[Sylvia]

 I had my gilts down to farrow in a week's time. Thank God my porkers escaped and I had a 'phone call to say they were dangerously near the main road (little swines ) Collected them up from a very kind person's garden(an ex-farmworker, I owe him a WHOLE leg of pork )and , have ,secured them for the night.
Put them in and one of my Kune Kune gilts was very slow to come up. She seemed to be swollen around her bits and was peeing every few minutes. I went to get a bale of straw to put in her ark so she could make her nest as she would like and, lo and behold, a lovely litter of piglets, small but perfect and lively. Four gilts and three boars.
I will worry now all night about them but have to go to work(had booked next week off )
Commonsense tells me that they have a cosy bed, each other and Mrs. Carey to keep them warm and there is nothing I can do tonight but I am now wishing I hadn't mated her It's all too much of a worry
I will be up there straight from work tomorrow morning but would really like to sleep in the ark with them all tonight just to be sure.
They are SO perfect!!

[SallyintNorth]

Congrats to mum, babes and proud 'Gran' !           Soooo cute.... piccies when you can, pleeeeeease! 

[Miss Piggy]

Congratulation, look forward to seeing some picture when you have the time. Best of luck with your new babies. 

[little blue]

congratulations

[HappyHippy]

Congratulations Sylvia 
Looking forward to seeing the photos.

It's more of a worry when the pigs are expecting than when I was expecting any of mine  You feel helpless and that your poor pig has put all their trust in you, so you've got to do the best you can for them - it's a big responsibility (or maybe that's just me  ) But I'm sure you'll feel differently in a couple of weeks, once you see them bounding about in the snow 
Karen 

[Sylvia]

I left work early (I wasn't much use anyway ) and, of course, the piglets survived the night without me so feel a bit calmer now!
How lovely to hear Mrs. Carey "talking" to them as she shovelled her breakfast down.  The only sad thing.... I found two really tiny dead piglets pushed to the side of the ark, so she had nine!!
Now I've got the other one, probably, though she doesn't look very pregnant and the boar has definitely got to go back to his owner, I can't go through this TWICE a year!!

[little blue]

can I ask ... where does mrs C get her name from?!

Its sad when they don't make it ... but pigs tidy up so well, and often nose out a weak/dying piglet. Mum knows best

[Sylvia]

Mrs. Carey was named by a grand-daughter. The original Mrs. Carey is a teacher at Sherwell Valley Primary School in Torquay! I don't know how she would feel about having a pig named after her, I would hope she might feel honoured
The other Kune was called Babe by a grand-son. He had great hopes of training her to the sheep but without much success (well no success actually but we all enjoyed the "training")

[Sylvia]

Found two dead piglets this morning and am feeling gutted and guilty. Mrs. C. has herded the others into a corner of the house and built a wall of straw around them.
I thought she may have lain on them but my nephew says they may have succumbed to the cold. He reckons that if you can sit in the ark/ sty naked and not feel cold then it's warm enough for piglets. If not then you may expect to lose them.

[jaykay]

Oh Sylvia, I'm sorry 
Do you have a heat lamp, or does a neighbour with chickens have one you could borrow (I do, but whereabouts are you?)

[Irish Blowin]

We've lost piglets in the past. But I console myself with the thought that maybe mum new something I didn't. Poss there was something wrong with them and she knew they wouldn't thrive. We tried rescuing a couple with heat lamps injections etc but they never pulled through. Nature  can be cruel at times.

[Sylvia]

Oh Sylvia, I'm sorry 
Do you have a heat lamp, or does a neighbour with chickens have one you could borrow (I do, but whereabouts are you?)

Thank you Jaykay but we have no electricity on our holding. I would like to sleep in the ark and keep them warm but, obviously, not practical

[SallyintNorth]

Oh Sylvia, I am sorry to hear about the two little ones.

It sounds as though mum has got them snuggled up warm now - my Meg did the same, there'd be a beehive of straw in the corner, and deep within it, there they'd be, snug and warm.  I was glad I had put plenty of straw in there, even though some folks warn about having too much straw and the mother not seeing a piglet she's about to lie on!  But it seems that OSB sows do snuffle about pretty thoroughly before lying down, and in the absence of a heat source the straw beehive is needed to keep the babies warm while mum is outside.

I did have on standby ready in case needed (I think I have just said the same thing three times, sorry) a hot water bottle.  With only 5 piglets and plenty of straw in September Meg managed fine, but if she was farrowing now I think hotties would probably be useful.  Just a thought.

Most likely, as others have said, Mrs C knew something, and has kept the healthy viable ones warm.  Let's hope so and that she can now rear these.  Best of luck!

[robert waddell]

some mothers are better than others      the first 4 days are the crucial ones for flatpacks it can still happen after the 4 days but the piglets are more aware of there mother      we find it is the best ones and perfect marked ones that get flattened           unless you are there to see her flattening them it is only speculation  so don't go beatting youself up about it  even with the best care and attention there are losses
shavings or straw that is up to you 

[DeeDee]

Hi Sylvia

So sorry to hear about your piglets - devastating. 

Please don't beat yourself up about this as I think it can happen to the most experienced of breeders. We bought weaners earlier in the year from a very experienced breeder who had two sows farrow last year in minus 15 degree temperatures. In a very draughty barn and no heat lamps (but deep straw beds). She only lost one of the piglets, which had somehow crept well away from mum, got out of the farrowing area (goodness knows how) and was lying frozen on the concrete floor outside of the farrowing pen. The remainder thrived.

I reckon Irish Blowin (and others) have made a good point - nature can be cruel and even heat lamps and the best of veterinary medicines can't fight the force of nature sometimes. 

I hope the remaining piglets thrive. Mrs Carey sounds like she is doing an amazing job in looking after her offspring - her namesake should be proud!

BTW - Sally's idea of hottie bottles is a great one, which I shall use in the future as we've got no electricity on our land either - thanks Sally


Good luck

Dee x