SOWS in Pasture.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 226, 29 October 1887, Page 2

SOWS in Pasture.

There is no place on earth says an exchange? where a breeding sow will do as well a & on a bit of pasture with a little shed for a sleeping place. „ There she will never have any trouble, and will always have strong and active pigs. She may require a little feeding if there is not sufficient grass, andl it is always well to feed a little extra, as ifc. gives her greater strength ; but she should! never be fed so much that she will become fat. A fat sow is always a poor breeder,, and makes a poor mother. The instinct to* eat the placenta should not be interfered' with, as it supplies just the kind^of food which nature requires to replenish the system. When this is eaten a sow will remain quiefc, and is more docile than when she is deprived of ih We have known sows to ki'l and eat a pig because of a ravenous desire for animal food, and when they have eaten the placenta fchey would not touch a dead pig which they bad accidentally killed by laying upon ifc. After a sow has gratified her instincts by this kind of food she will remain quiet in. her sty for hours, perhaps for a whole day, and meanwhile the udders are not inflamed by an excessive • flow of milk caused by extra food. A great many pigs are injured' by being compelled to take milk from feverish udders, the milk itself in turn inflaming their little stomachs and making them sick. Such pigs show the bad effect* of their food by rough coats and a genera? delicate and sickly appearance. Less care and less food than are usually bostowedon the breeding sow will cause less abortion and better success.