432 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



are to have strong, vigorous pigs, they must have enough 

 exercise to keep them healthy and strong. Many boars are 

 useless, because from lack of exercise they take on too much 

 flesh and become inactive. On this subject Prof. W. W. 

 Smith well says,* 



"Exercise promotes a loose, open condition of the bowels and does 

 much to maintain a healthful functioning of the other organs of elimina- 

 tion, exercise contributes strength and vitality, reduces the chances of 

 disease, costs nothing, and is an indispensable factor in the maintenance 

 of health and breeding thrift." 



In winter it is a good plan to drive the pigs about in the 

 lots or near-by yards, scattering some corn and causing 

 them to move about in search of it. When snow is on the 

 ground, it is not so easy to do so ; but, if the pigs live in 

 colony houses and come to central feeding troughs, they will 

 be compelled to move about more than they would other- 

 wise and so will secure some exercise. 



The care of pigs in hot weather has much to do with their 

 successful development. They should be provided with 

 shade, if possible. A woods-pasture is invaluable as a shelter 

 from the hot sun. Portable pens or cots, that have a free 

 circulation of air across the floor through openings on oppo- 

 site sides, will furnish shade and may be fairly comfortable. 

 A flat-roofed, low, open-sided shed in the pig lot, that costs 

 but little for labor and material, will also furnish shade. 



A wallow in warm weather gives the hog supreme satis- 

 faction. The unsanitary character of mud wallows is to be 

 strictly condemned, but the use of the modern concrete 

 wallow, in which water may be kept reasonably free of filth, 

 is to be highly commended. 



Parasites affecting swine are both internal and external. 

 Hogs are very often infested with round worms which may 

 be as large as a common lead pencil, and are a serious drain 

 on their vitality. The eggs and embryo forms of the para- 

 sites are found in muddy, filthy yards and lots. If one is to 

 have healthy quarters, it will be very important to keep 



*Pork Production, 1921. 



