Pigs : their Ih'eeding and Management. 
215 
sows should have a low wurzol or turnips ; but as tlioy ^ot near 
to larrowlnsi^, any j^roen food must Ix; <;Iven sparingly, par- 
ticularly it tlie roots arc at all frozen, and if frozen much, they 
should not be given at all. When within three weeks of far- 
rowing, with a view to the secretion of milk, the wash or food 
should be improved by the addition of a little dan or sharps, 
and a little oatmeal may be added with advantage. It is 
desirable that the food should not be changed immediately 
before or after farrowing. When within a week or ten days of 
farrowing, the sow should be put into the sty in which she 
is intended to farrow, so that she may become accustomed to 
the place. The feeder should in all cases be with her when 
larrowing, and not a stranger, for the voice or manner of a 
stranger is at once detected, and often unsettles a sow, which 
frequently results in loss. Very little straw should be given 
within a week of farrowing, and that quite short. I do not 
recommend chaff or cut straw as some breeders do ; I have found 
it a hindrance to the young during the first day or two, through 
sticking to their eyes and noses, whilst straw which has been 
trampled by the sows for a few days is both soft and warm, and 
presents no obstacle to the young pigs readily finding the teats. 
Numbers of pigs are lost through bedding with long straw just 
before the sow farrows. The indications of farrowing are very 
apparent, the teats fill with milk, the bearing or uterus presents a 
swollen and red appearance, hollows appear on either side of 
the tail, caused by the loosening or parting of the bones on 
either side of the womb-passage ; the sow also collects all avail- 
able litter into a heap, called "making her bed;" many sows 
refuse their food, and the appetite of all diminishes. Pigs, of all 
animals, require the least help during parturition, and the wisest 
course is to leave them to themselves. 
As soon as a sow has farrowed, and the afterbirth has come 
away, give (if cold weather) a little chilled food, but feed 
sparingly for the first two days, adding to the food, after the 
first day, a little opening or purging medicine — say 2 oz. of salts 
and 2 oz. flour of sulphur, or 4 oz. red ruddle and 2 oz. of 
sulphur. This dose, while in nowise endangering a change in 
the milk, will keep the bowels open — a very necessary condition 
at this period. 
The young pigs, as soon as possible after birth, should be 
examined, and any found with long sharp teeth, which teeth are 
often black, should have them taken off with a pair of nippers. 
The neglect of this precaution often causes the loss of the whole 
litter, and has led to the condemnation of many a good sow. 
The presence of these teeth causes the mother such pain in 
suckling that she becomes irritated, refusing to let her young 
