228 FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



purposes, and who wishes to have his pigs with the sow as 

 long as possible, as well as get his sows into high condition 

 between litters, will find it necessary to breed his sows only 

 once a year; but the general practice of farmers is to require 

 their sows to do more than this. There is no good reason why 

 a sow should not produce two litters a year when properly 

 handled, provided that the sow is not to be fitted for the show 

 ring. 



Exercise. Though exercise is important in the case of the 

 boar, it is doubly important with sows during the period of 

 gestation. Without considerable exercise during this time, 

 sows cannot be made to give satisfactory results. In summer, 

 pasture should be provided in which there is plenty of shade. 

 A good pasture affords ideal conditions for sows, the green 

 feed and the exercise keeping the sows in the best possible 

 condition. 



Winter Exercise and Quarters. The greatest difficulty will 

 be encountered in giving the sows sufficient exercise during 

 the winter. Where only a few sows are kept, it is often possible 

 to give them the run of a barn-yard, where they will take exer- 

 cise rooting in the manure, or working in scattered straw or 

 chaff to find what little grain it may contain. If a dry, well- 

 bedded sleeping place is provided, which is free from draughts, 

 the conditions are about as good as can be obtained. 



When it is impossible to use the barnyard, a roomy shed 

 with earth floor, and a sleeping place arranged in one corner, 

 can be made to answer the purpose very well. By littering the 

 shed with cut straw or chaff and sprinkling a very little whole 

 grain in the chaff every day, the attendant can induce the 

 sows to take considerable exercise. Another method is to use 

 portable pens set in outside lots. The pens should be placed 

 facing the south, and fifty yards or more from the feeding 



