CHAPTER VI. 



FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT. 

 Feeding and Management oe the Boar. 



There are few animals about the average farm which 

 receive less consideration than the boar, and yet he should 

 receive more attention than the average male animal in 

 order to obtain the best results. Among the most common 

 mistakes, we find over-feeding, keeping in small, filthy 

 quarters, where exercise is impossible, or allowing to range 

 about the farm in a half-starved condition. While the 

 over-fat boar does not make a satisfactory sire, the half- 

 starved boar cannot transmit vigor and constitution to his 

 progeny to the same degree that he would if properly man- 

 aged. To get the best results, the boar should be in fair 

 flesh, but should be allowed sufficient exercise to keep him 

 in a hardy, vigorous condition. 



The age at which a young boar may be first used, depends 

 largely upon his development. Some young boars may be 

 used to a few sows when not more than seven months old 

 without apparent injury. As a rule, it is safer not to use a 

 boar before he is eight months old, and to use him as spar- 

 ingly as possible until he is a year old. No hard and fast 

 rule can be laid down, and the owner must use his judgment 

 in the matter. 



The quarters for the boar should be roomy, clean, and 

 well ventilated, and he should have an outdoor lot in which 

 to take exercise. Some boars are very active, and will 

 take plenty of exercise in a comparatively limited space. 

 Others are lazy, and inclined to become too fat. With such 

 boars, it will be found beneficial to force them to gather a 



