COMMON DISEASES 97 



tremely important that if a litter is farrowed when it is cold and 

 they are inclined to stay in the nest all day, they must be made to 

 hustle out and take exercise enough to keep them from getting too 

 fat. 



This condition will be very quickly noticed by an observing man 

 who looks after the sow and litter. 



If the sow is a good milker there is all the more danger. In this 

 case it would be well to feed the sow, for two or three weeks, on a 

 ration that would not produce so much milk. This would be a great 

 help in keeping down the trouble, but the pigs should be made to 

 take plenty of exercise daily before any such condition appears. 



There are several ways of compelling this exercise. One is to 

 take the litter some distance from the sleeping place or nest and 

 put them on the ground and let them work their way back. It 

 makes no difference how far .this distance is, if you are sure they 

 will get back to the nest. If this custom is followed daily you will 

 lose no pigs from so-called thumps. 



Another plan is to take the pigs out of the nest and get after 

 them with a broom and if they will not run away from you, force 

 them to do so, by pushing them along. 



Any system is all right that will compel lots of exercise. 



Pleura-Pneumonia. There is another trouble one often runs 

 up against when he walks out among his pigs in the fall, or in fact 

 at almost any time. He finds a half-grown animal, or even a ma- 

 ture one, breathing short and fast with a perceptible jerk in the 

 flank and back of the heart along the shoulders. This is a pretty 

 sure symptom of serious trouble, and is generally an unfailing 

 sign of what is known as Swine Plague, or what would be called, in 

 the human race, Pneumonia. This is a dangerous disease and is 

 one of the "so-called" varieties of hog cholera and is really more 

 dangerous. There is little that can be done with hogs in this con- 

 dition. They should be given a warm, dry place to sleep, thorough- 

 ly rubbed with some strong heating liniment, that is penetrating, all 

 along the sides ; back of the elbow ; between the fore legs ; all about 

 the vital organs ; then, if in a shivering condition, cover them with 

 blankets or something to keep them warm, and keep them where no 

 draft or cold air can strike them. It would be well, in a severe 

 case, to consult the family physician or a good Veterinarian with a 

 view of giving them some internal treatment. The animals will 

 appear very gaunt and probably refuse to eat. If this is the case 

 there is not much hope. Exercise in this case is always fatal. 



Sore Mouths. Some breeders and farmers often have trouble 

 with sore mouths among their pigs. There are two kinds of sore 

 mouth that we have had experience with neither of which need 

 cause any trouble whatever. The more common cases are caused 

 by the pigs fighting each other while nursing, and with their little 

 sharp tusks (which are usually black), they strike each other on 

 the sides of the face and jowl. This trouble can be stopped at once 



