The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Fowgill Farm on March 13, 2012, 02:31:29 pm
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Pleased to announce after an epic labour (see old spots forum farrowing section http://www.oldspots.org.uk/forum.htm (http://www.oldspots.org.uk/forum.htm) ) Twinkle has finally produced 13 baby piglets, pictures to follow! All feeding well. One very tired and pleased GOS pig keeper.
Mandy :pig:
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Congratulations :thumbsup: How is Twinkle?
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Congratulations Mandy :love: :pig: :love:
Hope Twinkle is doing OK this evening.
Look forward to seeing the pictures :)
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So, she was just a tad 'antsy' then :o :D
Congratulations to you and Twinkle for your 13 on the 13th :thumbsup:
Karen x
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congratulatiosn to all :pig: :)
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Well done Twinkle & Mandy. We await piggy piccies :)
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;D ;D ;D :wave: :wave:
piccies please
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Promise will do photos this afternoon.
Twinkle got up briefly for some tea last night at around 4pm having fed her piglets continuously since they were born, all are feeding well though two are very small. She has been a bit arsey with them as i think so many are quite a shock to her (she only had six last time!) she flings a lot of straw around when she's settling down and knocks hell out of them with by sweeping her front legs back when they're squabbling on to her teats to feed, once they're on and feeding she's fine and will lay for hours. Went out at 9pm last night and she wouldn't get up so left food in for her (she has a drinker too) but was untouched at 6.30 this morning so she had to be slapped about to get her up and out where she at last had something to eat and more importantly to drink, she also emptied out so no problems there thankfully, piglets are finding their way back & forwards to the creche, she broke off eating her breakfast to go and shout at them and then came back to finish off her grub. She then was furiously rooting in the corner of the farrowing house where i discovered her eating a lump of afterbirth that i had either missed or she had expelled further in the night (never had a sow do this) As i've come to work she was flinging straw & piglets in all directions so we'll see how she's doing at lunchtime.
Having had only 6hrs sleep in the last 48 i'm somewhat on auto pilot today, my eyes feel out on stalks and my head is buzzing (not used to all that coffee!) but needs must when you have piglets, i'm sure things will settle down in the next couple of days, hopefully the weather will stay fine and warm and they'll be out causing havoc before i know it! ;D
Thnaks for all your good wishes and promise will do pics today!
Mandy :pig:
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Better late than never pictures of the babies.
Mum coping much better all babies feeding well.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0124.jpg (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0124.jpg)
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0126.jpg (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0126.jpg)
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0123.jpg (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/fowgillfarm/Image0123.jpg)
Mandy :pig: :)
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gorgeous :D :D
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Congratulations well done Twinkle
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:love: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig:
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Thank you! :thumbsup:
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My turn to ask for advice, piglet 13 is a little gilt she is a third of a size of the other piglets at a week old, she is very skinny and very thin in the back end, she appears to have two teats to herself but doesn't seem to be getting anything out of them as she swaps between them frequently, (the two fatties either side of her are guzzling loads) i have tried holding her on to them to make her suck longer but without much success, have tried to supplement her with bottle but she's not keen and it only stresses her, her siblings are huge compared to her and she looks so fragile, any ideas how to help her, am going to try the lardies on some creep shortly and hopefully she might take this up too.
thanks Mandy :pig:
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we have had this as well and not limited to one sow either it is frustrating when they wont suck from a bottle
the two teats that she sucks from are they smaller than the rest (not as full) the teat they pick when born is the one they stay with until weaned sometimes they survive others just don't make it and if it or they survive they can go on to be bigger than the others it is just one of these anomalies with pigs we have a litter just now the biggest is 16 kilos the smallest one is 6 kilos and was similar to your one better not having them all ready at the same time :farmer:
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the two teats that she sucks from are they smaller than the rest (not as full) the teat they pick when born is the one they stay with until weaned
Yes they're right in the middle so she get biffed from either side by her bigger siblings, i've tried to latch her to another teat but as you say she wants to stay with the one she chose at birth! Going to see if i can syringe some extra milk into her with less trauma, i know she's hungry because she's always at her mum even when all the others have retired to the creche, shes there pummelling away trying to get an extra feed.
