The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: welshlass181 on July 25, 2011, 10:38:52 pm
-
Took some photos of her today. They're not the best sorry as they were taken with my phone :( she is still very happy and alert and VERY round ;D
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0644.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0645.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0641.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0618.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0619.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0620.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0624.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0637.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0627.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/Photo0630.jpg)
Think she is going to go pop or is this normal? She is only diddy 20 inches tall max
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/th_Video0283.jpg) (http://s66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/shellsam/?action=view¤t=Video0283.mp4) i short vid. Please excuse the gruff voice with the child but he's been doing my head in all day lol
-
Blimey! She really is a little barrel on legs. Can't be very comfortable for here. Hopefully she'll drop soon.
-
She had some food then went to lay down on the cold mud. She seems fine in herself but yes she does seem uncomfortable when she lays down so she just adjusts herself. Happy as larry tho
-
Wow, she looks as if she's got a fair few in there ;) She certainly doesn't look fat, it seems as though it's all pregnancy ;D I find with my Kunes the vulva swells up to a week beforehand, but it would be helpful if you can try & get to her teats - once you can squeeze the milk then it's 24 hours to go max.
The worst time now is the wait! Just remember the stout - get a 4-pack = 2 for her & 2 for you - works wonders especially if she has problems excepting them (calms you down too ;) ;D )
Hope all goes well - let us know :love: :pig: :love:
-
She is a bit swollen up and has been for a few days now. I'll buy some stout and take it over incase we do catch her in labour lol she can have it all cos i don't drink hehe. She is on a bit extra food just to tide her over and i throw a bit around the pen (obviously not where she poo's) so she roots for it and keeps herself occupied.
Apart from being VERY pregnant does she look ok? Total newbie to pig keeping let alone piglets lol
-
I'd say she looks like a normally, very thin Kune - nothing wrong with that really, but watch her once she farrows. Especially if it is a big litter (which it definately looks like it might be) you don't want her losing condition and 'milking off her back' ie. losing loads of weight as she's putting it all into the piglets. I'd be changing her food to sow & weaner too (know you feed mixed grains and stuff - but she's really going to need the extra ooomph of the pig nuts once she's nursing) 3lbs for her and half a pound for each piglet (though start her off with a quarter pound for each to begin with, building up to the half pound by the time they are 2 weeks old)
Other than that, it's back to just waiting...........
Keeping everything crossed for you
Karen :-*
-
she looks nearly as round as me after a Sunday roast - bless. Hope all goes well with birth x
-
what is she in pig to :farmer:
-
what is she in pig to :farmer:
ha ha ha
-
The whole herd lost condition (due to inexperience) recently so they've had bulk feeds over the last few weeks. The female has a mix of powder milk, meal, sow nuts in a bucket and then she has a feed of the same stuff as the others get. We leave a bucket of the mix in with her overnight so she can munch away and the nuts/meal/powder milk is fed to her once a day. All of the food is gone by the following day so we know she is eating it and she has hay all the time. We put a load of freshly pulled weeds and grass in there today which she layed on and munched.
-
what is she in pig to :farmer:
She is in pig to a Kune/GOS he is/was dad to all the other ones that i have lol
-
what is she in pig to :farmer:
ha ha ha
sorry welshlass, I didn't mean to offend by laughing. I'm new to pig keeping and think she looks lovely and large but that comment made me giggle because she's only a little thing. I had visions of her being bred with godzilla :-[
-
Didn't take offense matey :) The boar that the breeder used was the father to all the babies that she had up there (where i got all my gilts from) and there were 2 or 3 that were unrelated to dad came to us and this is one of them. She is a GOS/Kune herself and the boar is a bit bigger than her so she should be ok.
-
i was going to comment on how narrow she was at the rear end but your comment on the whole herd losing condition explains why
since this lose of condition i would think you have been overfeeding her/them and looks like she has put everything into the piglets inside her that was another reason for asking what she was in pig to the upshot is she may have difficulty at farrowing small sow large piglets
with normal pigs you can get a variance from 500g to 2 kilos the bigger ones can be quite a strain on mother at farrowing
let us know how she gets on and what weight the piglets are :farmer:
-
I can't wait to see pics of the babies x
-
So am i feeding her/them to much now? They've got a lot better since we upped the feeds and when most of them have reached a good weight they're going to slaughter. It was totally our fault they lost the condition but since we noticed we're doing our best to get them back up to spec and healthy.
-
the teats and the expression "like football studs" was my first thought and then how dinky in size she is, hope it happens tonight, im going away for 2 nights and will be away from the computer!!
