Page:The Hog.djvu/201

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199
CONTRIVANCES FOR FEEDING.

manure, must always be borne in mind, and all things no arranged that none of it shall be wasted.

The door of each sty ought to be so hung that it will open inwards or outwards, so as to give the animals free ingress and egress; and to do this it should be hung across from side to side, and the animal push it up to effect its entry or exit; for if it were hung in the usual way it would derange the litter every time it opened inwards, and be very liable to hitch. If it is not intended that the pigs shall leave their sty, there should be an upper and lower door, the former of which should always be left open when the weather is warm and dry, while the latter will serve to confine the animal.

There should also be windows or slides which can be opened or closed at will, to give admission to the fresh air, or exclude rain or cold.

Mr. Henderson's description of his styes is more lucid and practical than mere vague directions, we will therefore give it in his own words:—"The plan which I recommend is as follows. Have a house thirty feet by fifteen, with four doors all opening outwards, and three partition walls through the house, viz., a wall between each of the doors, dividing the house into four compartments. The two middle ones I use for eating-rooms, and the others for sleeping-apartments, having an inner door between each eating and sleeping-apartment. By this plan the keeper is enabled to get the eating-chambers swept out, the troughs cleaned, and the food put into them without disturbing the swine or being disturbed by them. There should be a division wall having a door in it through each sleeping-apartment, in the hinder part should be the litter; and the front and smaller compartment, through which the animals must pass to get to their food, may be used by them as a kind of necessary, for these animals will never defile their beds if they can avoid it.

"The following is the most convenient manger for their food. Let it be as long as the house is wide, and fixed against the middle wall; in form similar to a horse manger, but not so deep, and it must be divided into twelve divisions by partition boards four feet in length or height, and a little broader than the manger is wide; thus a number will feed as well and as quietly together as two or three. Before every meal the trough should be well washed and the place swept, and once in the day a little fresh litter placed in the sleeping-chambers. Each of these sleeping and eating-rooms may be temporarily divided into two, should it be requisite. The sleeping-rooms should be dark, as animals fatten much more rapidly when they lie down and sleep after each meal than they do when they wander about. There should be a square yard to each piggery, well paved and drained, as should the styes also be; and where it is possible, an enclosure or a small piece of ground adjoining is exceedingly useful.

"Those who have space to admit of it will find it advantageous to