MANAGEMENT OF THOROUGH-BRED PIGS. 217 



the first month after the pigs are weaned. After this, she 

 should have all the food she can eat, but should, if possi- 

 ble, be compelled to take some exercise in order to get it. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE YOUNG PIGS. 



The pigs, as before said, should be gradually weaned. 

 They do better to remain with the sow until eight or ten 

 weeks old, but we would commence weaning them when 

 three weeks old. Let out the sow from them at first, 

 for an hour or so at a time, gradually extending the time 

 as they get older. When a month old, they may be al- 

 lowed to go out with the sow for an hour or two in mild 

 weather, but not while the sun is very hot, as, in some 

 breeds, our hot sun will blister the backs of young pigs. 

 When five weeks old, they may go out into the pasture 

 while the sow is kept in the pen. The little pigs need 

 more exercise at this time than the mother. The secretion 

 of milk, in her case, is equivalent to a considerable amount 

 of exercise, and she should not be obliged to take exer- 

 cise in order to get food. 



The most common complaints of little pigs are diarrhoea 

 and colds. The former is caused by giving the sow im- 

 proper food, or a too sudden change of diet, or by irregular 

 feeding, or from want of pure water and fresh air. We once 

 had a few cooked beans that had been left in the steam-bar- 

 rel until they decomposed. They were thrown on to the 

 manure heap, and a sow, which was suckling pigs, ate 

 some of them. Two days afterwards, the whole litter 

 was seized with violent diarrhoea, and one of them died in 

 the course of two or three days. It was the worst case 

 of the kind we ever had, and the diarrhoea continued for 

 four or five days, and was not stopped until we gave the 

 pigs two or three drops of laudanum each, at night, in 

 some fresh cream, with a teaspoon, and repeated the dose 

 the next morning. This effected a cure, but the pigs did 

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