3. =Beginning the record.= On the blank pages provided in Part IV of this book write a brief history and description of the breed of hog you select. Each pupil should keep a neat and accurate record of all operations, accounts, results, etc., on the pages provided for the pig raising project.
4. =Registering the pigs.= If a pure-bred gilt is the starting point of the project, the club member should get the experience of following the rules of registration for the breed. Send to the secretary of the breed association for full information and blank forms, free of charge. When an animal is sold, a certificate of registration will be appreciated by the purchaser. Fill out the registration record in the form given in Part IV of this book.
5. =A place for the pig.= The first problem after securing a good pig is that of proper care and management. Pigs need clean food, clean water, exercise and a clean bed, if they are to thrive and be profitable. See to it that your pigs have a dry, warm, clean, and well-ventilated house. Sunshine is a good warmer and disinfectant of the hog house. For the beginner the individual house of the A type or square type is recommended. A good pasture will provide cheap, clean food, exercise and a clean bed during the summer.
1. =Feeding the young sow.= Not more than two-thirds of the grain ration of the young brood sow should be corn. Good feeders prefer to use ground oats and middlings with milk or tankage[1] in connection with corn. The young sow should be kept in good, strong condition but not overloaded with fat. The following ration is one good one recommended:
(a) A pasture should furnish the bulky part of the ration.
(b) A meal ration consisting of equal parts corn, ground oats and middlings. If the pasture is a good one the sow will need little other feed for several weeks. The meal ration should be begun several weeks before farrowing.
(c) Roots may be fed whole or pulped and mixed with meal.
(d) Alfalfa or clover hay is good in the ration.
(f) For minerals keep a mixture of slack coal, two parts by weight, air-slacked lime, one part, and salt, one part, before the hogs all the time.
2. =Farrowing time.= At farrowing time place the sow in a sheltered building, dry, free from draughts and well-ventilated. To prevent the sow from lying against the wall of the pen and thus injuring any little pigs which may be lying there, it is a good plan to provide a guard rail made of two by eight-inch planks fastened with their edges against the sides of the pen a little above the bed. The young sow should have a liberal amount of bedding of cut straw. She should have an individual pen or house, receive kind treatment and have quiet quarters. If the sow remains quiet for twelve hours or more after farrowing, so much the better.