American Agriculturist, June 9,1923 
487 
Pigs and Water! 
Do We Realize the Necessity of Water for Hogs ? 
I N my years of breed¬ 
ing pure-bred swine, I 
have tried to give my herd whatever I 
thought was best to their rapid de¬ 
velopment, and have studied all the 
various rations that can be made' up 
of the grains and grasses grown on 
the farm, as well as those that could 
be made from the various by-products 
of the mills. These I have fed in vari¬ 
ous ways, sometimes dry, generally 
mixed with water into a rather thickish 
slop or mush. I have at times been 
able to get separator milk from the 
creamery, but this is generally so stale 
and so diluted with the washings of 
the factory that it is so unfit for feed¬ 
ing a good pig that I abandoned it 
some years ago. I have many times 
tried to convince myself that with a 
wet feed my pigs did not need special 
attention given to waterings—yet I 
have also given up this erroneous idea, 
and I pi’esume that there are “others.” 
Water in Addition to Wet Feed 
Now, I want to assure my fellow 
breeders that pigs as well as older 
hogs will drink lots of pure water, even 
when fed on a feed mixed with either 
water or milk. During part of the 
winter, I feed wet feed in the morn¬ 
ing warmed by a steamer, and at 
one-thirty o’clock in the afternoon I 
drive the feed wagon' over the entire 
line of pens and 
find that the brood 
sows with pigs and 
hogs of various ages 
have been drinking 
almost two barrels 
of pure fresh water 
from the well, and 
have seemed to en¬ 
joy it as much as 
they did their warm 
feed in the morning. 
At night I give them 
a feed of ear corn. 
There is nothing 
that will quench 
thirst but water. 
The hogs may have 
just been fed even 
with warm wet mix¬ 
ture and yet they 
will turn to the 
other trough and 
take a few swallows 
of water. If this is 
not evidence enough that hogs need 
water, then I am mistaken. The ques¬ 
tion is—how to furnish fresh water at 
all times. 
It is said that about one-half of a 
pig’s weight is composed of water. A 
growing pig contains more in propor¬ 
tion, however, than does a mature fat 
hog in proportion to weight. 
Before Them at all Times 
To grow young pigs and get best 
results they must have sufficient water 
at all times or at frequent intervals 
during the day. If possible it would 
be far better to have good, pure, fresh 
water where the pigs can go at will 
and drink as often as they will. Pigs, 
like sheep, do not drink much at a 
time, but if water is where they can go 
at will they will be found drinking a 
little quite often. 
One will often notice pigs drinking 
from filthy pools or puddles, where the 
water is not fit for a well-bred pig to 
drink. This is where germS often get 
into the system of the animals and 
cause trouble, and soon disease follows. 
I urge breeders and farmers who are 
trying to get good results in swine 
growing would give this matter Nof 
good drinking water for their animals 
niore thought, and I feel satisfied that 
it would be found that better results 
would follow. 
Automatics Clog Up 
There are many self watering de¬ 
vices that at first sight look good, and 
I have had experience with most of 
them, but without entire satisfaction 
as those that have valves are sure to 
get clogged by dirt from the snouts 
of the pigs, settling in the cup and 
clogging the fountain, which of course 
causes the fountain to empty itself 
quickly. Then there are those in which 
a hog can get its feet, which will also 
close the works. 
Think over these 
matters about water¬ 
ing your hogs and I believe many will 
awaken to the fact that they have been 
neglectful in that important part of 
the caring for their herds. 
GENTLE SOWS ARE MOST 
PROFITABLE 
R. H. NEILL 
There have been volumes written 
about the feed and care of brood sows— 
all good advice, but I have found that 
it isn’t alll'care and feed that constitute 
success in hog breeding. I have kept 
a record of my sows and it seems that 
a good bfood sow is born so. Some sows 
would not be profitable even with the 
best of care. I wouldn’t keep a sow 
on my premises that was clumsy, 
nervous or cross. 
A neighbor was complaining to me 
about his sows killing so many of their 
pigs. When I was about to step into 
his pens to look at them, he called to 
me, “Better take that fork with you, 
the sow is pretty cross,” I soon found 
this to be true. The sow came bounc¬ 
ing out at me with her mouth open, 
forcing me to take refuge on a nearby 
fence. So I kept out. It wasn’t sur¬ 
prising that she had killed most of her 
litter. As for me, 
that sow wouldn’t 
stay on my premises 
longer than it would 
take to fatten her 
for the market. 
It does pay big to 
have gentle sows. 
A tame sow will 
look after her pigs 
much better than 
one like the above 
mentioned. Because 
of her fear she 
t]?rought her pigs 
were in danger, 
when I stepped into 
her pen. Her pigs 
will grow up to ac¬ 
quire the same fear. 
Pigs from tame 
sows naturally grow 
up tame. And I 
have found wild and 
nervous hogs harder 
to confine, in regard to fences. 
I teach my sows to have no fear of 
me, by petting and talking to them 
when among them, and always make 
special efforts to gain their confidence 
during the few weeks before farrow - 
ing time. As a result, I need not go 
armed with a pitch-fork in caring for 
them. I have often climbed into their 
pen and played with their pigs, the sow 
remaining perfectly quiet, having no 
fear for her little ones. 
A HOUSE FOR HOGS ON PASTURE 
C. M. BAKER 
We find that an A-shaped house, 
shown in the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion, is quite satisfactory for housing 
sows and pigs in the springtime when 
they should be on forage to secure 
plenty of gi-een feed, such as Dwarf 
Essex Rape or alfalfa, and •exercise. 
The house in the illustration is 7 feet 
wide, 6 feet high and 10 feet long. It 
is made out of matched pine lumber, so 
that it is tight and warm enough, and 
a sow and pigs may be kept comfort¬ 
able during cold spells. It has a wooden 
floor. 
Such a hog house can be used satis¬ 
factorily at farrowing time, even dur¬ 
ing cold weather, if some attention is 
given-to providing the sows with plenty 
of straw, and when the weather is 
extremely cold a lantern may be hung 
in the house. 
A srnall swinging or hinged door is 
placed in the back of the house, which 
should be raised during warmer weather 
in order to povide ventilation; or, if de¬ 
sired, an entire side may be raised and 
propped up, thus making a cool house 
during hot weather. This also makes 
it easy to clean it out and disinfect it 
quickly. The house is on runners and 
may be pulled about in any location by 
a horse. 
By R. B. RUSHING 
An Ideal House for Hogs on 
Pasture 
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