(d) Alfalfa or clover hay is good in the ration.
(e) Skim-milk is excellent for sows.
(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.
3. Feeding and care of the nursing sow. The feed after farrowing should be about the same as before. At first she should have little more than a drink. A thin slop of middlings and water will serve. The sow should not be overfed and should be given a week or ten days to come to a full ration. The following is one good ration recommended:
(a) Equal parts of ground oat and wheat middlings, allowed to soak between feeds.
(b) Sweet skim-milk added to the above ration makes it almost ideal.
(c) Corn may be used as recommended for sows before farrowing.
(d) A certain amount of bulky, succulent feed such as hay and roots helps to keep the sow healthy.