CHAPTER I 



GENERAL SWINE MANAGEMENT 



Care of Stock Hogs. Autopsy. 



Breeds of Swine. Restraint. 



Feeds and Feeding. Medication. 



Sanitation. Anesthesia. 

 General Diagnosis. 



Importance of Swine Industry 



SWINE raising has for many decades been a very important occu- 

 pation in practically all civilized countries. The essential food 

 that caused so much concern, because of its scarcity, during the 

 recent world war was fat; and pork is the chief source of that 

 valuable product. 



The most intensive swine raising and feeding in the United States, 

 have been largely confined to the great corn belt, but this may be 

 changed in the future because of the splendid packing and trans- 

 portation facilities and efficiently developed methods of immuniza- 

 tion of swine against hog cholera and other swine diseases. Thus it 

 is now possible to produce pigs in large numbers in sections of the 

 country where insufficient grain is raised to finish the fattening, 

 because these pigs can be sold at market, centers, for a good profit 

 to the producer, immunized and sent to the corn belt to farmers where 

 they are full fed and marketed as fat hogs. 



Swine are sold for pork, feeders or breeding stock. The largest 

 number of swine are sold for pork and this naturally includes those 

 swine that were purchased as feeders. 



The number of breeding hogs has increased by leaps and bounds 

 in recent years and the veterinary practitioner should familiarize 

 himself with the problems concerned in the general management of 

 swine. 



The advice a veterinarian gives to his client relative to problems 

 in swine husbandry will necessarily vary according to location and 

 will probably depend to some extent upon the local crop conditions. 

 Many farmers and ranchmen in the semi-arid sections of the country 

 could produce feeder pigs at a profit and it should be the business 

 of veterinarians to give information and even demonstrate the feasi- 

 bility of such a plan. Veterinarians in the corn belt, on the other 



