*06 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



the pen front is swung back and the rod inserted in the inside edge 

 of the trough. The pigs can not then get to the feed until the front 

 is lowered. The plan permits feeding without being disturbed by 

 the eagerness of the animals, and the feed is evenly distributed. 

 (F. B. 205.) 



For feeding pigs, there should be a slatted trough to prevent 

 the more greedy getting into the food. It is constructed as follows: 

 A bottom board 1 by 12 inches and 8 feet long, edges beveled, end 

 piece 2 by 6 inches, a center board 8 inches wide nailed to the ends, 

 the lower edge standing 2 inches above the bottom of the trough 

 the top edge would be 10 inches above the trough. On the two edges 

 of the bottom nail 1 by 4 inch strips 8 feet long, and nail slats 2 

 inches wide from the top of the 4-inch sides to the top of the center 

 board, far enough apart to allow the pigs to eat 6 inches will an- 

 swer for small pigs ; 8, 10, and even 12 inches may be required for 

 larger. (U. S. Cir. 30.) 



The troughs are made of two-inch hemlock constructed in a V 

 shape, one side being two-by-ten inch material and the other side 

 and ends two-by-eight. These troughs are simply toe-nailed in be- 

 tween the division posts so that they can be removed easily and re- 

 placed when necessary. We like the V shaped troughs in prefer- 

 ence to any flat bottomed sort, in the piggery, because the pigs can 

 clean them more readily and thoroughly and there is practically no 

 contact at the floor except for the short end pieces ; as a result filth 

 and moisture do not accumulate beneath them. On the under side 

 of the V shaped trough, next the alley, the floor is always dry and 

 on the pen side it can be cleaned thoroughly and is always exposed 

 to the air. Hemlock troughs last from two to five years, or even 

 longer, particularly if protected by a strip of band iron on the inner 

 edge. Sloppy feed does not chill or freeze in wood troughs as readily 

 as in cement or metal. We like flat bottomed troughs for out door 

 feeding where they are moved about frequently, they are not upset 

 so readily as the V-shaped ones. We also like low sided, flat bot- 

 tomed troughs for weanling pigs. (Mich B. 223.) 



Dipping Vat, One vat which has proven very successful 

 is constructed entirely of concrete. It is three feet deep, seven 

 feet six inches long on top and three feet six inches long on bottom. 

 It is eighteen inches wide on the bottom and thirty at the top. The 

 end next the passageway is perpendicular, requiring the animals to 

 plunge in ; the other end is sloping with creases in the cement form- 

 ing little steps to enable sheep and hogs to walk out. Adjacent to 

 the vat and separated from it by an eight-inch cement partition, 

 is a dry chamber five and one-half feet long, two and one-half feet 

 deep, and eighteen inches wide, for an attendant to stand in and hold 

 or handle sheep, as the vat is used for both sheep and hog dipping. 

 One end of this chamber is raised nearly a foot to enable the attend- 

 ant to assist sheep up the incline. The cement floor around the 

 vat is so graded that the drippings are returned to it. This illustra- 

 tion shows, also, the drain pipe leading to an underdrain with the 

 valve in the dry chamber below the floor level of this part. This 