-
the teats and the expression "like football studs" was my first thought and then how dinky in size she is, hope it happens tonight, im going away for 2 nights and will be away from the computer!!
I've been hoping it "would be tonight" for the last 5 or 6 nights and she seems to be crossing her bloody legs lol going back over in about 30 mins to check on her. Taking my phone again so i'll try to get some more photos of her to compare hehe
-
I'm waiting as patiently as I can too ;) ;D ;D ;D
C'mon piggy, time to pop :D
-
Can anybody tell me if i'm overfeeding her now? Just went back to give her some more pig nuts and to check on her. I took her a flapjack too which she munched like it was gold lol we got to touch her nose which is progress. Still very round happy piggie :)
-
I don't know how much grass you've got, but if the grazing is ok then all my adults get just 1lb a day (of Pot Bellie & Kune nuts), split into 2 feeds & the odd bit of veg/fruit/bread (depending on what's on the "cheapie stand" in Morrisons).
When the gilts/sows get to their last month of pregnancy I change them gradually over to Sow & Weaner & from 3 weeks to go up their feed slowly, with some extra fruit & veg (couple of carrots & an apple/pear/handful of grapes say) untill a fortnight before she'll be on 3 lbs of nuts a day (over 2 or 3 meals).
Once farrowed then I follow the same feedlines as karen, introducing a little feed to the piglets at 10 days old with tiny chopped fruit & carrots, keeping mum on the Sow & Weaner until the piglets are weaned. Once weaned the sows go back onto the Pot Bellie & Kune nuts & the piglets are kept on Sow & Weaner until they are 16 weeks.
Try not to worry too much over her, Kunes are great mums & have little, if any, complications. I wouldn't recommend changing her feed too suddenly, it'll give her the squits & won't be good for her condition at this stage.
Hope she "pops" soon - I've got one due on the 28th of this month (well by the calender - but pigs can't read :D ) we'll see who goes first ;)
:love: :pig: :love:
-
In her pen she has no grazing (and the rest of the field is sketchy hense the hard feed for the rest of them) she has a constant supply of hay and oddles of water and i've been feeding the whole herd up as they lost condition recently. She has a of a mixture of beat, oats, rolled beans, barley (the rest of the herd has meal mixed in too) and she then has a mixture of powder milk & meal and sow & weaner nuts in the evening. They've all put weight back on and are looking reasonable .. 1 or 2 of the smaller ones still a bit underweight but they're getting extra food too. Fingers crossed that she farrows ok.
Question. Do pigs tend to farrow at night? Or are they an anytime of day delivery?
-
In my experience, it's night-time. Think it harks back to the days of preditor -v- prey (it's safer at night) but I'm sure there are plenty of day-time farrowings too ::) Pigs eh ?! Just like to keep you on your toes ;)
Lynne,
What's the protien level on the PB/KK mix ?
I'm just thinking that PB are usually higher protien ? But having never bought (or seen) it I've not been able to check ;)
-
I thought it would be more at night :) had to ask you guys tho as you know WAY more than i do. I honestly think that she hasn't been ready to deliver yet as she seems happy in herself, if she was in strong labour and in pain then i would defo know about it ;)
-
Welshlass
I find my girls normally start to nest and paw and carry straw round about t-time and they start to farrow between 6 & 8 o'clock and it takes a couple of hours, given she is very small i would definetly try to be with her when she farrows as she looks quite small and as robert says she loks like she may have some big piglets inside her in which case she may need your assistance in delivering them as sometimes big piglets take time and effort to get out, when she has had her first one there should be no more than 20 - 30 mins between piglets if there is she may need you to check for a blocker, you will need a very clean hand and gently insert a couple of fingers in her vulva to check for a piglet the wrong way round and then you can help it turn and ease it out. Hopefully you won't need to do this and she'll pop them out all by herself, she does look ginormous in the tummy area, consider cutting her feed back a little as she will find it difficult to farrow with a full tummy, once she's farrowed leave her with her piglets for a few hours and then get her up and out for a very wet feed and a walk around if you have to intervene with your hand she will also need a precautionary antibiotic jab.
