The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Zara on October 14, 2012, 12:16:49 pm
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Hi
I recently acquired a sow who has 10 three week old piglets. The sow is undernourished and 3-4 of the piglets are very very small for their age. I would be grateful for any advice on:
what we could add to the sow's diet to increase her calorie intake.
what we could give to the piglets in particular the very small ones....
As always, thanks!
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Eek - I'll refrain from making comments about their previous keeper :-X , but so glad for them that they have ended-up with you :relief:
Don't adjust mum's diet too quickly - just build her up gradually. Don't know what breed she is, but I would put her on Sow & Weaner & get some wormer into her in a week or so. Don't do anything too quickly or you'll upset her system. Slowly introduce some fruit & veg, not so much bread - she'll need nutrients more than carbs at the moment.
As for the piglets - their failure to thrive may be passed-over worms or more likely iron deficiency (especially if they were born indoors). It's probably too late to jag them with iron now (should have been done in the 1st week), tho it may be worth trying if you've got some around anyway. Get them on to creep feeding asap - takes the stress of mum a bit. They can be wormed at 6 weeks, if parasites are an issue, but better left until they are 8 weeks-old (some of mum's wormer will go thro the milk).
If you can, get them all under a heat lamp it will help - they can put less energy into keeping warm & make sure the piglets can get to drinking water - so they don't rely on just mum for liquids.
Bless - I hope you can get them through :fc:
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If she's anything other than a Kunekune she should be getting 16lbs of pig food a day , 6lbs for her and a pound for each piglet (Kunekune with that many piglets 8lbs per day) - you might need to split it into 3 or even 4 feeds and increase it gradually over a week or so.
A lot of sows, no matter how much they eat, will drop condition and 'milk off their backs' so you might find it's not til after weaning she'll gain condition.
I'd worm her and the piglets asap - if there is a worm burden it'll definately not help her condition (a jag is the best way to do this, but your vet should be happy to do this or show you if you're not sure ;))
HTH & good luck with them :thumbsup:
Karen x
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Agree with HH, build her up to the max level over a week or so, best over four meals if you can, we do 7am, 1pm, 5pm & 9.30pm,(make the middle two meals slightly smaller than first & last) a heat lamp will help greatly for the babies, depending how neglected she's been you may find she lacked water to make milk, lactating sows need 30ltrs of water min a day so make sure she drinks plenty too. Sugar beet is a good additive if you can get some or molasses but not too much of them.
Well done you for taking them on :thumbsup:
:fc: Mandy :pig:
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i would also add a multi vitamin powder to her water we use agri-healths muti vit extra.