The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: little blue on August 30, 2011, 08:59:03 pm
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ok. ok, I know its not ideal, but...
we found what we thought were one dead & one dying kune kune piglet, approx 36 hours old.
took them out, stone cold, took them up to the heat lamp (over newly hatched chicks atm).
lay the "dead" one down, she was twitching but tongue lolling.
I got a bottle & some goat's milk for the other, lots of gentle body rubs & she eventually took some.
the other made a noise as she was moved - as she warmed up it was obvious she was still alive (what else can she be called but Lucky?!)
So we have kept them warm & bottle fed approx every hour through the night & 2 hours today.
they are lively enough when awake - like a barrel full of monkeys! and taking loads of milk & sleeping, weeing, pooing.
they are really tiny (will try to weigh them tomorrow) so I don't see it is possible to return them to Mildred (mum pig) yet as it has dropped cold & wet here and she can be abit "heavy"
I caught her feeding her sisters' 5 week old piglets before she'd farrowed - the two will absolutley not be separated, they have trashed everything we've tried. I wonder if she has "adopted" these older ones & just didn't realise her babies were the hungry ones?
any tips / advice / experience appreciated
and thanks again HH for the healing vibes
cheers :wave: :pig:
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I can't give you any advice on hand rearing Ruth - but others will and they'll be along soon ;)
I'd imagine that they'll be up to going back to mum soon, it's amazing the difference a couple of days can make, but it's a 'play it by ear' situation.
I'll keep everything crossed for you all :-*
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Sounds like you're having a bit of a time of it LB, though doing a good job you'll be knackered soon - take my word for it! My "rejected" little soul was a bit older, but mum wouldn't take him back after his castration & I tried every trick I'd heard of. He then got GPD - I don't think some gilts have enough antibodies, but I wasn't prepared for it at such a late stage - poor bu@@er, but he's doing well now & is the most demanding of the lot ::)
I would get them lapping asap rather than bottle feeding - even though you'll need to do every 2 hours untill they're 2-weeks old, then you can move to every 3 hours for a couple of weeks & so on, though you may be able to get away with going 6 hours through the night once they start properly on solids.
Baby porridge or rice is a good "starter" for solids or I've ground sow & weaner nuts down in a pestle & added milk & mashed banana - you could try them on tiny bits from your fingers from about a week old (mind the teeth!).
Oh., guess you've got them indoors nice & warm - don't forget to give them an iron jab if you can get some in the next few days, they may not take to the "sod of earth" without encouragement & they're unlikely to get enough from just milk. Accessible drinking water available in their pen & lots of TLC (though I'm sure there won't be a shortage ;) )
Hope everything goes ok for you :pig: :love:
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thanks :)
their siblings & cousins have all nibbled pig meal within a few days of life, though all were born bigger than these two!
whats GPD? too tired for acronyms ;)
what sort of volume of milk should they be having? (i know, how long's a piece of string?!) they are fed pretty much on demand at the moment, but to give them a bowl, it'll be harder to keep track.
and as for tlc, there's no shortage of helpers to give them a bottle & a cuddle ... though nobody's volunteered for the nightshift yet!!
:D :pig: :pig:
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thanks :)
their siblings & cousins have all nibbled pig meal within a few days of life, though all were born bigger than these two!
whats GPD? too tired for acronyms ;)
what sort of volume of milk should they be having? (i know, how long's a piece of string?!) they are fed pretty much on demand at the moment, but to give them a bowl, it'll be harder to keep track.
and as for tlc, there's no shortage of helpers to give them a bottle & a cuddle ... though nobody's volunteered for the nightshift yet!!
:D :pig: :pig:
Sorry LB, Greasy Pig Disease - blooming horrible stuff, stinks like the infected piglet had died :P it has to be treated with antibiotics & antibac wash, then , if they survive, they're suseptible (sp?) to mange ::) so more jabs for the poor things :o
If you've got plenty of helpers, you could keep them on the bottle for a while, as for quantities - as much as they'll drink in a go, can vary from feed to feed - just that it's less time consuming if you can get them to drink it from a bowl (suppose you could measure it first if you're concerned about intake). Sounds like you may have to impose a rota for the nightshift ;)
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just a quick update -
little Lucky has become snuffly, the vet has given us oral Antibiotics to ward off pneumonia.
