472 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



Salt in limited quantities should be kept before the swine at all 

 times. A very good plan is to provide a shallow strong box, 

 with slats nailed across the top, so the pigs cannot lie in the box, 

 then place charcoal and salt in the box. The box should be 

 placed under a shed and in a clean place. It is best not to 

 place too much before them at a time, but to keep renewing 

 the supply often, as this keeps the food clean and sweet. 



Fresh, cool water should be available at all times, even though 

 the animals are being fed mash or slops. The trough should 

 be so arranged that the hogs cannot lie in the water and thus 

 litter up the trough. During the winter, hogs often fail to drink 

 a sufficient amount of water and fail to do well simply for this 

 reason. To obviate this difficulty, the chill should be driven off 

 the water and the supply should be fresh. 



FEEDING THE BEEEDING HERD 



Feedmg the breeding herd differs so essentially from the fat- 

 tening of swine that it is desirable to treat each separately. In 

 feeding the herd the object is to keep the animals in a healthy 

 and thrifty condition. Flesh formation is to be encouraged and 

 fattening discouraged. If the breeding herd is permitted to be- 

 come too fat, the animals fail to breed regularly, the litters are 

 small, and the dangers from difficult parturition are increased. 

 Feeding the breeding herd naturally divides itself into two parts, 

 summer and winter feeding. Each of these divisions calls for 

 widely different practices. Furthermore^ the common practice 

 of breeding swine so young makes it necessary to consider feed- 

 ing the younger animals separately from the older ones, as the 

 young and growing breeding animal calls for very different 

 foods from the older and mature ones. 



Feeding the herd in summer 



It is the common practice to confine the breeding herd in 

 too crowded quarters. This close confinement and a too exclu- 



