Sows with pigs should be well and judiciously fed; that is to say, they
should have a sufficiency of wholesome, nutritious food to maintain
their strength and keep them in good condition, but should by no means
be allowed to get fat; as when they are in high condition, the dangers
of parturition are enhanced, the animal is more awkward and liable to
smother and crush her young, and, moreover, never has as much or as good
milk as a leaner sow. She should also have a separate sty; for swine are
prone to lie so close together that, if she is even among others, her
young would be in great danger; and this sty should be perfectly clean
and comfortably littered, but not so thickly as to admit of the young
being able to bury themselves in the straw.
As the time of her farrowing approaches, she should be well supplied
with food, especially if she be a young sow, and this her first litter,
and also carefully watched, in order to prevent her devouring the
after-birth, and thus engendering a morbid appetite which will next
induce her to fall upon her own young. A sow that has once done this can
never afterward be depended upon. Hunger, thirst, or irritation of any
kind, will often induce this unnatural conduct, which is another reason
why a sow about to farrow should have a sty to herself, and be carefully
attended to, and have all her wants supplied.