PIGGERIES AND PIG PENS. 153 



At their regular feeding time, we can take twenty or 

 thirty of our own pigs, and separate them into their re- 

 spective pens in a few minutes. They inherit a quiet dis- 

 position, and we would dismiss on the spot, any hired man 

 who should kick one of them, or strike him with a stick, 

 and we cannot bear to hear an angry word spoken near 

 the pens. 



The alleys between the pens we find convenient for 

 storing away a small quantity of straw, a little of whicli 

 can be used every day, to replace that removed in clean- 

 ing the pens. By making a small hole in the side of the 

 pen, little sucking pigs can come through, and eat a little 

 milk or crushed oats out of a small trough, placed in the 

 alley where the sow cannot get at it. 



We have some pens that have no partition between the 

 sleeping and feeding apartment. They are not as warm 

 as the others, but having abundance of straw, they answer 

 very well for store or fattening pigs or for a breeding sow 

 in mild weather. On the whole, however, it is better to 

 have the sleeping apartment separate, the pigs being 

 warm, and not so liable to be disturbed. 



For a breeding sow, the sleeping apartment is 10 x 12 ft., 

 and the feeding apartment 6 x 12 ft. Such a pen can be 

 used also for six or eight store pigs, or for three or four 

 fattening pigs. 



We have smaller pens, 12x12 ft., either undivided or 

 divided into a sleeping apartment 7x 12 ft., and a feeding 

 apartment 5 x 12 ft. Such a pen, if divided, answers very 

 well for a litter of young pigs, after weaning, or for fat- 

 tening two or three pigs, and we have used them for a 

 small sow to farrow in. 



The most serious objection to this shed-made pig pen 

 is, that the roof boards must be put on with great care, 

 and well battened, or it will leak. They should, also, be 

 well saturated with petroleum, to keep them from shrink- 

 ing and warping. 

 7* 



