518 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



The table shows that the large sows 

 produced a greater number of pigs in a 

 litter, and that the total litter weighed 

 considerably more than in the case of 

 either medium sows or small sows. 

 While the large sows produced over nine 

 pigs per litter, small sows produced only 

 5.5 pigs per litter. 



Fig. 334 — hog house for the south 



Old vs. young sows — Old sows usually 

 produce more pigs and larger litters 

 than young sows; this is brought out in 

 the work of Carlyle and is shown in the 

 table below. 



SIZE AND WEIGHT OF LITTERS AS INFLU- 

 ENCED BY THE AGE OF SOWS. 



Sows 4 and 5 years old .... 9.0 

 Sows 2 and 3 years old ... .7.5 

 Sows 1 year old 7.8 



26.0 

 19.7 

 14.2 



The table when considered with the 

 one above shows that older and larger 

 sows make better mothers than younger 

 and smaller sows. 



< 



> 



Fig. 335 — FLOOR PLAN OF HOG HOUSE FOR 

 THE SOUTH 



In the light of these data it would 

 seem unwise to dispose of old brood sows 

 to replace them each year with young 

 and immature animals. Experiments 

 have generally shown that sows three 

 to five and six years old are much more 



profitable and satisfactory breeders than 

 sows one or two years old. 



Gains made by litters — The weight of 

 pigs at birth and the subsequent gains 

 made have been determined in several 

 instances at the Oklahoma station. The 

 average weight of nine litters was 2.65 

 pounds per pig. The weight of six lit- 

 ters when seven days old averaged 4.8 

 pounds ; of nine litters when 28 days old, 

 12.1 pounds; and of nine litters six 

 weeks old, 23.8 pounds. 



On this matter of growth of litters, 

 investigations by Carlyle at the Wiscon- 

 sin station show that with five sows 

 which had litters averaging 23y 2 pounds 

 in weight, each pig of the litter gained 

 4 pounds per week for the 12 weeks be- 

 fore weaning. With three sows which 

 had litters averaging 16 pounds each, 

 each pig gained on the average 3.6 

 pounds per week, and with three other 

 sows with litters averaging only 13 



Fii 



336 SIDE ELEVATION OF HOG HOUSE 



FOR THE SOUTH 



pounds each, each pig in the litters 

 gained only 2.9 pounds per week during 

 the 12 weeks before weaning. 



From these data it appears that the 

 pigs in large litters, owing to the vitality 

 transmitted to them from their prolific 

 mother, or to some other physiological 

 cause, are more thrifty and better feed- 

 ers than those in small litters. The prac- 

 tice, therefore, of some breeders of kill- 

 ing off some of the pigs where large lit- 

 ters are produced in order to give a 

 better chance to the remaining ones, is 

 of doubtful economy. The data here 

 given are also a further argument for 

 the desirability of using the more ma- 

 ture sows for breeding purposes. 



Milk of sows — The milk yield of sows 

 in one experiment at the Wisconsin 

 station, in which four sows ranging in 

 weight from 220 to 458 pounds were 

 observed, was found to vary from 4.1 



