. Breeding of farm animals. Livestock. PROLIFICACY IN BREEDING 245 It is a rather common practice to breed sows at six or eight months of age, and after raising one litter of pigs to fatten the sows for the market. This is not a good practice, for once a good brood sow is found, she should be retained as long as she continues to breed and to do well. Further, young gilts often give birth to small litters of pigs lacking size and thrift. Of course the. Fig. 81—Southdown Yearling Ram gilt may be tried out while young, but, if promising, she should be retained in the breeding herd. The most proli
. Breeding of farm animals. Livestock. PROLIFICACY IN BREEDING 245 It is a rather common practice to breed sows at six or eight months of age, and after raising one litter of pigs to fatten the sows for the market. This is not a good practice, for once a good brood sow is found, she should be retained as long as she continues to breed and to do well. Further, young gilts often give birth to small litters of pigs lacking size and thrift. Of course the. Fig. 81—Southdown Yearling Ram gilt may be tried out while young, but, if promising, she should be retained in the breeding herd. The most prolific period of a sow's life is from one to five years of age, although many retain their breeding powers much later in life. There are authenticated cases of sows re- maining fully fertile until 10 years of age, giving birth to 175 pigs, and raising a large proportion of them. Boars also vary widely in fertility, although the num- ber of sows that they are able to pregnate as well as the. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Harper, Merritt Wesley, 1877-. New York, Orange Judd
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectlivesto, bookyear1914
