[powispigs]

this is the photo when she was only a few days old

[powispigs]

and now!

[little blue]

Powis, lovely pig... gorgeous dog!
you've obviously done a great job

[little blue]

 

Only just seen this, Little Blue. Well done for hand rearing them.  You must be so tired, and the new school term must have started now?

yes, started back this week.... I'm keeping out the way as much as possible! kids back tomorrow.

 

They look so small in the pics!!

they are tiny, under a foot long. Lucky is just 400g, and about an inch and a half across.
Mogwai is heavier and bigger across!

 

Fingers crossed for them.  Did Mildred only have the two piglets then??

no, she had more but (ahem) "tidied up" herself as she found them squashed (bleugh!)
And she ate the afterbirth when Maud farrowed... she's a better housekeeper than me

 

Poor you with all that washing .....like having twins isn't it!!

yep! washer & drier on every day, sometimes several times - its too wet & cold to get much dried outside.

I said to my husband if its like this having kids then perhaps we'll not bother ... but at least human babies on bottles would lie reasonably still, these two are like a barrel full of monkeys & rough with the bottles so it squirts all over the place!

[Roxy]

   You need a lot of patience then?!!  Have you got these piglets in the house ......??  Suppose thats easier when you are bottle feeding.  Finlay the goat kid lived in the caravan at night when I was hand rearing him.  You should have seen the faces of the people in the next door caravan when they realised I had a goat kid in the caravan!!!

[little blue]

yes, they are in the house... first in a little cage & now in a large indoor rabbit cage.
They are, admittedly, on the settee right now, as its warmer for them if we snuggle up together with a hot water bottle (and cheaper than running the gas fire!)


they were in the kitchen, but as you know it is a large room with marble tiles so very cold. we had to move them when we suspected pneumonia.
  I still smile at the thought of Finlay and you 2 in the 'van ... at least he's just a pygmy!  how is he now?

Its certainly easier for the night feeds - just reach out and plug in the bottles through the bars of the cage!

the girls are acting more "pig like" today, playing & rooting.  and snoring
Lucky has a little cough still but has stopped falling over so much...  antibiotics for abit longer.
Mogwai has an occassional snuffle but is much fitter & bigger (but still tiny!)

[Roxy]

Ooh, yes, your kitchen would not be as cosy as the settee for the piglets  anyway, the cats may think they were for eating  if they were in the kitchen!!!  Fingers crossed the piglets will thrive.  Are you feeding them goats milk?  The kittens I gave goats milk to, are a lot bigger than those who had none, so it must be good!!

Finlay is in with the two AN kids who are the same age, but he is awfully bossy, even though they are a lot taller than him.  To be honest, he seems very small, but being pygmy, thats not surprising.  Every now and again, he will go over the field, and look in the bucket where his bottle and teat were kept  he must remember his milk bottle!!

[little blue]

yes, they are on goat's milk .... husband has sacrificed his intake of milk & his hot water bottle to these two little scraps of gingery nothingness! 
the cats get the end of each bottle that the piglets cannot get out, so they are all thriving!

Finlay sounds like a rum 'un! its the little ones you have to watch...

[Roxy]

   Poor Jay, having to give up his goats milk and his hot water bottle .... but did he not suggest you giving up your goats milk and hot water bottle instead?  So, if we visit,we need to bring our own milk then.  Pity you are not closer, could let you have some goats milk, then piggies and husband could all have some.

[Barrett]

Hi all, I feel we all learn from these situations our pigs seem to put us into, my sow died and left me with 7 yes 7 2 day old piglets I had so much conflicting advise a long the way that I lost 5, bubble and squeak are not the biggest 9 week olds but they are doing fine now however, a lot has been learned and should I be in that position again I am fully prepared.

[little blue]

thanks Roxy, yes bring your own milk!
He drinks far more milk than I do (I can taste "goat" far better than he can)

Barrett, thats animals - especially pigs for you. so sorry you lost both your sow and so many littleys, very sad

[little blue]

any advice on introducing more solid food?

the girls are feeding really well from the bottle - getting harder to satisfy them, but they don't seem very interested in pig meal (either made with milk or water)

they went mental at the smell of digestive biscuits (no, didn't give them any!)
they've chewed at grass, but not really eaten it, its complete with soil for the iron

tomorrow, I intend to scatter the pigmeal on the floor, in case its the bowl they don't like.

can I legally try them with, eg baby rice or porridge?
whilst I completely appreciate the DEFRA regs, its proved rather challenging to provide clean, filtered, warm milk in sterilised bottles for two hypothermic piglets without the support of a domestic kitchen....



thanks folks

[Roxy]

Before I scrolled down to the bottom of your post, I did think of baby food or porridge maybe?  Surely in circumstances such as hand rearing little pigs, this rule could be turned a blind eye to?

Er .....I  heated up Finlays milk on the cooker in the caravan, and never gave it a second thought. I have always done that - where else could I heat his milk?  We do not have the luxury of a kitchen for preparing animal food

[Barrett]

Hi Guys, I did learn that baby milk for hungry babies is very good I am sure the lady in my local chemist thought I had given birth to sextuplets , and baby rice as well is good mixed with the milk would put that in a saucer and hold it tight or they will knock it over.

[powispigs]

I mixed some weetabix with milk and then onto hypergrow with milk, she is now on hypergrow and water.  Also she loves the apples that have fallen in the garden