[Liquidator]

Our GOS sow 'Lady' has just had a litter of piggies. One of them was really small (the Runt) and was struggling to get onto a teat. I said to leave it to fend for itself but after trying for about an hour to get it to suck, my 'trouble-and-strife' (TAS) decided that it wouldn't survive the night and took it inside, where she put it in a box under a heat lamp. She then went back to the sow and expressed a small container of milk, which she then bottle fed to the Runt. Well the Runt was not expected to last the night but my TAS got up at 3am and fed it some more of the sows milk then she went down to the sow at 6am and expressed more milk and fed it again. Would you believe it, the Runt is now able to stand and walk around so we've now got a 2 day old house pig!!! I keep telling my TAS that she'll need to re-introduce the piglet to it's Mum or it will not be accepted. She's reluctant to try trhis yet because she thinks it'll get squashed by the other piggies or the sow.

Does anybody else have experience of hand-raising a piglet? Are we mad??

Would it be better to put it back with the sow and let it take it's chances?

[Blonde]

Our GOS sow 'Lady' has just had a litter of piggies. One of them was really small (the Runt) and was struggling to get onto a teat. I said to leave it to fend for itself but after trying for about an hour to get it to suck, my 'trouble-and-strife' (TAS) decided that it wouldn't survive the night and took it inside, where she put it in a box under a heat lamp. She then went back to the sow and expressed a small container of milk, which she then bottle fed to the Runt. Well the Runt was not expected to last the night but my TAS got up at 3am and fed it some more of the sows milk then she went down to the sow at 6am and expressed more milk and fed it again. Would you believe it, the Runt is now able to stand and walk around so we've now got a 2 day old house pig!!! I keep telling my TAS that she'll need to re-introduce the piglet to it's Mum or it will not be accepted. She's reluctant to try trhis yet because she thinks it'll get squashed by the other piggies or the sow.

Does anybody else have experience of hand-raising a piglet? Are we mad??

Would it be better to put it back with the sow and let it take it's chances?

If you are prepared to feed a runt then do it.   dont put it back with the sows and let it take its chances,,,,, the only chance it will have  is death due to starvation.  sort of that if you have another sows foster it along with all the other runt hat you have.    You can tube feed and stlll leave it on the sow. 

[Hilarysmum]

I have a bottle fed "runt", removed from mum at 3 days old due to injury, and whose mother would not accept him back.  He is now 21 months old weighs in around 240 k. and is a permanent house pig.  Wouldnt be without him for the world.  Hope your TAS continues with yours. 

[Helencus]

We brought the runt into the house and tried the same thing expressing milk and tube feeding but sadly she didn't survive the day. If you're prepared to do it then good on you I say! Good luck I hope it works out for you :-)

[oaklandspigs]

Personally, I would re-introduce and watch for a hour or so.  There should be no reason why the sow should not accept it this soon after birth, and it is more likley to survive with mum than with you.

Many runts look half dead when they come out, and quickly recover.  A GOS gave birth here two days ago, and one just lay there.  We put it under a heat lamp in a barred corner, a hour later we couldn't find it - was with mum and as good as any of the others. This is not untypical.

We have hand raised piglets - lots of hard work, some survive, many don't!

Nature is generally best, and if you can get back with mum - then do !

[Blonde]

 I would agree mum and nature is best and hand feeding can be very unsucessful as the piglets just do not survive.   Mans milk preperation  is just not the same as the sows milk 

[robert waddell]

with any animal it is hard to just leave it for nature to take its course
we first done this with ruby(must get the photos on) she was the last surviving piglet from a litter of 14 and Lillian was determined it would survive she was hard to integrate back with other pigs in latter life but it can be done
Lillian's next success was squakey nickers a Hampshire gilt and a runt her and her brother were brought into the house for heat
(3rd Jan 2011) sadly the boar died but squakey lived fed on lamb milk replacer and Lott's of attention from the children and the cat two days and she was back with mum(could not hear the TV for her squealing) it can be done
enjoy the experience

[skidley]

I have hand reared 4 different piglets through to weaning as long as they have had some colostrum they seem to do well. The first one had been started off on sma baby milk by the breeder via syringe, which I wouldn't reccomend as you can so easily cause an aspiration pneumonia. The second one on goats milk, via a bottle. They seem to take to bottle feeding more easily the younger you get them started. These 2 were how i got started with pigs!
The second 2 were piglets of one of the above when she had her second litter, possibly due to being hand reared herself, she freaked out when farrowing and savaged her piglets. I managed to save the last 2 by knocking her out with a couple of cans of cider, letting them feed for a couple of hours while I sat with them guarding them from their mother, then took them in, under a heat lamp and fed on farrowmate and introducing creep feed from 3 weeks. The other hand reared sow has been a great mum.

Last month my Tamworth gilt had her first litter of 12, when they were about 12 hours old I noticed one was much paler than the others, quiet and not strong enough to feed. I took him in warmed him up with hot water bottle and cuddles from the kids, got him feeding from the bottle every couple of hours or so. After 3 nights indoors he was up and about much brighter and noisy so reintroduced him to mum and he's been out with them ever since. The only way I can tell him apart from the rest of the litter is he runs towards me when the others leg it away!

So it is possible, good luck

[Blonde]

I had a litter of puppies one year and a runt piglet.  Well  the piglet just latched on to the female dog and drank all her milk from the spare teat.  The piglet grew at an alarming rate of knots and the only other option  was to put a bowl of milk down and let them all have a go in it.

then last year I had a litter of kittens and their girl had them down the paddock and could not feed them so she brought them in to the piggery.  I was on my daily round walk around the piggery to see what was going on and  their she was her own piglets and  4 kittens.    My saddle was happily feeding them  I was so surprised that that could even happen.  I could not believe that "Millie" my cat would have considered milk from another animal to feed her kittens.    nature is amazing.   The pig did not squash them they came through with flying colours.  They all slept together also

[robert waddell]

i have heard that rats will suckle on pigs

[Liquidator]

The little Runt (now called Jasmine) is now back with her Mum and has survived 2 nights. She's right back in with the rest of the litter and seems to be sucking okay. My TAS insists on giving her a top up with the bottle and Jasmine is very vocal when you go in to the pen and comes running to meet you. I'm about to introduce them to some sow roll porridge, so it'll be interesting to see if Jasmine will eat the soft food.

Thanks for all the great advice.

[Fowgill Farm]

Good news, our runts always end up named too Rascal & Dizzy this time!
Mandy 

[Hilarysmum]

Keeping fingers and toes crossed for Jasmine