The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Mrs Snoodles on December 17, 2012, 01:32:41 pm
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.... Just been round to see her. She could barely get up, she managed but it was easy to see how much of a struggle it was. We put her to the boar at 12 months and she was in good shape. I've been super careful not to overload her with food, even up to farrowing.
She's a Bess large black and was put to our Super large black boar. Looking back through their pedigrees they are both from big litter lines.
She's huge and I reckon she has a lot in her. Can I do anything to help her?
If she is this big and struggling, I guess the whole birthing process is going to be difficult. Does anyone have any pointers on this......
Poor love. :(
...forgot to mention that she has poo ed in her sleeping area, quite a bit. I've cleared it all up but she must be feeling pretty exhausted to have done this. :(
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Oh no, poor mamma :(
How long has she still got to go Mrs S ?
I know it might seem cruel, but I'd make her get up and have a walk about (slowly) even if it's just spreading her food around so she has to walk to get it ;) Keep her moving and don't let her go off her feet - no matter how pittifully she looks at you ;) ::)
Make sure her area is all clear of water/ice - last thing you want is her to slip at this stage.
Birthing won't neccesarily be hard for her (unless the piglets are HUGE - better with big numbers of small piglets for easier farrowing ;)) but if she's a bit cumbersome and slow make sure there's a creep area and no straw blocking the piglets from getting to it once they do arrive.
HTH & hope mamma's feeling better soon (oooooh, can't wait for piccies :excited:)
Karen x
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She's inside and we've covered the floor with straw HH so :fc: she won't slip. I am going to make sure I am around for farrowing... When she gives birth, do you reckon I should move the piglets to the creep as a matter of course in case she squashes them (moving positions might be a problem) Or hands off and wait and see?
Off again, in a couple of hours, I'll spread her food around more...... ;)
Another sleepless night ahead. I feel for her though, just wish I could make things better.
Due date should be today.....
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Oh fingers crossed she doesn't hang about then ;) :excited:
I'd be tempted to get them onto teats asap - as long as she's fairly settled. Some mums just lie there barely moving, while others do a fair bit of thrashing about. See how she goes, if she's fairly chilled leave them with her (them suckling encourages the release of natural oxytocin from the sow and helps deliver the rest ;)) and only move them if you have to (for their safety)
Regular checks and just keep an eye on her - I'm doing the same here ;)
Just going off out to feed them all now, I've been feeling quite 'antsy' myself today, maybe it'll be tonight for both of us :innocent: I'll check back later :wave:
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Good luck HH!!
The milk has just started coming in on the back teats so not long now before some of this weight comes off and starts wriggling around on the floor :D
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Hope it all goes smoothly :fc:
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:fc: and waiting for updates :)
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id make sure each one has a feed then pop it in the creep/heat til shes finished. suckling should help her contract so good for both..
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How are things progressing mrs snoodles?
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No good :(. She's comfortable enough but now can't get up. She's hauling herself around on her front legs.. She enjoying her cuddles etc but couldn't get over to the feeding area, no matter how much I encouraged her. I'm wondering whether to call the vet but then I don't know what on earth they could do apart from trying induce her.
.....and today, the weather is meant to be lovely and I promised my little boy I would take him the zoo. He really deserves it, he's been an absolute sweetie. I so desperately don't want to let him down.
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Let's hope your poor old sow is able to get on with the job so that you'll be free afterwards to take the lad on his treat. Otherwise he's going to have to learn another of those 'life with livestock' lessons :(
I am not experienced with farrowing sows, but if she were mine I would be at least calling the vet to talk on the phone - maybe there are some things the vet can tell you to do to check that there's nothing pressing on the spine and causing rear end paralysis, for instance?
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Oh no :( I've not had this with any of mine, luckily they've all stayed mobile til farrowing.
I think, if it was me, I'd ring the vet and see what they say :thinking: If she's past her date it might be worth starting her off with some oxytocin, but I'm not qualified enough to say if that's preferable to leaving her.
Let us know what the vet says, sending you lots of positive vibes in the meantime :fc:
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I am quite certain no-one should give oxytocin without being completely certain there isn't a piglet stuck. As I understand it, oxytocin gets the contractions going (again), but if a piglet is stuck (or presumeably the neck of the cervis isn't sufficiently open?) then it can cause real problems.
And the thought in my mind is that a piglet could be jammed against the spine causing the read end immobility.
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Thanks guys. I'm off to see her again and see if I can get her moving. Then I'm whizzing over to the vets to have a chat. I'll let you know...
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After a chat with some of the staff at the vets I now feel a bit better. At this stage of pregnancy not an awful lot can be done aside from giving her metacam for pain relief. We are not going down this route as she is eating and drinking and ok in herself.
