TREATMENT WHILE SUCKLING.
Much depends upon this; as many a fine sow and promising litter have been ruined for want of proper and judicious care at this period. Immediately after farrowing, many sows incline to be feverish; where this is the case, a light and sparing diet only should be given them for the first day or two, as gruel, oatmeal porridge, whey, and the like. Others, again, are very much debilitated, and require strengthening; for them, strong soup, bread steeped in wine, or in a mixture of brandy and sweet spirits of nitre, administered in small quantities, will often prove highly beneficial.
The rations must gradually be increased and given more frequently; and they must be composed of wholesome, nutritious, and succulent substances. All kinds of roots—carrots, turnips, potatoes, and beet-roots—well steamed or boiled, but never raw, may be given; bran, barley, and oatmeal, bran-flour, Indian corn, whey, sour, skim, and butter-milk, are all well adapted for this period; and, should the animal appear to require it, grain well bruised and macerated may be added. Whenever it is possible, the sow should be turned out for an hour each day, to graze in a meadow or clover-field, as the fresh air, exercise, and herbage, will do her immense good. The young pigs must be shut up for the first ten days or fortnight, after which they will be able to follow her, and take their share of the benefit.
The food should be given regularly at certain hours; small and often-repeated meals are far preferable to large ones, since indigestion, or any disarrangement of the functions of the stomach vitiates the milk, and produces diarrhœa and other similar affections in the young. The mother should always be well fed, but not over-fed; the better and more carefully she is fed, the more abundant and nutritious will her milk be, the better will the sucking-pigs thrive, and the less will she be reduced by suckling them.
When a sow is weakly, and has not a sufficiency of milk, the young pigs must be taught to feed as early as possible. A kind of gruel, made of skim-milk and bran, or oatmeal, is a good thing for this purpose, or potatoes, boiled and then mashed in milk or whey, with or without the addition of a little bran or oatmeal. Toward the period when the pigs are to be weaned, the sow must be less plentifully fed, otherwise the secretion of milk will be as great as ever; it will, besides, accumulate, and there will be hardness, and perhaps inflammation of the teats. If necessary, a dose of physic may be given to assist in carrying off the milk; but, in general, a little judicious management in the feeding and weaning will be all that is required.