[little blue]

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      

[HappyHippy]

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 

[Beewyched]

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 

[little blue]

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!!

[Beewyched]

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!!

Sorry LB, Greasy Pig Disease - blooming horrible stuff, stinks like the infected piglet had died  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
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 

[little blue]

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

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....

[Beewyched]

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.

 

[HappyHippy]

The gleptosil (iron injections) costs around £18 for a big bottle, I get mine here 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

[powispigs]

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!

[little blue]

woof!
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..

[HappyHippy]

Glad they're picking up 
How are your quails doing ?
Karen x

[little blue]

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

[little blue]

See how small Lucky is?!


Her bigger sister


And their favourite game!

[Roxy]

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!!

[powispigs]

they are beautiful   

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..........