EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 269 



prevailing wind, greater protection is afforded the pigs in the pen when 

 the door is open, and, second, it allows the proper construction of over- 

 lays. 



Overlays. — What they are and the necessity for their use leads to a 

 short, but necessary, discussion of flooring materials. The plank floor 

 which has been so universally used in the past for piggeries, has now 

 become almost impracticable owing to the scarcity of such material 

 and its high cost; the use of hard wood is entirely out of the question 

 and pine floors are short lived. It is almost impossible to construct 

 a wood floor so as to make it water tight and provide good sanitary 

 conditions. Dry earth floors would be ideal for the sleeping quarters 

 for pigs if they could be kept dry and clean. At the present time there 

 is no floor in use in piggeries more desirable or inexpensive, consider- 

 ing durability, than one properly constructed of concrete nor can as 

 good sanitary conditions be maintained by the use of any other. And 

 yet, notwithstanding these good qualities, cement floors are strongly 

 objected to, and justly so too, on the ground that pigs become crippled 

 if required to nest in beds on them during the winter season. Even 

 though an abundance of bedding is used on cement floors, bad results 

 seem to follow just the same. There are few worse places for a brood 

 sow to farrow than on a cement floor. She gathers the small amount of 

 bedding allowed her into a small pile, beds on it and the newly born pigs 

 wriggle off on the bare floor, which being slippery, prevents them from 

 getting on their feet, the cold floor soon exhausts them, and they perish. 

 It was with the object of overcoming these objections to the cement 

 floors that overlays were used. 



Figures 41 and 42 show two pens, each ten by fourteen feet but with two 

 different forms of overlay. Fig 41 shows an overlay running across the 

 center of the pen ; this form was used because of the outer door being in 

 the center of tJie pen, thus leaving insufficient room for the overlay in the 

 corner. This overlay is in two sections, each two and one-half feet 

 wide so that it can be lifted easily in cleaning out the pen or thrown 

 out in the sun to dry, or put in the loft for storage during the summer. 

 The two sections are held in place by four blocks tacked on the two- 

 by-fours at the bottom of the partitions. This arrangement leaves 

 plenty of room for feeding at the trough and space for the manure near 

 the door. The greatest objection to this form of overlay is that because 

 of its location between the trough and door, the pigs have to cross it 

 frequently, thus not only soiling it but dragging the bed off on the floor 

 as well. This objection is sufficient to urge strongly against this form 

 of overlay. Fig. 42 shows an overlay 6x8 feet in one corner of a pen 

 with the door in the opposite corner. This plan is possessed of the 

 advantages of providing more shelter for the bed when the outer door 

 is open and the pigs can go in and out without crossing the bed. The 

 accompanying illustration Fig. 43 shows nine ISO-pound pigs bedded doAvn 

 comfortably on this overlap'. This latter form of overlay is hinged to 

 the wall so that when the pen is cleaned out it is tipped up, bedding 

 and all, and any Dlth which miiy have accumulated underneath is cleaned 

 out. When the floor is cleaned, the overlay is let down and the bedding 

 thrown off on the floor for al)sorbent being replaced by fresh straw at 

 least once a week. W^hen the overlay is placed in the corner of the pen, 

 that portion of the floor should be raised somewhat. 



