230 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



But every year there are young men taking up this worlc and they 

 have not yet come in contact with these troubles to any extent, and so, 

 while the telling and re-telling of these stories may not be of any partic- 

 ular benefit to the old breeder, they may prove of untold value to the 

 younger ones if they will but make use of the experience that is thus 

 placed before them. 



It has been said that "man is born to trouble." This applies very aptly 

 to little pigs, and it does not make any difference to what breed they 

 belong; nor whether they were sired by a hog that sold for $25.00 or one 

 that pretends to sell for $25,000.00; nor whether they have for their 

 dam the sow that holds the world's record for a high priced sow, or 

 whether it is the good but homely old sow that we keep in the back lot 

 out of sight. They are all subject to the same troubles, and require the 

 greatest watchfulness to avoid them, or to successfully treat them. 



Among the first troubles to appear will be sore mouths. This can 

 often be avoided by removing the eight large teeth soon after farrowing. 

 It is a form of blood poisoning and is usually started by lacerating each 

 other's mouths in the struggle for location at the dinner table. When 

 started and in bad form the proud flesh should be removed and then 

 thproughly cleansed with a dip of carbolic solution. 



Next will be thumps — that trouble that always takes the prettiest and 

 best, and the ones that we fancy are headed for the show ring. This 

 trouble can better be avoided than treated when once acquired. I have 

 tried a number of so-called remedies, buf there is not one of them 

 that I would recommend. Continual watchfulness is what counts here. 

 Every pig that shows a tendency to get too fa should be made to exercise, 

 and if this cannot be done sufficiently it »nould be removed from the 

 sow and kept away at least a part of eacn day. Treated in this way 

 they will be reduced in flesh, and when that is done the danger will be 

 past. 



Next will be scours, the most common and the most destructive of all 

 the pig disorders. There are various causes for it, and fully ' as many 

 remedies. Among the causes are: A sudden change to damp weather, wet 

 and foul nests, overfeeding the sow, a sudden change of feed or feeding 

 something sour. Among the remedies are: Reduce the sow's feed. If an 

 old sow, feed less slops and more dry feeds. Feed her some parched 

 corn, burnt flour, some soda, copperas or lime water. In our own work 

 when a pronounced case appears we first clean the nest thoroughly, then 

 apply air slacked lime and give fresh bedding. Then reduce the sow's 

 feed and give her a teaspoonful of lime or copperas. In cases where the 

 trouble seems to originate with the sow, we feed her soda or burnt 

 flour or parched corn. In obstinate cases, those that will not yield to the 

 usual treatment, we administer direct to the pig a dose of from three to 

 five drops of laudanum. 



The young pig will not live long before it will be troubled with worms. 

 Some are not troubled to the extent that is noticeable, and others so 

 badly that it is very noticeable, in the loss of appetite, dead appearance 

 of the coat and in the general unthrifty condition. The diarrhoea that 

 often appears in pigs of from six to twelve weeks old is almost always 

 carried by worms, and when they are destroyed the trouble disappears 



