Before the fattening process begins, the creature must be starved
for three days; and, by the way, animals in general will take on fat
if subjected previously to a course of starvation; after the three
days of starvation, pig-breeders feed the animal lavishly. Breeders in
Thrace, when fattening pigs, give them a drink on the first day;
then they miss one, and then two days, then three and four, until
the interval extends over seven days. The pigs' meat used for
fattening is composed of barley, millet, figs, acorns, wild pears, and
cucumbers. These animals-and other animals that have warm
bellies-are fattened by repose. (Pigs also fatten the better by
being allowed to wallow in mud. They like to feed in batches of the
same age. A pig will give battle even to a wolf.) If a pig be
weighed when living, you may calculate that after death its flesh will
weigh five-sixths of that weight, and the hair, the blood, and the
rest will weigh the other sixth. When suckling their young,
swinelike all other animals-get attenuated. So much for these animals.
7
Cattle feed on corn and grass, and fatten on vegetables that
tend to cause flatulency, such as bitter vetch or bruised beans or
bean-stalks.
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