I made her a mix of ale/mash/bread/water in a bucket and she has just demolished it. :thumbsup:
It may well just be simply a case of her sitting/lying it out and us making sure she stays clean, fed and watered, keeping an eye on her. Easier said than done though ;)
...I seem to specialise in BIG pigs ::) I wonder how many are in her..... She is enormous.
My boy has been brilliant. He's happy t play lego and go to the zoo another day :love:
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Ah bless him, good little boy.......... :fc: your girl gets on with her babies, we had a large sow that used to sit a la dog quite a bit later on in her pregnancies. its so frustrating all this waiting........keep us posted & good luck
mandy :pig:
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My boy has been brilliant. He's happy t play lego and go to the zoo another day :love:
Good lad :thumbsup:
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I have a sow that has farrowed recently she has hurt her rear leg and struggles to get up.She went through the last weeks of pregnancy and farrowed like it. She feeds the litter well and shuffles out of their way when she wants to get up, but most of the time she sits to eat and drink.
Unfortunately it will not get better so she will have to go for sausages when she is weaned. :(
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What a good lad, and a relief that there's nothing untoward with the sow. Hope she gets on with the job now!
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:thumbsup:
:excited: :excited:Piglets soon then :fc: :excited: :excited: :excited:
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She's looking alot better in herself this evening. I've got 2 beers (home brew!!!) feed and about 2/3rds worth of water from a Paxton drinker into her. She's not up and about but she is sitting higher. I know we are not out of the woods yet but I'm feeling a bit more positive now. :fc: :fc: :fc: she will farrow soon and get this weight off of her. I dnt think she is injured as such as she was fine until very recently when she suddenly got huge. large Blacks are known for their milking abilities aren't they....maybe she has gallons of the good stuff at the ready!
thanks for top tips from the board about beers, I really reckon this has helped. Mr Snoodles is coming home with multipack tins of guinness tonight :)
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thanks for top tips from the board about beers, I really reckon this has helped. Mr Snoodles is coming home with multipack tins of guinness tonight :)
We always have a handy supply - never know when you'll need it (or the pigs, obviously ;)) :innocent:
Hopefully she'll pop them all out quick smart, poor love :fc:
Keep us posted :excited:
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Good luck Mrs. S. I hope she doesn't keep you up ALL night :)
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Thinking of you all & keeping everything X'ed for you :fc: :fc:
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:fc: :fc: :fc: :excited:
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Was hoping to see some piggies. So glad she's ok though :thumbsup: let's hope it's birthing piccies some time soon for her sake and your sanity.
And well done son for being such an understanding young lad :trophy:
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Still waiting....... Can't see the milk anymore but maybe it was just wishful thinking only part,...
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Buttercup didn't get milk til she'd actually started farrowing (between piglets 3 and 4, it just seemed to come with a whoosh ;)) First time any of mine haven't had milk before farrowing, so don't panic too much about that.
Patiently waiting for news and hoping it's soon :fc: :excited:
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Tonight perhaps ?? :fc: :eyelashes:
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Ooooooh, the suspense :innocent:
How's your girl today Mrs S ?
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Her gorgeouship is just fine but still no sign of littlies nor milk, so we are still playing the waiting game.
She actually got up and had a nice walk around yesterday - which we are over the moon about. She is eating and drinking well....talking of which, is there any harm in giving her the odd guinness? She seemed to do so well on the home brew the other day ;D
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Mrs Snoodles, I can't help with the guiness but I wish she would hurry up. We are all waiting. ;D :pig:
Sally
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mrs s i have to smile at your farrowing updates (not getting at you) you always seem to have its happening ......................................... and a huge waiting game, mine seem boring in comparison take the last litter she had her feed went back to the nest moved it about again we got in had our meal by the time we went back 3 had been born.
do you now her service date / due date ?
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Given the weather today my moneys on anytime......giving her the odd guiness won't hurt her so long as you don't give her hangover quantities (pigs with hangovers are not good!)........ :fc:
Mandy :pig:
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Kja.....as our boar is such an easy going chap and is a doddle to move, we decided to put him in with all of the large blacks at the same time and keep him there for 5 weeks. Farrowing dates are a bit of an unknown. Having said this, we saw him mounting on the of gilts on the first and second day so we are pretty sure that at the least one of them is due now. It must be this huge girl....she is due around the 18th. I swear I saw some milk the other day.....so we MUST!!! be close.
Next time, I'm taking sows to the boar, one by one. I have already brought a special diary to keep dates ;)
Thanks Mandy, Guinness for my girl later on. She had a sackful of lettuce leaves this morning which she wasn't overly impressed with. Reckon a pint will be much more appreciated :thumbsup:
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Excuse my ignorance-why are you giving a pig guinness?
