The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: P6te on May 07, 2012, 10:11:20 pm
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We have just purchased a 3 year old Oxford Sandy and Black sow who is in pig and due to farrow on (we believe) 21st May. As far as we know she is in good health but in the 36+ hours she has been here with us the only water she has drunk is that which I have directly offered her. Water is of course available all the time in her run but she is not venturing far from the ark.
Should we be worrying or is she just settling in and normal behaviour will soon resume??
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Silly question - could you put a bucket of water right by her ark?
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is she the only pig you have pigs have fealings as well how would you like taken from home and dumped in a strange place ;) :farmer:
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Many thanks for the replies ....
Sally - yes I'd thought of that and as you'll see below I have put water right outside (the feed was placed in a trough outside too)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n578/P6te/Elsie-8thMay2012.jpg)
Robert - in adjacent runs are 5 OSB's in one and 3 GOS cross in another. Regarding her (Elsie) having feelings, that is what I am hoping and its just the move that has unsettled her. Is that what you think is likely? She is not eating particularly well but hopefully her appetite will return quickly??
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change of feed and type pellets to nuts big cubes to smaller nuts some pigs just don't like travelling
have you checked her temp :farmer:
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Thanks Robert ..... I'll check exactly what type of food she was on previously and regarding her temperature, no I haven't and to be honest its not something I have done for a pig!! Advice welcome ....
She is the first sow in pig / farrowing for us so I'm sure in the next few weeks I'll be posting lots more questions regarding that ... and then photos!
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you will need a rectal thermometer 39 degrees and if it is 41.5 you are lucky you still have her :farmer:
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did you buy her in from a different area to where you are may seem a strange question but we brought in a in pig gilt from up north she did not like the water down here at first so we put her on water from the tanks rather than the mains. and feed we dry feed the guy we brought her from wet fed so we had to wet feed her until she farrowed then dried it up during the weaning stage.
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Robert - Thank you .... I look forward to checking!! ::)
Chickenfeed - Yes we did, we are close to M1 J24 and we bought her North Notts / Newark way. However, the pigs are all given Well water so its not going to be our mains water giving the problem but we could give her mains and see what she makes of that.
As previously mentioned, we will check on exactly what she was being fed on before and see if we need to change for a while at least.
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The change of home so close to farrowing will be unsettling for her.
As mentioned before do check her temperature, if all OK then just keep doing what you are doing and hopefully she will settle in very soon.
Good luck with everything and let us know how you get on.
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I have a raging toothache this morning (dentist later aggh) so forgive me if i come across brusque!
I am tired to death of telling people not to move sows within a month of farrowing! How would you like to be 8mths pregnant and dumped in strange surroundings with strange people, i don't think so! ::) >:(
I would suggest you spend as much time as you can with her building up her confidence with you so she will allow you somewhere near at farrowing time also try some treats bananas, apples anything that will tempt her, milk is good if she won't drink water.
Be prepeared for her to go into protective mode when she farrows she may be nasty and she may eat her piglets as she sees you and other pigs as strangers/predators so you really need to build up that relationship with her and keep your fingers crossed that she's really a nice natured girl thrown by her current circumstances.
You also need to get ready for farrowing so have a look at the GOS website getting started article on farrowing.
Good luck hope she comes round soon.
Mandy :pig:
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Thank you for your replies .... appreciate what you are saying Mandy!
Now we have her we will do our best for her .... we were told, and she certainly appears to be good natured but we will invest time with her and give her treats!
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I have never tried this as I have never had this problem, but could you maybe add some apple juice to her water to make it more appealing ???
I am sure those with more experience with this type of prob will know best but on a common sense principle I can't see it would be a prob to add some to see if that cheers her up, if she's not drinking shes prob feeling rather ......yuk and not herself anyway, I know how I feel if I don't drink enough. Make sure you disguard the water though after a day or so so it doesn't go off !!
Good luck :wave:
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I see you have feed outside the door for her, personally if she doesn't eat it then I would remove it and offer again later, I have a sow who is easily over faced by food, particularly late pregnancy and once piglets are older and her rations have increased greatly, little and often with tempting treats like apples or bananas. Good luck with her.