Hope all goes well and you know where we are if you need us.
best Mandy :pig:
-
Still no piglets :( she is still the same happy girl she has been through out. Thanks Fowgill :) will read this again tomorrow as i'm pooped today x x
-
my last lot of piglets was born in the day!!! 1st time ive ever had that,she started at 10am and finished at 8pm!12 piglets...we had to have vet out in the evening with such a long labour as it took it out of her,but shes done really well with them and all are happy and healthy......the main thing i took away from the experience is that i will always be prepared from now on..we were lucky we had lamlac milk powder for the lambs here as the piglets needed milk when mum was to weak to do it! i dont know what we would have done if not? ??? so i will always make sure i have some for the 'just incase' moments we all have!....welshlass181..can you tell her we're all still waiting!! ;) ;D
-
In my experience, it's night-time. Think it harks back to the days of preditor -v- prey (it's safer at night) but I'm sure there are plenty of day-time farrowings too ::) Pigs eh ?! Just like to keep you on your toes ;)
Lynne,
What's the protien level on the PB/KK mix ?
I'm just thinking that PB are usually higher protien ? But having never bought (or seen) it I've not been able to check ;)
Karen :wave:
The PBxKK nuts are 12% with 16% fibre, they state that they are "specially formulated to prevent obesity" - but that depends on who's feeding them :-[ ;) ;D
-
Still waiting here for Twinkle to pop too but she's hanging on, got milk in one teat and her tush is swelling, had me up at 4am this morning with a false alarm thought she was huffing & puffing & straining and nothing happening so dashed out but she was just uncomfortable and too warm i think, it was a warm nite, left her after 1/2 an hour and went back to bed part clothed! thank god for our little telly camera, the only downside of it though is that theres a swallows nest right above it and they don't arf make a bloomin' racket at dawn chorus!!
Looks like another sleepless in fowgill nite tonight! ;D
Mandy :pig:
-
this piggy will have her babies when she is ready, even if we do think she is taking her time :pig: :pig: hope all goes well for both of you
-
You were right Lillian but why why do they have to wait until the middle of the night!!
She started thrashing & raging about 7pm so left her shut in farrowing house to get settled, next time checked all quiet, then around 11.30pm she seemed to straining and thrashing but nothing happening so went out to check her physically all appeared well but she was definetly trying to push after another 3/4 hr of pushng decided intervention was needed and discover she was not fully dilated inside and a piglet could not get out, did some gentle internal massaging and on her next almighty push i helped guide the biggest piglet you ever did see for such a little gilt out, 5 more followed quite swiftly and by 2am it was all over, i stayed with her all night in my trusty sleeping bag and scooped up the after birth as it arrived.
Herewith picture of Twinkle's six (3 gilts & 3 boars)
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0055.jpg (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0055.jpg)
Mum and babies all coping fine, Twinkle has an incredibly swollen 'tush' have administered an antibiotic and a dose of metacam for good measure since i had to go in!
Really pleased. Extreemly tired.
Mandy :pig: :) :)
-
cattle you can go in sheep you can go in but pigs i was always under the impression if you went in with pigs it was not a good thing
septicemia can develop in cattle after a helium balloon comming out an orifice not that size :farmer:
-
twinkle will have a big tush for a few days, it is just like us having babies, it's bloody sore trying to push a football through a plughole, the piglets look very healthy and glad they all arrived safely, (well with a wee bit of intervention from yourself) :pig: :pig: :pig:
-
welshlass,
how is your wee kk, has she delivered yet? :pig: :pig: :pig:
-
welshlass,
how is your wee kk, has she delivered yet? :pig: :pig: :pig:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=17081.0 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=17081.0)
-
@ Mandy/Fowgill farm - well done & congrats on your new arrivals. :D
-
You can go in with pigs but it's bloody difficult! Our poor OSB Mabel who farrowed on Sunday night/Monday morning (while I was on-call for the hospital - see my blog on our website for details) was the same: big vulval haematoma. I've given her some ultrapen and anti-inflammatory and sprayed it with some iodine. I also put a bag of frozen peas on it - never seen a pig smile before :-)
Congrats Mandy & Twinkle!!
-
Thanks everyone, she's a fantastic mum and all are thriving.
She's still a bit swollen and it obviously stings when she pees but she's taken a dump in the yard so all bodily stuff seems to be working, I was so worried i might have hurt her but the other option was to lose her and or the piglets. Am keeping a close eye on her. She's eating fine small amounts 4x day to gradually build her up. The piglets seem to be constantly guzzling. Oh thinks i overdo the watching but having losta sow to blood poisoning i take no chances now.
Once again thanks for all your kind comments, hope everyone has happy farrowings too. :wave:
Mandy & Twinkle :pig: :pig:
-
WL,
congrats on your new arrivals, hope all are well :pig: :pig: :pig: