1 Fez., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAT. 1238 
over to the care of the dam. Pigs often injure the teats or udders of the sow 
while sucking, because of sharp teeth. ‘Their mouths should be examined, and. 
the injurious members filed or broken off—a simple operation. 
When two or three weeks old, pigs will take a little nourishment provided 
for them in a separate trough, which should be located at a convenient point in 
pen or lot, accessible to the pigs, but not tothedam. At first place only a pint 
or two of feed in the trough, and when this is eaten give more. Skim-milk will 
be the most relished, but in its absence a thin porridge of middlings or sieved 
ground oats with a little oilcake-meal will prove satisfactory. Soaked grains 
of maize scattered over the feeding floor will keep the young things busy and 
on their feet, getting exercise while securing nourishment. The pigs should be 
encouraged to eat as much as possible from the side trough. 
EXERCISE FOR YOUNG PIGS. 
Well-nurtured young pigs often become very fat, and many die unless 
abundant exercise is provided. If sufficient exercise cannot be given, danger 
can in part be averted by reducing the feed supply, though by this growth is 
more or less checked. In the absence of more natural exercise, the herdsman 
should turn the pigs out of doors two or three times a day and drive them 
about the yard for a time. Upon the first appearance of scouring or other 
ailment, the supply of food should be reduced, and the diet changed if possible. 
Carefully remove all excrement, and change the animals to new quarters if they 
can be provided. 
WEANING THE PIGS. 
Pigs are generally weaned when from seven to ten weeks old. This is best 
accomplished by first removing the two strongest members of the litter to a 
separate pen, and after two or three days taking away others, always choosing 
the most vigorous, until all are removed. Under this practice the milk flow of 
the dam will gradually diminish until it ceases. Many breeders allow pigs to 
wean themselves—a result reached without difficulty where they are liberally 
supplied with palatable nourishment at a side trough. When the pigs are 
weaned they should be placed in groups of not over twenty, care being taken 
that the members in each group are the same size. Where large numbers of 
pigs of varying sizes range together, the weaker ones are at a disadvantage at 
the feed-trough, and are liable to permanent injury from lack of feed and the 
rough treatment they receive. 
Under good management, the periqd between weaning and fattening the 
pig is bridged without difficulty. First, let this animal be kept upon natural 
earth, having the freedom of the pasture as long as possible. There is no 
better place for the growing pig intended for either breeding or fattening than 
a wood-lot of mixed herbage or a pasture carpeted with blue-grass, clover, or 
alfalfa. Pigs should wear no rings in their noses unless much rooting is done, 
for this cruel restriction works injury to the animal in several ways. While 
on pasture the shote should still receive feed possessing bulk and carrying a 
liberal supply of protein for muscle-building and ash for the bones. If these 
are amply supplied, some maize may be fed without harm. ‘The feeder should 
aim to keep the pig steadily increasing in weight from one-half to one pound 
per day, according to the size of the animal. 
FATTENING. 
Pigs are now prepared for market at all ages, and the feeder should be 
governed by local requirements. A pig which has been reared on pasture 
“supplemented with feeding stuffs rich in protein and ash can be rapidly and 
economically fitted for the market. Having been supplied with nutritious, 
cooling grasses and other plants of the field, thé digestive tract of this animal 
becomes ample in size, healthy, active, and easily able to digest large quantities 
of feed, the whole system being in condition to assimilate the nutriment 
supplied and utilise it to the fullest extent—Harmer and Stockbreeder. 