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Excuse my ignorance-why are you giving a pig guinness?
It has a calming effect and is known to be a food group all on its own :-J
Heavily pregnant pigs can get very constipated so giving guiness/stout in their feed will also help them stay regular (goes straight thro my OH......too much info maybe ;D )
Mandy :pig:
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I suppose an hot bath and a hot curry are out of the question :innocent:
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Kja.....as our boar is such an easy going chap and is a doddle to move, we decided to put him in with all of the large blacks at the same time and keep him there for 5 weeks. Farrowing dates are a bit of an unknown. Having said this, we saw him mounting on the of gilts on the first and second day so we are pretty sure that at the least one of them is due now. It must be this huge girl....she is due around the 18th. I swear I saw some milk the other day.....so we MUST!!! be close.
Next time, I'm taking sows to the boar, one by one. I have already brought a special diary to keep dates ;)
Thanks Mandy, Guinness for my girl later on. She had a sackful of lettuce leaves this morning which she wasn't overly impressed with. Reckon a pint will be much more appreciated :thumbsup:
right i see where your coming from now.
i keep records of all their cycles, service dates etc. service dates to fit in with shows & july sept farrowings makes life so easy in the long run.
hope she delivers soon else you will be sleeping through chritmas at this rate
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Definitely keep a note of the dates. I keep notes of when ours are in season so I know when to put them to the boar, note when they've been served and then keep an eye out for the next season three weeks later. I then know pretty much exactly when they're due to farrow. Wouldn't dream of letting our Monty get into more than one sow at a time. He'd love it but one sow farrowing at a time is plenty.
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We keep dates too. Unfortunately our sows don't always keep the same dates ;)
We have 2 sows that have always been served on the same day, and one always farrows 2-3 days later ::)
Well, we know that now, so know when to expect them. But we have had a gilt farrow nearly a week early, and one caught us out completely: had seen her and Big Biff "at it" but she farrowed nearly 2 weeks after the predicted date, so not even another season's worth.
But keeping a diary definitely helps!
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No change and there's a break in the weather, so the little chap is getting his trip to the zoo :).
She's been fed and watered, in a lovely dry warm place and is perfectly content so we have decided to take a step back. There's nothing more I can do for her and life has to go on....! ....big sigh.......
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Surely there must be some news by now??
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I hope all is well.
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Thanks....we are still waiting. Think she's making the most of her pampering.
She's enjoyed her Xmas pressure this morning, lots of lovely veg. Our other LB in pig gilt is now a bit slow getting up. I'm going to contact the breeder over the next few days to ask what the dam was like farrowing. also beginning to wonder whether about whether it was a good choice to put two big litter bloodlines together.
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Sorry, this might not be especially relevant as it is a different species. But, in the goats, sometimes if they are carrying a extreme weight of kids (either lots of kids, or a few really heavy kids), their pelvis slackens almost excessively, and they struggle to get up. It's just the pelvis being over slack that makes it hard for them to get up. It usually takes a few days after they have produced the young for it to get better.
Hope she produces successfully!
Beth
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well by my reckoning she is now nearly two weeks overdue so looks like her dates are a season out and would expect her to farrow early doors next week so maybe some januaries for you to show eh Mrs S!
bestest mandy :pig:
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We rechecked dates and had a look at all the various mating periods and gestation time suggestions and as far as we can see the very latest date we could come up with was 20th which would make her about 9 days over now. To be honest we are just going with the flow now, because since visiting the vets and getting the inducing injection, then getting back to her and finding her upright! And deciding not ::) to give it to her..... Well, she has been amazingly perky :excited: She has been up on her feet every day and is very active.
Who know what has happened to her, maybe she got depressed and bored on her own, inside, maybe her pelvis or legs were suffering. We started giving her mounds of earth and celery which she has demolished...I was wondering whether perhaps her iron levels took a dip (being taken off the land onto concrete)...
Anyway, she is looking nicely bagged up so we must be close. more importantly she is looking happier and healthy and we are really relieved about this :love: our other gilts are coming along nicely too ...
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Is it normal for pigs to be this late? Mind I was pretty sure about a ewe this year and she was 3 weeks late! Guess she must have re-absorbed and been caught later. Anyway had two nice lambs with a bit of help in between my patients. Just as well they are understanding.
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Mrs snoodles, it wasn't a Christmas litter, despite all the anticipation here, so I'm waiting for the first of the new year's babies :innocent: :innocent: :fc:
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Yep, tis looking that way, despite her size - poor love. Odd though, as we saw our boar was doing the do with 2 of the girls in the first we week we put them all together.
