30 BIGGLE SWINE BOOK. 



weeks. This will make it just about possible to raise 

 two litters per year. It is more common in the West to 

 allow them to suck for from ten to twelve weeks. 

 The pigs get a better start and grow more rapidly, 

 and, it is claimed, make stronger and better hogs. 



It is a ques- 

 tion for individual 

 breeders to deter- 

 mine whether to 

 breed once a 



year, twice a year, A TAMWORTH LITTER. 



or three times in two years. There are instances of 

 three litters a year, but the best intense breeding is 

 somewhere about two litters per year ; an average of 

 perhaps twenty-seven weeks to each litter. The sow 

 will usually come in heat a few days after the pigs are 

 weaned ; sometimes in three or four days, depending 

 on the amount of milk secretion and general condition. 

 A sow in good vigor will come in heat sooner than 

 one which is in poor condition. 



A week or two before farrowing time the sow 

 should be put in separate quarters, apart from the other 

 hogs. She will carry straw and make herself a nest, 

 and will usually require no attention. But it is well 

 to keep an eye on the event, and there are cases where 

 help is needed, and where surgical instruments are 

 necessary for the safe removal of the pigs. Forceps 

 for this purpose are on the market. Sows rarely have 

 trouble at farrowing time if the bowels are kept open. 



In the early stages of gestation no special care as 

 to food is necessary, but as the period advances there 

 must be an increased supply of nitrogenous food. 



