The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: gapcap on December 13, 2014, 05:32:13 pm
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My pietrain/welsh x gilt farrowed 14 thursday afternoon/evening, little 'uns so far :fc: seem to be doing well. She is a fabulous mum and very careful. However she is just not eating as I think she should, ie she is eating much less than she did before they were born. With a great deal of persuasion I've managed to get a few nuts, some barley soaked in milk & honey,4 pears, an apple, half a banana into her since yesteday. I rang vet last night, he asked did she have smelly discharge..no, signs of mastitis..no, he said sometimes they take a bit of time to get back to "normal" after farrowing(he is a farm vet but a new one in the practice so I dont know his experience with pigs) He suggested I just keep offering yummy stuff and see how she was this morning. Well this morning she did gulp down a few mouthfuls of the barley/milk/honey gloop, so I thought we were away, but since then just a few nuts a mouthful of barley and a slurp or two of milk/honey. I've tried treacle on bread, digestive biscs, nice hay(which she's eaten a few mouthfuls of).she is drinking but not a great deal. Does anyone have any experience of this? my other pig has eaten copious amounts after farrowing :pig: .
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Is her temperature ok? We had a sow with metritis after farrowing but she was really ill rather than just off her food. Got her eating again by feeding peaches when she was feeling better :D.
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What about milk fever? or this......
Feeding the Pig During Lactation. Sows’ milk does not contain enough iron for baby pigs. Iron must be given to pigs within their first 3 or 4 days to prevent anemia. Pigs can be supplied with iron by giving them clean sod (not from a hog lot), iron injections (iron dextran in the ham or heavy neck muscle), or iron compounds mixed with other minerals which pigs can eat. When pigs are about 1 week old, start feeding them a prestarter (about 20% protein) or starter feed in a shallow pan.
The prestarter is usually more acceptable and pigs will start to eat earlier. It is used only to get pigs to start to eat. A little prestarter or starter feed mixed with some clean sod will often start pigs eating earlier.
After pigs start to eat, switch to a starter feed (about 18% protein) and feed this until the pigs weigh 25-30lb. At this time, the ration can be switched to a lower cost (16%) pig grower feed. Clean, fresh water should be available to pigs even before they start to eat dry feeds. Clean, fresh water should be available to pigs even before they start to eat dry feeds.
Controlling Health Problems. Sows should be observed carefully during the first few days after farrowing. Lack of appetite, listlessness, and failure to respond positively to nursing activity of the pigs indicate need for corrective treatment. Prevention of these conditions will decrease incidence and severity of the MMA syndrome.
If MMA is prevalent, a prevention and treatment program should be developed through veterinary consultation and by management programs. The same is true for diseases such as atrophic rhinitis, transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE), parvovirus (SMEDI) and mycoplasma pneumonia. Checking for normal bowel activity and use of a rectal thermometer to detect fever can pinpoint early need for treatment.
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Calcium deficiency would be my guess - with 14 piglets. You need to get the vet out for that asap I think.
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Are her bowels moving? Constipation will put her off her food.
We always give some fruit juice in their water after farrowing to encourage them to drink plenty ;)
Try smaller, more frequent meals too, with a bit of fruit through it.
If she's passed the afterbirth, doesn't show signs of discharge, mastitis or a temperature and it doesn't improve over the next 24 hours I'd get the vet out as a precaution.
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A bottle of real ale, mixed with as much water may get her eating( my uncle Johnny's tip for all piggy ailments!)
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Not seen any bowel movement. We have calci jet here would that help?,The babies are obviously getting enough, at the moment, they are lively. just not like her to be so reluctant to eat,Will get vet out if no improvement, just didnt want to stress her unecessarily, she is happy with me in there but no one else allowed! Thank you for your help and thoughts.
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All Well :fc: , she has eaten a very hearty breakfast this morning :excited:
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That's very good, theres nothing like seeing a sick animal recover! :)
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A natural feed that would be eaten in our experience would be the staple we use, barley sprouts. These are exactly what a pig in its natural would forage with 14% protein and 10-11%roughage. We moved to this from "conventional" feeds to barley spouts many years ago. low cost, easily and enthusiastically consumed. Discovered these when living and working in the US.
Soak barley seeds in water for 12 to 24 hours and spread out on damp cloth ideally on plastic sheets or trays, in a garage or shed at this time of year.
2-2.5kg of sprouted barley which requires 0.35-0.5kg of barley seed is all a weaning sow would require daily.
Sprouts are most nutritious at 4-5inches in leaf length. This is the cheapest most nutritious and easiest feed to use.
Putting a piece of rusty iron in her water trough will ensure she does not suffer from anaemia.
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We collect the soil from molehills and put a pile of about 500g between the infra red lamp and the sow's teats. We keep it topped up every day until the piglets start eating creep, generally around three weeks. We use molehils because the soil is relatively "clean", without vegetative matter or urine or muck from the sheep.
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Hi, thank you for the suggestions, Its the 1st time I've had one farrow at this time of year, previously they have farrowed outdoors with a nice warm pigloo to retreat to, but its so wet and muddy we brought her in to the barn.so the molehill suggestion is a great. it was actually warm rolled barley/nut mash that got her eating again. the babies are all doing well, great big chunks :pig: :pig:
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Hi, thank you for the suggestions, Its the 1st time I've had one farrow at this time of year, previously they have farrowed outdoors with a nice warm pigloo to retreat to, but its so wet and muddy we brought her in to the barn.so the molehill suggestion is a great. it was actually warm rolled barley/nut mash that got her eating again. the babies are all doing well, great big chunks :pig: :pig:
That's awesome to hear! Whenever I farrowed my sows I farrowed them indoors, so I could keep an eye on em, I did have about three farrowing at similar times.
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As at least one other answer says Iron is critical.
You can inject and ought to as a precaution it will cost pennies.
Hereafter leave a rusty piece of iron in all water troughs.
Also consider adding diatomous earth to their diet. This adds trace minerals and clears worms in the digestive tract, if any are there they will show in stools. If present treat with Flubenol powder, one dose cure! This may be an issue.
In any case we changed to sprouting barley from other feeds and have not seen any similar problems on this diet.