486 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



own bodily functions, but the development of the fetal litter is a con- 

 stantly increasing drain on her system. Although feeding at this 

 time will not need to be so heavy as after the pigs are farrowed, it 

 should be liberal. The sow's condition should be good neither too 

 fat nor too lean. It is hardly too much to say that the mistakes in 

 feeding breeding animals are more frequently those that keep such 

 stock in a thin, half-starved condition, under the idea that the repro- 

 ductive organs are so peculiarly liable to become transformed into 

 masses of fat. The use of the reproductive organs in either sex 

 creates demands of an unusual nature on the animal organism, and 

 these demands must be met in the same manner as those of a differ- 

 ent character such as growth, work, etc. and that is by providing 

 liberal supplies of the proper kinds of feed. The amount of nitro- 

 genous, or protein-bearing, feeds in the ration at this time should be 

 increased. These are bran, peas, beans, oats, and barley, and, to a 

 moderate extent, wheat. The forage plants that are especially suit- 

 able to pregnant brood sows are the clovers and their relatives al- 

 falfa, pease, beans, vetches, etc. The ordinary pasture grasses are 

 also of much value. Feed should be given in such form that the 

 system of the sow will be at its best. All breeders lay special empha- 

 sis on the condition of the bowels during pregnancy, and particu- 

 larly at farrowing, the special danger to be avoided being constipa- 

 tion. To this end the greater part, if not all, of the grain ration is 

 given as slop, and toward the close of the period of gestation oil 

 meal or a small amount of flaxseed meal is introduced into the 

 ration. 



Corn should not be fed in large amounts to breeding stock. If 

 possible, it should not be fed at all to any but fattening animals. In 

 the corn belt many farmers are often so situated that they have no 

 other grain feed at hand. If corn must make up the greater part of 

 the ration of the brood sow, the injurious effects may be counter- 

 acted in a measure by compelling the sows to exercise. Various 

 schemes may be necessary to bring about this result, such as having 

 the house and feeding floor or the feeding floor and watering place 

 at opposite ends of the hog lot; so that a good walk is a necessity 

 several times each day. If the lot is located on a hillside, the walk 

 is made a climb. Some men scatter grain among straw and corn 

 fodder with this idea of exercise in mind, and others resort to the 

 whip and drive the sows gently for a mile or two each day. (F. B. 

 205.) 



The following ration is for brood sows during pregnancy, fed 

 entirely on grain. The addition of the bran increases the bulk and 

 laxative effect. Corn meal, 23 pounds; ground oats, 23 pounds; 

 wheat middlings, 23 pounds; wheat bran, 23 pounds; oil meal, 6 

 pounds; salt, 2 pounds; total, 100 pounds. This should be fed as 

 a slop. (Wis. B. 184.) 



Feed for Sow After Farrowing. The mother should receive no 

 feed at all for about twenty-four hours after giving birth to the pigs. 

 She is feverish, though, and should be liberally supplied with fresh 

 water. The second day after farrowing she should be given a small 