To be honest, it will work out alot better for us this way, so the longer she/they go the better. I will have loads more time as the little chap is back at school, there is MORE LIGHT!!!! and the shooting season is over (I work my dogs and lose most of the day).
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I can't believe it. Absolutely stunned. Just when I was getting my head round the fact that maybe I was a season out, 2!!!!! litters have been born. 1 litter of 10, 1 litter of 6. Born overnight, all on their own. All piglets and mums are fine.
Very VERY happy. I cannot begin to describe how relieved I am.
My girl who was having trouble had the 6. A nice small number for her to look after :thumbsup:
PHEW!
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Congratulations! So are these 2013 babies or still last year's?
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Oh so relieved for you, glad to hear that all is well,
A good start to the new year, long may it continue
Mojo
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I can't believe it. Absolutely stunned. Just when I was getting my head round the fact that maybe I was a season out, 2!!!!! litters have been born. 1 litter of 10, 1 litter of 6. Born overnight, all on their own. All piglets and mums are fine.
Very VERY happy. I cannot begin to describe how relieved I am.
My girl who was having trouble had the 6. A nice small number for her to look after :thumbsup:
PHEW!
the best type of farrowing much less stressful for the sow imho.
and a lesson or two there you could have had a few nights without all the checks and not to worry about large litter sizes through the bloodlines.
congratualtions btw :thumbsup:
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Good news Mrs S. ;D ;D
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Great news :thumbsup:
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Looking at the calendar again, due earliest 17th, latest 20th. These littlies are well and and truly over. It's amazing to see how spritely they are, guess that's the extra week or so in the womb! Possibly no bad thing.
Mum has been up and about, but is a bit of a struggle for her to rise. When she's up she's fine tho'. I can't get over how gentle and careful she is despite being so huge. :love:
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Oh congratulations :excited: :excited: :excited:
Hope they continue to do well and looking forward to seeing the photo's :thumbsup:
Karen x
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Fantastic news - what a wonderful way to start the new year :excited:
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WOW at last, and two lots of new year babies to ooogle over. Congratulations :thumbsup:
Will just wait patiently for piccies. :excited: :wave:
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Bout blooming time told you it would be this week :thumbsup:
Well done girls, busy time now
What a new years pressie.
many congratulations
mandy :pig:
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Congratulations :thumbsup: :thumbsup: finally and a double dose at that amazing - so glad it turned out so well
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I am so happy for you, I was beginning to dread reading your posts! I can't believe how quickly the time goes by watching piglets! :excited:
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I am so happy for you, I was beginning to dread reading your posts! I can't believe how quickly the time goes by watching piglets! :excited:
Believe me...I was beginning to dread her having them! I got the dead stock numbers listed to hand, fearing the worse. I still get a big rush when I think that she and her piglets got through. I just wonder why she struggled so much for that week before Xmas.
Thanks for all your kind posts everyone :-*
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Yippee! So glad it's turned out well and hope mums and piglets continue to thrive :thumbsup:
I had started reading your posts with one eye closed and from behind a cushion ;D
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Congratulations - what a huge relief that must have been. Any chance of photos ???? Tamsaddle
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[Believe me...I was beginning to dread her having them! I got the dead stock numbers listed to hand, fearing the worse. I still get a big rush when I think that she and her piglets got through. I just wonder why she struggled so much for that week before Xmas.
I wondered if maybe she'd hurt a leg or it was a reaction to coming in Mrs S - I don't think you're ever going to know though. Hopefully just a one off :fc: at least mammy pig and babies are doing well, that's the main thing :thumbsup:
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Great news Mrs S. Looking forward to the piccies :excited:
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I know pigs are way different to goats but one of my girls due date 150 days on the 11th was looking a bit down a week or so ago and very slow on her feet and I didn't think she would make it to a safe term for the kids - then all of a sudden before I was really worried she perked up and now looks like she'll be on time give or take a day or so.
My thoughts were the kids grow a lot in the last few weeks and possibly was taking its toll until she got used to things - do piglets do a lot of growing in the last few weeks?
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Yes, piglets do most of their growing in the last 4 weeks.
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Our sow is looking really good now :thumbsup: She has lost alot of her bulk and is much sharper on her feet. The piglets are thriving - they have found their creep area and are routinely tucking into huge clumps of mud and celery alongside mum.
I am going to chance it and breed from her again, later on in the year. Although our vet reckoned she was in good shape when I put her to the boar last, I plan to get some weight off of her, keep her ranging for as long as possible (using her legs!) and get her into her farrowing quarters late. :fc: things to go a bit better in the summer!