Sheep, Swine, and Poultry: Embracing the History and Varieties of Each; The Best Modes of Breeding; Their Feeding and Management; Together with etc.Jennings, Robert
Science
Sheep, Swine, and Poultry: Embracing the History and Varieties of Each; The Best Modes of Breeding; Their Feeding and Management; Together with etc.
Jennings, Robert
Poultry; Sheep; Swine
Damp and cold floors should be guarded against, as they tend to induce
cramp and diarrh[oe]a; and the roof should be so contrived as to carry
off the wet from the pigs. The walls of a well-constructed sty should be
of solid masonry; the roof sloping, and furnished with spouts to carry
off the rain; the floors either slightly inclined toward a gutter made
to carry off the rain, or else raised from the ground on beams or
joists, and perforated so that all urine and moisture shall drain off.
Bricks and tiles, sometimes used for flooring, are objectionable,
because, however well covered with straw, they still strike cold. Wood
is far superior in this respect, as well as because it admits of those
clefts or perforations being made, which serve not only to drain off all
moisture, but also to admit fresh air.
The manure proceeding from the pig-sty has often been much undervalued,
and for this reason, that the litter is supposed to form the principal
portion of it; whereas it constitutes the least valuable part, and,
indeed, it can scarcely be regarded as manure at all--at least by
itself--where the requisite attention is paid to the cleanliness of the
animals and of their dwellings. The urine and the dung are valuable,
being, from the very nature of the food of the animals, exceedingly rich
and oleaginous, and materially beneficial to cold soils and grass-lands.
The manure from the sty should always be collected as carefully as that
from the stable or cow-house, and husbanded in the same way.
The door of each sty ought to be so hung that it will open inward or
outward, so as to give the animals free ingress and egress. For this
purpose, it should be hung across from side to side, and the animal can
push it up to effect its entry or exit; for, if it were hung in the
ordinary way, it would derange the litter every time it opened inward,
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 likewise be
windows or slides, which can be opened or closed at will, to give
admission to the fresh air, or exclude rain or cold.
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