She weighs in at about 400g and her sister at about twice that.
we have gone from livestock (lamb type) bottles to a medium teat baby bottles, as these dribble less!
I've added glucose to todays' feed as we were so worried about Lucky.
I don't think she'd stand a chance if they had a bowl yet, as her sister would just push her away & drain it!
they have a clod of earth & grass - no idea what to do with it yet :D
I've been round all the local charity shops for towels & fleece blankets as I can barely keep up with the washing, and we are becoming quite used to the smell of warm milk....
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Ha yes, the constant washing ::) I ended-up pinching the dogs' vet beds - couldn't keep up with it. Roll-on when you can move them outside with the heat lamp - bliss. Mind takes a while for the whiffs to disappear though.
Glad to hear they're making progress & you're still able to focus on your pc screen ;) I'd still consider the iron jabs, anemia's one of the main reasons little ones don't thrive.
:love: :pig: :love:
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The gleptosil (iron injections) costs around £18 for a big bottle, I get mine here http://www.vetmedsdirect.co.uk/products/Gleptosil-100ml.html (http://www.vetmedsdirect.co.uk/products/Gleptosil-100ml.html) the other thing to try is 'litter care' from SfS, it's a sort of vitamin boost/colostrum replacement liquid which you squirt down their throats - easier on them when they are so small.
Karen x
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we had to rear a piglet recently as at three days old she was near to death, she is now a strong five week old piglet who sleeps with our Great Dane puppy in his bed and loves nothing more than rolling over so we can scratch her tummy! She is a delight but cant see her going for sausages or mixing with the other pigs as I am sure she thinks she is a dog! :pig:
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:pig: woof! :pig:
lovely story powispigs, what do you call her, Rover?!
they are bloomin' lively, little Lucky can now scratch and cough without falling over and has discovered she can push the cardboard box all round the cage by shuffling inside it!
A few more days of ABs..
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Glad they're picking up ;D
How are your quails doing ?
Karen x
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How are your quails doing?
fine thanks!
we have 4 quail chicks and 5 Rhode Island Red hatched so far...
and 5 RIRs a couple of months old outside with foster mum.
Its all go here ;)
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See how small Lucky is?!
(http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt228/RuthP/th_SAM_0791.jpg) (http://s614.photobucket.com/albums/tt228/RuthP/?action=view¤t=SAM_0791.jpg)
Her bigger sister
(http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt228/RuthP/th_SAM_0804.jpg) (http://s614.photobucket.com/albums/tt228/RuthP/?action=view¤t=SAM_0804.jpg)
And their favourite game!
(http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt228/RuthP/th_SAM_0805.jpg) (http://s614.photobucket.com/albums/tt228/RuthP/?action=view¤t=SAM_0805.jpg)
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Only just seen this, Little Blue. Well done for hand rearing them. You must be so tired, and the new school term must have started now?
They look so small in the pics!!
Fingers crossed for them. Did Mildred only have the two piglets then??
Your smallholding must be getting rather crowded now!!
Poor you with all that washing .....like having twins isn't it!!
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they are beautiful :love:
our piglet in Miss Piggy but should be Rover! going to try and put photos on of her when we brought her in and now! wish me luck..........
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this is the photo when she was only a few days old
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and now!
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Powis, lovely pig... gorgeous dog!
you've obviously done a great job :D
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Only just seen this, Little Blue. Well done for hand rearing them. You must be so tired, and the new school term must have started now?
yes, started back this week.... I'm keeping out the way as much as possible! kids back tomorrow.
They look so small in the pics!!
they are tiny, under a foot long. Lucky is just 400g, and about an inch and a half across.
Mogwai is heavier and bigger across!
Fingers crossed for them. Did Mildred only have the two piglets then??
no, she had more but (ahem) "tidied up" herself as she found them squashed (bleugh!)
And she ate the afterbirth when Maud farrowed... she's a better housekeeper than me :D
Poor you with all that washing .....like having twins isn't it!!
yep! washer & drier on every day, sometimes several times - its too wet & cold to get much dried outside.
I said to my husband if its like this having kids then perhaps we'll not bother ... but at least human babies on bottles would lie reasonably still, these two are like a barrel full of monkeys & rough with the bottles so it squirts all over the place!
:pig:
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;D You need a lot of patience then?!! Have you got these piglets in the house ......?? Suppose thats easier when you are bottle feeding. Finlay the goat kid lived in the caravan at night when I was hand rearing him. You should have seen the faces of the people in the next door caravan when they realised I had a goat kid in the caravan!!!
