ABSTRACT
An account of the farrowing of a Large Black sow, written in England during the 1940s, makes the process sound easier than today when much research is devoted to improving the survival of piglets born in commercial farming. Each piglet born ‘would lie on its side for a few seconds only – between 15 and 30 seconds by my watch – then rise to its feet and trot round and begin at once to suck from its mother. In an hour or so they had assumed that impudent, impish inquisitiveness that characterizes all little pigs, and were independent and adventurous.’ 1 Large black pigs, hardy and suited to a free-range existence, are now a rare breed outside mainstream pig production.
