SC - Pigs

[harper at idt.net]

The Honorable Lord Stephan asked about pigs.

Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, in his 1513 "Work on Agriculture", has 
this to say about pigs:

"Quien quisiere ruido compre cochino"
"Who wants a noise that's big, should buy a pig"
(not quite a literal translation, but it rhymes in the original Spanish)

"They are animals that fatten marvelously, so much so that it 
happens many times that they cannot rise onto their feet, nor even 
walk, but if you must raise them at home to stuff* them, let it be in 
an enclosed place..." 

*the word used here, "cebar", has the connotation of deliberately 
over-feeding, in order to fatten the animal.

 He goes on to say that it's dangerous to let pigs roam about, 
because they are dangerous and destructive, and will eat almost 
anything, including the young of other animals, as well as their own.

Lessee...  Pregnant sows should be well-fed, especially in the 
winter, so that they will produce plenty of milk.  Herrera 
recommends barley soaked in water.  As for the piglets, he says 
you can feed them wheat, either boiled or toasted, but not raw, or 
boiled rye.  If the weather is nice, you can send them out to 
pasture with their mamas to eat good grass.

"But always before they go out to pasture give them something to 
eat, especially in the Spring when the grass is wet with dew, which 
harms them, or in the Winter, when it is icy, which makes them 
jaundiced and makes them very ill; it is good to give them some 
mash, either of bran or of fava bean flour, and with it they will fatten 
a lot, or boiled fava beans or any other thing..."

Herrera gives instructions for taking a herd of pigs out to pasture, 
recommending certain types of terrain, according to the season 
and time of day.  He has a lot to say about leading them to places 
where they can eat acorns and wild cherries and grubs.

He makes a distinction between those pigs which are merely well-
fed and those which are shut up for fattening.

This is the gist of it; I may be overlooking some things.  And, of 
course, this is *recommended* practice; like the health manuals of 
the time, it may reflect what people should have done, but not 
necessarily what they did do.

Brighid, not overly interested in pigs at the pre-bacon stage of life


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net