SWINE 



513 



Ventilation — Provision should be 

 made for ventilation on sunny days in 

 winter. The air which enters the open 

 windows is usually sufficient for this 

 purpose, but it should be directed up- 

 ward and especial care be taken that 

 no drafts come on the pigs. From two 

 to five hogs may be kept in each pen, 

 8x16 feet square, but for sanitary rea- 

 sons, no more than 50 should be main- 

 tained in one building. 



Small yards should be attached to 

 the pens in which the pigs can take ex- 

 ercise in pleasant weather. This is par- 

 ticularly desirable for breeding and stock 

 hogs. 



Floors — Where it is possible to keep 

 the floors of the pens dry and clean, 

 there is nothing better for flooring than 

 well-packed earth. Where the floors are 

 thus constructed the ground must be 



Eunning along the whole front of the 

 building is a passage way with feed bins, 

 troughs and feed floor. In the center of 

 the building is a driveway and manure 

 pile, and back of this the beds for the 

 hogs. The location of the manure pit 

 in the center and below the level of 

 the sleeping and feeding floors, with 

 all the drainage running into it is 

 a conspicuous feature of the pen, which 

 materially aids in maintaining good san- 

 itary conditions. The manure is easily 

 removed, as the pen is so arranged that 

 a wagon can be driven through it. At 

 such time the gates are simply swung 

 around and the pigs fastened in their 

 sleeping or feeding quarters. The swing- 

 ing fronts of the pens allow food to be 

 placed in the trough and evenly dis- 

 tributed so that the pigs all have an 

 equal chance at feeding time. This 



Fig. 329 — HAMPSHIRE HOGS 



well drained both underneath and on the 

 surface. Good houses are in most de- 

 mand at farrowing time. Then the pens 

 should be warm and comfortable or the 

 pigs may become chilled and the litter 

 lost. 



Maryland pig pen— I n the latitude of 

 Maryland, where the winters are more 

 open, a more open and less expensive 

 form of pen may be constructed. 



The Maryland experiment station de- 

 scribes a pen erected at that institution 

 which has proved exceedingly satisfac- 

 tory and at the same time easy of con- 

 struction and convenient. The pen 

 faces the south, in order to permit the 

 sun to shine upon the beds of the pigs 

 at the farthest end of the pen, in the 

 winter season, and to give shade in that 

 portion during the summer. The illus- 

 tration shows the general form of this 

 pig pen, and the diagram the details of 

 the ground floor. 



form of front is shown in Fig. 337. 



In the southern states buildings for 

 pigs are exceedingly simple contrivances. 

 There, hogs can run out all winter and 

 it is seldom necessary to build any expen- 

 sive pens. A simple shelter in time of 

 storm answers practically all purposes. 

 This, however, should be in a dry and 

 comfortable place. 



Portable hog houses— I n recent years 

 the portable hog houses in the more ex- 

 tensive swine growing districts of the 

 north have become exceedingly popular. 

 These are small houses which can be 

 moved by one or two men or by attach- 

 ing a team to the runners under them 

 from one location to another. They 

 vary in size from 6x6 to 8x8 feet, are 

 built of good lumber and well roofed. 

 They are made without floors and when 

 lined are sufficiently warm for brood 

 sows and pigs even in zero weather. The 

 advantage of these houses is the greater 