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Thank you for the replies .... food and water is not normally right outside the ark, water was placed there last night just looking to tempt her back to drinking and food placed there this morning before the photo was taken and then put in a trough.
I have some fruit that we plan on mixing with her ration of pellets tonight mixed with warm water to make a mash that I am informed she likes!
I'll give you an update later on ......
Many thanks to all again.
ps. Mandy ... the article on farrowing at http://www.oldspots.org.uk/getting_started6.asp (http://www.oldspots.org.uk/getting_started6.asp) is excellent. Thank you. :)
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Elsie has picked up considerably tonight, she ate well and acted more as I expected her too. Apples, Pears and Bananas certainly helped!!
I've checked on the food she was previously eating and the Pig Nuts whilst not the same brand are very similar to the ones we feed. All water in the run that was previously Well Water has been discarded and refilled with mains water ... just so we can see if it makes any difference.
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Bananas usually do the trick! Glad she's picked up.
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Update this morning .... food including bananas and pears readily taken but water still not being consumed in adequate quantity. Her poo's are too dry more like pellets. Will try apple juice in her water later but any other tips to encourage drinking gratefully received.
Pete
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Glad you found farrowing article of interest and hope you can use some of it as pointers for your own setup.
Try very dilute milk to get her to drink we once took a sow to a show and it was hot and she just would not drink and it was getting worrying so i bought a pint of milk and tipped it into a half filled bucket of clean water and she drank greedily we gradually got to the point where the water was merely coloured by a drop of milk. HTH
Mandy :pig:
(temp filling and an x-ray at dentist have to go back next week! :))
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Thanks Mandy,
We have found that she will drink whatever milk is given to her but their is a limit!! Pure milk she drinks readily but add too much water and she knows the difference .... Just need to wean her back onto water which I'm looking to do by adding apple juice to the water as previously suggested.
Regarding our setup, one this occasion Elsie will farrow in the ark I made (previously pictured) that is 8' x 8' with a waterproof ply floor, rear door and farrowing bar (scaffolding!!) already fitted but I do plan on building a separate area for farrowing / winter accommodation. When constructing that I will certainly take on-board ideas from your article.
Pete
ps. hope your temporary filling last till next week!!
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Glad to hear she's eating better :)
Keep us updated :thumbsup:
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Thursday 10th update ....
Elsie is eating reasonably ok, albeit with the enticement of lots of fruit as well as pig nuts made into a mash with milk. However she is still not drinking anything like the amount I consider she should be .... I've just taken her temperature and it is 37.9c .......
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have you had the vet to her at that temp she is either toxic or hypothermic :farmer:
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Thank you for your reply Robert, at this point (having only just established her temperature) no, but based on your comment I will. Any other thoughts / comments welcome ....
Pete
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Mine all tend to sit around 39C - so it's a little bit low, but I wouldn't panic just yet.
If she was hypothermic you'd see shivering and she'd seem 'off'.
Does she seem well in herself ?
Has the constipation eased ?
Is her straw bed damp at all ?
I'd top up her bed, get a feed into her and take it again. If you have any electrolites (get them at your local agri store) try mixing that with her water to help re-hydrate her.
If you've got a heat lamp for farrowing I'd plug it in for her now - she might have got chilled during the move :-\
But a phonecall to the vet doesn't cost anything ;)
HTH
Karen
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Thanks Karen ... at lunch time when I went to see her she came out (when I called her) and was happily lazing outside (it was relatively mild / warm outside) but did retreat back to her ark. She wasn't showing any sign of shivering but did not take a treat of a banana when offered but did drink some watered down apple juice.
Regarding her straw bedding, I didn't specifically check but it looked ok. Constipation wise, I'd say not although some of her poo this morning was looking more normal.
The main issue as I see it (other than her low temperature) is that she isn't drinking enough water. Its almost as if she doesn't realise it's there!
