1904.] 



The Construction of Pigsties. 



133 



purpose there should certainly be a pane of glass let into the 

 wall or the roof if a proper window cannot be built. It cannot 

 be too often repeated that light, warmth, dryness and cleanliness 

 are necessary for the profitable keeping of pigs. 



In all the description that has been given it has been assumed 

 that the inner court stands four square behind the outer court 

 from the point of view of a person looking over the wall at the 

 bottom of the sty. The entrance from the outer to the inner 

 court should be on the left-hand side from the same standpoint, 

 and the pig's bed, therefore, will be on the right-hand side, or 

 the innermost part of the whole sty. Now a healthy pig seldom 

 leaves any droppings or water in its bed, but in case any liquid 

 should get there it is as well to make a small drain running 

 straight from the place where the bed is put to the outer court, 

 and so on to the bottom of the sty. The bed should be a 

 very low platform of wood, just raised high enough to allow 

 free ventilation, and should be covered with plenty of straw, 

 bracken or litter, which should be kept fresh and never allowed 

 to get foul. If the sow is littering a piece of piping should 

 be fixed against the wall, a few inches away, to prevent her 

 overlaying her young ones. With all this the inner court may 

 be considered complete. 



In the outer court the drainages should run down to the 

 right-hand side, as already said, and that for two reasons. In 

 the first place the pig's trough should be at the bottom of the 

 sty, on the left-hand, in order that the pig may come straight 

 out of the inner court to the food. This trough should be made 

 of earthenware or iron and should be fastened firmly to the 

 ground. Just over this trough there should be a hole in the 

 wall, with a falling door made of iron, so fitted that the pig's 

 food can be poured straight into the trough without going 

 inside the sty. If this is thought too expensive, an earthen- 

 ware pipe might be fixed in the wall, slanting at such an angle 

 that all food poured in at one end must run into the trough. 

 Care should be taken to keep the trough and the pipe clean 

 and free from all stale food or pig's droppings. On the right- 

 hand side, at the bottom, should be the gate leading into the 

 outer court, and the drain should run straight down from the 

 pig's bed to this gate, and that is the second reason why the 