Mandy :pig:
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if they are smaller they could have dried up if there is 14 nipples with 14 piglets they will not dry up if there is 5 piglets with 14 nipples 9 will stop producing :farmer:
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14 teats with 13 piglets ??? so must be a teat malfunction? or poor litle thing hasn't sucked hard enough and they've all but dried up?
Mandy :pig:
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You get stuff (you probably know this already ;)) littercare it's called - from Supplies for Smallholders (but there are loads of similar products on the market) how about giving it some of that to try and perk her up ? It's a pump down the throat and not as traumatic for them as trying to syringe :thumbsup:
Karen x
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Hi have had piglet like this, check the roof of the mouth,the one i had didnt have a full one so couldnt suck properley there wasnt enough suction. I got a bowl of replacer milk and kept dipping his nose in it till he got the idea of drinking.He grew up nearly as big as his siblings and we called him froggy because of the strange grunt he had(syringe will keep him going though) Good lyck
Arl
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My own drama with just the two Tamworth piglets did not end on the Friday they were born - it has been almost non stop and no sleep for me since. After what looked like good suckling on Friday, and nudgy sort of suckling on Saturday, by Sunday the two were looking decidedly skinny, and lots of Mum sitting on her middle not making teats available, hence they spent most of the time on their own under the heat lamp. I bottle fed them a tiny quantity of goats milk on Sunday afternoon, but they were reluctant to take it, and by Monday both looked completely skeletal - terrifying. The sow meanwhile still had some milk, in the back 3 teats they had chosen, which I could get out by milking them, but she seemed to be very unwilling to allow the piglets to suckle (unlike Mrs. Saddleback with 10 new piglets next door where the feeding pattern is now normal and perfect). I decided very reluctantly that supplementary feeding was the only thing that would save them from certain death, all the while knowing that the less they suckled their mum the less her milk supply would be - horrible dilemma as to what to do. Fortunately, I tried putting the goats milk in a bowl, and both got the idea immediately and gulped it up at the rate of knots. I also collected some Oxytocin, and managed to get two 1 ml shots in, there was definitely easy milk to get out after that (by me), and although she looked like she was doing one proper feed with them, there was nothing on offer after that. None of that lovely grunting calls. By then I had also bought Multimilk, mainly for lambs, but also can be fed to piglets, puppies and other animals, and changed to that, which may have been a mistake, as last night, Tuesday, there was a little scouring, but that may also be due to them gorging themselves after days of eating nothing. As I had nothing else last night for the scouring I also gave them drinking water, and this morning, Wednesday, both seemed to be in fine form, and literally miraculous how their shrunken bodies have returned to a normal piglet shape after just two days of supplementary feeding. Finally today I have installed a CCTV camera in the ark so can see absolutely for sure that Rhubarb is not offering them any feed opportunities, although they run round her all the time squeaking and trying to get at her teats, which she then sits on so that they cant reach them. By this afternoon they were play fighting, very good sign, and very lively, and came out of the ark and ran about, so hopefully this artificial milk is doing the trick. If I can get them through to a week old at least, without any problems such as scouring or laboured breathing, I shall be very relieved.
Sorry this is so long. Anyway, my advice for Mandy as I am right in the middle of this as we speak, is to try your tiny piglet with a bowl - you would have to remove him from the others and put him in a separate box otherwise the big ones will consume all the milk and stop him getting any. The advantage of a bowl is they can take exactly how much they want. Either goat's milk or the Multimilk seem to be fine, but stick to one or the other. I am offering it to them approx. every 2 hours in the daytime and every 3 hours at night, and they always drink eagerly, though not much volume on some occasions. If you can get some down him, bottle or bowl, you will be quite amazed how he will fill out in just 1 or 2 days - definitely worth it, even though I have been feeling deep guilt myself about getting in the way and taking over. But I am really determined to try and keep my two Tamworth babies alive if at all possible, and I just don't think their mum could manage it by herself, heavens knows why. Best of luck - Tamsaddle
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Has she got mastitis?