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this is the third day if not more that she is just not right her temp is not normall artificial heat is not going to suddenly make that life changing decision why did the previous sell her or allow her to travel so near the farrowing :farmer:
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I do think you are dragging your heels regards calling the vet. You have a sow with litter due soon who has been moved too late in her pregnancy and has been off colour for 3 days or so. If you are not careful you will loose the sow and litter, far more value than a vets bill.
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I've just spoken to the vet and put her fully in the picture and she said we are doing the right things and did not feel it was necessary to come out.
If the vet remotely suggested a visit I'd have taken her up on it but she was very clear on that .....
All advice very welcome .... many thanks.
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Perhaps small nibble size floating treats so she takes in water too, and then there's always sweet cider when she's producing the minis, wish someone had given me some when I was having the kids :o :o :o
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Regarding her straw bedding, I didn't specifically check but it looked ok.
You have to get your hands on it. It can look ok but when you put your bare hand into it you can realise it's cold and damp.
If the ground is damp they bring a lot of wet into their bed on their legs and bodies and need a top-up of dry straw every other day, I've found. The only time Meg-pig was under the weather, she was cold, lethargic and off her food. It turned out she was bedded on cold damp straw that looked ok. Since then I get my gloves off and climb into the ark to check her bedding when the ground is wet.
Re: the drinking water - there isn't any puudling or pooling of surface / rainwater anywhere is there, that she could be drinking in preference to the clean water you're putting out for her?
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Thanks Sally,
Regarding puddling / pooling of water, their certainly is so yes, that is a distinct possibility. As soon as I get home I'll check the straw and ensure it is dry. I did top it up yesterday to ensure she had plenty of bedding but will do a thorougher check soon.
The prevailing wind has been in the 'right' direction so rain has not been driven in at all .... but on that subject, I am looking for suitable 'flaps' to hang over the entrances, any suggestions?
goosepimple - no harm in adding some floating treats so will do that too!!
Many thanks. :)
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The prevailing wind has been in the 'right' direction so rain has not been driven in at all .... but on that subject, I am looking for suitable 'flaps' to hang over the entrances, any suggestions?
Strips of old carpet or preferably vinyl stapled on do great ;) As would hessian sacks. But up here with the horizontal rain and gales they blow about too much for me, hence the vinyl ;)
HTH
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Great news she has taken some watered down apple juice :thumbsup:
On the puddle note, we have one pig who only will always drink puddles over her water bucket ::), even though our water comes from our own bore hole so has nothing added, she still prefers puddles given the chance ;D
Hope she seems brighter tomorrow and you can finally relax and look forward to the pitter patter of tiny trotters :)
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Hi,
Thank you all for comments and suggestions ... every one appreciated.
Finally things are looking up!! :thumbsup:
Tonight Elsie had the best feed she has had with us, pig nuts with just a few slices of banana (but don't think they were needed) and then when they had all gone I gave her a few more for good measure. Also she was drinking from the tire water-er without any encouragement!! Her poos seem to be getting back to normal too. :) I've never been so pleased to see a pile of steaming pig poo!!
I've checked on her bedding and for all intent it is absolutely dry.
So .... fingers crossed and as LOCHBYRE said I hope we can start to relax and look forward to the pitter patter of tiny trotters!! :)
I'll have more posts in the days to come I'm sure!!
Pete
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Great news :thumbsup:
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You're doing a grand job pete, she's lucky to have somebody like you looking out for her.It would appear its the move that has upset her and she's now starting to settle with you and her new surroundings, keep up the vigilance and attention and you know where we are if you need us. Hope she doesn't keep you waiting too long after her due date.
best of luck
mandy :pig:
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Thank you Mandy .... I'm doing my best, learning as we go!! I have a few new but related questions so will start a new topic tomorrow.
Pete
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Glad all seems to be well, just needed time to settle in. A couple of weeks time and the fun begins. :thumbsup:
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Glad all seems to be well, just needed time to settle in. A couple of weeks time and the fun begins. :thumbsup:
Agree, keep us up to date :thumbsup:
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Many thanks to all .... updates will follow! :thumbsup: