Common Diseasbs of Swine. 147 



If you notice a pig among your litter of youngsters that 

 shows a little crease or crack around the tail within an. inch 

 or a half inch of the hody, while the rest of the tail seems 

 dry and dead, you may make up your mind that it will 

 be a bobbed tail pig in a mighty short time. If the trouble 

 has not gone too far, it may be overcome by cleaning the 

 tail where the crack appears with peroxide of hydrogen, 

 which disinfects and purifies the sore parts, and if this is 

 applied two or three times daily, and afterward the place 

 rubbed with carbolated vaseline, if the case is not too bad, 

 the tail may be saved. Of course the matter of bobbed 

 tail pigs "cuts little ice" where the hogs are being raised 

 for the pork market, but the loss of the tail greatly disfig- 

 ures an otherwise outstanding show animal. Wiile the 

 average Judge would not turn down an animal in the show 

 ring for lack of a good taJil and nice switch or brush, he 

 would very much prefer that the disfigurement was not 

 there. 



THUMPS IN VERY YOUNG PIGS. 



Thumps in very young pigs often occur where litters 

 are farrowed in the colder months of the Spring or Winter. 

 While there is no trouble in saving the litter if properly 

 handled, there is danger of the young litter becoming too fat, 

 particularly through the shoulders and front half of the 

 body. This is caused by their not taking proper exercise, 

 and receiving too great a flow of rich milk from the mother. 

 In this case they always become extremely fat, especially 

 about the heart and vital organs of the body, and so thicken 

 up that it is almost impossible for the little fellows to 

 breathe even while Ijang quietly in the nest, and when this 

 stage becomes apparent it means almost sure death to the 

 pigs if they are forced to take exercise; hence it is ex- 

 tremely important that if a litter is farrowed when it is 

 cold and they are inclined to stay in the nest all day, they 

 must be made to hustle out and take exercise enough to 

 keep them from getting too fat. 



This condition will be very quicikly noticed by an observ- 

 ing man who looks after the sow and litter. 



