigs, and sometimes her pigs are few in number or lacking in 

 vitality. On the other hand, the very thin sow will either not do justice to her 

 pigs, or will become a mere wreck herself during the time she is nursing her litter, 

 and the chances are that both these things will happen. A sow may be kept in 



