[violet]

I'm so glad Meg is OK.

I feel a bit idiotic mentioning this especially as Meg & the piglet vomited, and so this doesn't really fit.
But - here goes   at 2weeks meg will be in her hogging cycle again - could she have been experiencing some form of uterine contractions etc.?
One of my sows used to have a terrible time when hogging before her first litter and she does from time to time now - after her last (3rd) litter especially. She would be off her food, if she came out of her arc at all she would be walking very gingerly, as if on broken glass and would be generally miserable. It would last for a day and a half tops. The first time it happened I was so worried, the second time, I was too & then I clicked that her hogging was the common factor. 

[SallyintNorth]

But - here goes   at 2weeks meg will be in her hogging cycle again - could she have been experiencing some form of uterine contractions etc.?

Well now I am confused    I have read that the sow will come a-hogging 5 days after she is weaned, and so had assumed she would not come a-hogging while the piglets were suckling?

(And please don't hold back from mentioning things that could be useful, violet or anyone else - see how this from violet has thrown up another question where I clearly hadn't correctly understood what I'd read!)

[Blonde]

I'm so glad Meg is OK.

I feel a bit idiotic mentioning this especially as Meg & the piglet vomited, and so this doesn't really fit.
But - here goes   at 2weeks meg will be in her hogging cycle again - could she have been experiencing some form of uterine contractions etc.?
One of my sows used to have a terrible time when hogging before her first litter and she does from time to time now - after her last (3rd) litter especially. She would be off her food, if she came out of her arc at all she would be walking very gingerly, as if on broken glass and would be generally miserable. It would last for a day and a half tops. The first time it happened I was so worried, the second time, I was too & then I clicked that her hogging was the common factor.

What do you mean by HOGGING  .......coming in to season,, ,,, cycling......

[Blonde]

But - here goes   at 2weeks meg will be in her hogging cycle again - could she have been experiencing some form of uterine contractions etc.?

Well now I am confused    I have read that the sow will come a-hogging 5 days after she is weaned, and so had assumed she would not come a-hogging while the piglets were suckling?

(And please don't hold back from mentioning things that could be useful, violet or anyone else - see how this from violet has thrown up another question where I clearly hadn't correctly understood what I'd read!)

Sows wont mate after farrowing or come back in to  heat while they have piglets on them,,,,,Only when the piglets have been weaned do the sows begin to cycle and by day 4 they are nearly there and by day 7 they have finished for the next,  If they are missed then they wait 21 days and start again.  If they are too thin they may not come back in to heat either or for that matter too fat.

The sow must have picked up a bug or the environmental conditions were favourable for her to have had a herd bug develop. .  Have you introduced new stock to your piggery lately?

[robert waddell]

hogging =gouping for it           sorry blonde you are wrong  sows do come in season when suckling piglets maybe not as pronounced as when they are without piglets 
it has been said before PIGS CANT READ THE BOOKS SO THEY DO THERE OWN THING

[SallyintNorth]

The sow must have picked up a bug or the environmental conditions were favourable for her to have had a herd bug develop. .  Have you introduced new stock to your piggery lately?

No new stock, no - only the arrival of the piglets 2 weeks earlier!

We have been having a spate of evil wet weather; the ark is dry and the door faces into the least likely direction for wind (and the rain has been hitting at a different angle) but the straw was damper than I'd realised from the comings and goings of the wet and muddy sow, so it was either that or an unripe apple.

[Fowgill Farm]

Sally don't think the sickness is anything do with her coming into season but do be aware that at around 20 days she will come into season and her milk will go off a little this is usually evident by the piglets getting th trots and their poo turning creamy, it passes after a few days but make sure they have access to water as well as mum's milk.
My bible is Carol Harris's 'Guide to tradional pig keeping' brand new its aroudn the £20 mark but you can get it 2nd hand on Amazon for much less. Its very good and sensible.
Bloody awful weather here too, paddocks are quagmires, the surface is hard as concrete covered with slurry slippy mud, i was only thinking the other day that we might get another month outside for the stock pigs but if it continues lke this they'll be in before the months out. My weaners a Glocester mud spots!!
Mandy 

[violet]

Oh dear I seem to have thrown a spanner in the works 

I believe that gilts sows come back into season when their piglets are weaned at 8weeks ( If I put mine in with the boar straight away this certainly corresponds), and I've also heard that they can at 5 weeks too.
I just worked backwards. I assume that they are 'cycling' - even if they're aren't actually hogging - does that make sense?

Will read the rest of the responses more thoroughly later as there's alot of new information for me

[violet]

Done that.

The information I have is that a sow/gilt maintains her cycle, once established, throughout her life & therefore her pregnancy.

So I've done a few calculations - procrastinating when I'm supposed to be getting my head down & doing paperwork

So if a pregnancy is 115days and taking the day of conception as the middle of her cycle - this means that her cycle will continue through out & start at 13days after farrowing and then 34 days, 55 days & 76 days and so on. She might not reach full hogging at those times though. I also believe that not all sows have an exact 21 day cycle either, so it does vary from individual to individual.
I got this information from a very experienced breeder and have no reason to doubt it, as it works for me - but as with anything I'm happy to learn about what others know & what their experiences are.

[Fowgill Farm]

No Violet no spanner, as you say every pig is different, my girls are all generally 20 - 22 days so i know when to keep an eye on them and what to expect, i have a friend who's sow got out 3wks after giving birth and found her way to the boar and became pregnant straigtaway, the litter she had from this pregnancy was small so you would assume that egg production is at a lower number at this time. 20 days (3wks) is also why a lot of commercial farms take the piglets away at this time, the sow comes into season and off they go again!
best Mandy 

[robert waddell]

pig keepers can only observe there pigs  and there are no hard and fast rules      we have seen mothering pigs cycling we have seen dry pigs put straight to the boar and servered (no signs of being receptive) and farrowing to the date of service  we have also seen them on heat with piglets at foot separated from piglets and servered before the 21 day full cycle and farrowing to the date  of service 

[pikilily]

I am quite an old sow, who had a total hysterectomy (totally hysterical rectum) over ten years ago! I still work in cycles. Still get a form of PMT etc.....my moods definately still follow the old pattern!!  this was the case even during my two pregnancies   

So if i can....why not other mammals..?

The old sow Emma T

[Tamsaddle]

So there are some advantages living in the South.   We haven't had any rain for ages and everything is dry as a bone.    Sure it won't last - Tamsaddle