Parm Bulletin No. 4. February, 1917. 



I 



Hog Houses 



By K. J. T. Ekblaw 



The extent to which swine increase the net return from 

 the farm is well recognized by most farmers. On a properly 

 conducted farm, especially in the corn belt, swine are prac- 

 tically clear profit aside from the cost of the labor in caring 

 for them, since their food can be made to consist largely of 

 waste products. Hog raising has probably returned propor- 

 tionately greater profits to the corn-belt farmer than any 

 other enterprise. In view of this, it might naturally be ex- 

 pected that the hog would be the best housed animal on the 

 farm. In the majority of cases, however, the opposite is 

 true. The old-fashioned idea that the hog is a tough, filthy 

 animal still exists, and many farmers believe and act in the 

 belief that anything is good enough for a hog. 



As an actual fact, there is no farm animal that needs 

 care and protection more than the hog. The horse and cow 

 are protected by a heavy coat of hair in the winter time; even 

 the calf or colt will grow a good fur coat when exposed in 

 winter. Chickens have a thick layer of fluffy feathers which 

 keep even their small bodies warm, but a hog has nothing 

 except a thin coat of stiff hair between his skin and the cold. 

 Little pigs farrowed in cold temperature with no shelter 

 generally die, and even if they live never thrive at all well. 



Swine raising as a business is bringing about an im- 

 provement in housing conditions. Progressive farmers and 

 hog raisers realize the money returns coming from proper 

 protection for their hogs, and have designed shelters which 



Three 