Arl
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I don't think so, as her teats are not red, nor sore, nor swollen, and she doesn't bat an eyelid if I pull on them to see if there is milk. I imagine she would object or wince if I was causing her any pain. Tamsaddle
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Oh Tamsaddle what a palaver you are having, i don't know what to suggest with your sow but thanks all for the advice on feeding the wreckling, got a lamb teat from a friend yesterday and had much more success with that as its much softer than human baby teats, she does seem to be getting more from mum as she looked a little fatter yesterday but i'm keeping a close eye on her, going to get her siblings a bag of creep/grower today as they snuffling round in mum's food so looks like they're ready to go onto solids and they're also sucking at the edge of the drinker. They're all 9 days old today.
Good luck Tamsaddle
Mandy :pig:
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So glad to hear your little one is improving. I too bought a lamb bottle yesterday, wish I'd discovered them 5 days ago, as you say the teat is much softer and better shaped. I will now only have to use it if they scour again and I have to get Tylan in (as per Andy Case book). I am keeping my fingers crossed I have turned the corner at last - my two are coming on leaps and bounds, cannot believe the change from Monday to Thursday in shape and vigour. I am also weighing them to check, and they have put on 430 and 350 grams in 48 hours, with the bigger just over 2 kgs now, and both very lively and active. I am really glad there are two so they can spar and frolic together. Mum meanwhile has almost dried up, and is increasingly unbothered about my turning up every 2 hours with another bowl of milk. I thought about putting her back with our other two just-pregnant gilts, but despite having no milk to feed her own new babies, there is definitely some sort of mental bond between the three of them, she is very gentle and conscientious, and herded them very carefully back to the ark yesterday when they went for their first outdoor exploring expedition. So I am going to keep the three of them together as a family unit and see how this very unexpected, unknown life unfolds in the days and weeks ahead. All the best - Tamsaddle
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Just a little update and some advice for me.
The thirteen are now 3wks old and right chuchie little monsters! Little wreckiling has come on so well since they went onto creep that its not as easy to pick her out from the rest which is great news. She's always first in the creep feed which we have fastened away from mum in a large commercial baking tray and a cut down trug in a pen next door to the farrowing house, a small hole in the fence means the babies can get thro but mum can't which she's not amused about, they also go in there to play in the straw and they have an old pair of wellies and a few flower pots to chew and chuck about. They have also had a digger bucket full of turf to have a rummage in.
Advice i need is how to keep weight on mum which she is dropping like a stone as she's only a small sow with so many monsters to feed. Shes currently getting about 15lb of food (16% sow nuts) a day split over 3 feeds which i know is not quite enuff but if i give her more she just blows up and has chronic tummy rumbles and looks like she needs a packet of rennies! Would i be better keeping her on the same ration but feeding a higher protein say a grower ration 19%. Any suggestions welcome.
Mandy :pig:
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i would be tempted to up her feed by spliting it to 4 feeds a day to reduce the bloat .
we also use pea straw as a feed which gives good returns.
we are very lucky with our pigs as there is always a huge supply of goats milk on hand to keep the weight on.
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higher protein, 4 or more feeds.
One of ours drop weight just as the piglets are starting on creep, and will stay thin til they've weaned. She's not exactly small so its less of a worry.
I hope your girl goes on ok :)
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I'd be tempted to go down the milk route too ;)
Maybe try soaking some of the extra ration so it turns into a runny porridge?
Karen x
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Thanks folks will give the milk a try, just was worried would make her scour and therefore make problem worse.
Should be okay if i make one meal a milky porridge of a high protein nut and leave the rest as normal, will try to up the feeds to 4 currently i feed at 7am, 2-3pm and 9pm so there was a big enuff gap to digest what she already had but will try to re-jig.
thanks again
mandy :pig:
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try mixing the milk with sow & weaner meal rather than nuts, nut tend to be coated in oils and turn rancid when soaked (i only know this because we tried it, it took a local pig farmer to point out our error ::))