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yes, they are in the house... first in a little cage & now in a large indoor rabbit cage.
They are, admittedly, on the settee right now, as its warmer for them if we snuggle up together with a hot water bottle (and cheaper than running the gas fire!)
:D
they were in the kitchen, but as you know it is a large room with marble tiles so very cold. we had to move them when we suspected pneumonia.
I still smile at the thought of Finlay and you 2 in the 'van ... at least he's just a pygmy! how is he now?
Its certainly easier for the night feeds - just reach out and plug in the bottles through the bars of the cage!
the girls are acting more "pig like" today, playing & rooting. and snoring ;D
Lucky has a little cough still but has stopped falling over so much... antibiotics for abit longer.
Mogwai has an occassional snuffle but is much fitter & bigger (but still tiny!)
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Ooh, yes, your kitchen would not be as cosy as the settee for the piglets anyway, the cats may think they were for eating if they were in the kitchen!!! Fingers crossed the piglets will thrive. Are you feeding them goats milk? The kittens I gave goats milk to, are a lot bigger than those who had none, so it must be good!!
Finlay is in with the two AN kids who are the same age, but he is awfully bossy, even though they are a lot taller than him. To be honest, he seems very small, but being pygmy, thats not surprising. Every now and again, he will go over the field, and look in the bucket where his bottle and teat were kept he must remember his milk bottle!!
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yes, they are on goat's milk .... husband has sacrificed his intake of milk & his hot water bottle to these two little scraps of gingery nothingness!
the cats get the end of each bottle that the piglets cannot get out, so they are all thriving!
Finlay sounds like a rum 'un! its the little ones you have to watch...
:D
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;D Poor Jay, having to give up his goats milk and his hot water bottle .... but did he not suggest you giving up your goats milk and hot water bottle instead? So, if we visit,we need to bring our own milk then. Pity you are not closer, could let you have some goats milk, then piggies and husband could all have some.
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Hi all, I feel we all learn from these situations our pigs seem to put us into, my sow died and left me with 7 yes 7 2 day old piglets I had so much conflicting advise a long the way that I lost 5, bubble and squeak are not the biggest 9 week olds but they are doing fine now however, a lot has been learned and should I be in that position again I am fully prepared.
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:D thanks Roxy, yes bring your own milk!
He drinks far more milk than I do (I can taste "goat" far better than he can)
Barrett, thats animals - especially pigs for you. so sorry you lost both your sow and so many littleys, very sad :(
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any advice on introducing more solid food?
the girls are feeding really well from the bottle - getting harder to satisfy them, but they don't seem very interested in pig meal (either made with milk or water)
they went mental at the smell of digestive biscuits (no, didn't give them any!)
they've chewed at grass, but not really eaten it, its complete with soil for the iron :)
tomorrow, I intend to scatter the pigmeal on the floor, in case its the bowl they don't like.
can I legally try them with, eg baby rice or porridge?
whilst I completely appreciate the DEFRA regs, its proved rather challenging to provide clean, filtered, warm milk in sterilised bottles for two hypothermic piglets without the support of a domestic kitchen....
thanks folks :wave:
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Before I scrolled down to the bottom of your post, I did think of baby food or porridge maybe? Surely in circumstances such as hand rearing little pigs, this rule could be turned a blind eye to?
Er .....I heated up Finlays milk on the cooker in the caravan, and never gave it a second thought. I have always done that - where else could I heat his milk? We do not have the luxury of a kitchen for preparing animal food :)
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Hi Guys, I did learn that baby milk for hungry babies is very good I am sure the lady in my local chemist thought I had given birth to sextuplets ;D, and baby rice as well is good mixed with the milk would put that in a saucer and hold it tight or they will knock it over.
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I mixed some weetabix with milk and then onto hypergrow with milk, she is now on hypergrow and water. Also she loves the apples that have fallen in the garden :pig:
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quick update:
the girls like apples!
have tried weetabix, rice, pigmeal but not really a hit.... tonight they have apple pieces buried in pig meal, and I've told them there's no milk til they've both had some!
Lucky weighs just over a kilo now, really pleased with how she's come on.
Mogwai is a too wriggly to weigh well, but she's growing slowly but surely
thanks for all the tips
:)