GENERAL SWINE MANAGE.MENT 57 



may resent the manipulations necessary in making an examination. 

 An occasional boar is found that is actually vicious, and the handling 

 of such an animal entails some danger to the examiner if proper 

 means of restraint are not used. Swine, although not easily dis- 

 turbed and excited, will show an increased pulse-rate and respiration 

 when caught and held and if they are run or excited they will show 

 a rise of temperature. Therefore, for the purposes of a clinical 

 examination it is desirable to restrain them by some method that 

 will cause the least disturbance possible. In immunizing simultane- 

 ously against hog cholera, the temperatures should be obtained and 

 the procedure should be such as to cause the least possible variation 

 from normal. 



In approaching swine, one should proceed slowly and if the swine 

 can be scratched on the back or sides, repeating the process should 

 the animal run away, it will usually require only a few moments 

 before the animal will lie down and permit of a general exanaination. 

 Little pigs that have not been handled will not submit to the method 

 above outlined, and it is usually necessary to catch and hold them 

 before they can be carefully examined. Care should be exercised in 

 catching little pigs, as they make known their captivity by squeal- 

 ing which will irritate, and frequently make otherwise docile sows 

 vicious. When swine cannot be approached as above indicated, they 

 should be driven into a small pen, or alley, or hurdles may be used 

 to confine them in a small space where if care is used they can be 

 manipulated, carefully observed and their temperatures obtained. 

 Pens 6 ft. square or a little larger, when properly arranged in refer- 

 ence to gates, provide a very convenient means of controlling pigs 

 and shotes to obtain temperatures prior to hog-cholera immunization. 

 Crates are now a common equipment on many farms and will be 

 found convenient for confining a hog while making an examination. 

 It is usually not difficult to drive a hog through properly arranged 

 alleys into a crate. 



Vicious boars or other swine can usually be restrained by a snare 

 made of wire, either plain or cabled, cord or rope that is placed over 

 the upper jaw and then secured by fastening to a post or other object. 

 The ensnared animal will invariably pull backward, making the snare 

 taut. A twitch may be similarly emp"'oyed. When it is necessary 

 to hold a hog by force it should be seized by a leg, the ears, or both, 

 and thrown on its side. Large hogs can be thrown down by two 



