[Mrs Snoodles]

Hi there,
From about 2 this afternoon our gilt seemed a little different. She didn't want to come up to say hello etc, have treats.   She has been lying down this afternoon and evening with fairly laboured breathing, gently grunting.

We have seen her 8-9 tonight.  She has had a good drink, eaten a little bit of food (leaving some behind  ), done her business and been a bit restless in general.  She has settled down now.

We're wondering how often we should check on her through the night now?  I don't plan to intervene, but I have the stresnil, oxytocin and some colostrum ready in case things don't go quite so well.  I have the vets number to hand for any internals.

What do you do now?  Aside from getting all stressed!  Honestly I feel more concerned now than when had my own.

[Horse & Farm]

My OH will spend all night with our Sows, with orders for me to bring her coffee every hour.
 we have had so many sows farrow now over time that she will still be with them the whole time when they start even after all this time i find it amazing when it starts, hope it all goes ok

[Mrs Snoodles]

Nothing happened. We've been going up to the farm every couple of hours.  Just now, she got up and had some food and seemed normal again.
False alarm.
My son is going into school today. He's going to be really cheesed off.

[Mammyshaz]

Oh, how frustrating. I was hoping for a piccie IOC piglets this morning.

 You can get your head down now, for a while at least. Just in case she was checking out your reactions  and keeping you on your toes, ready for the real thing tonight   

I will be watching this post and waiting 

[hughesy]

Our saddleback Daisy showed absolutely no sign of imminent farrowing the night before she was due. No nesting, no behaviour changes, still eating well and rolling in the wallow. When I went to check the next morning she'd done it all on her own and was happily feeding her new litter. Missed it completely.

[Beewyched]

I check every feedtime (twice a day) for milk - just give a teat a wee squeeze.  If there's milk/colostrum then she'll probably start withion the next 12 hours.  The restlessness & nesting can start a day or 2 earlier (I liken it to the human "braxton hicks" stage).
When I see the milk starting, I check every hour & stay with her untill she's finished - they often have a break half-way through & get up & change sides (2 afterbirths - 1 from each "horn" of the womb) I stay untill I've seen both afterbirths - which I will remove (I've only ever seen 1 sow eat hers).
Plenty of towels for rubbing-off newborns & iodine for the cords (cotton incase you need to tie-off a bleed) & some Sweetheart Stout - 2 in case mum gets stressed & 2 for you 
Don't forget, flasks of coffee & a warm blanket for yourself - look forward to hearing the happy news     
 

[Mrs Snoodles]

It is so frustrating. She's back to normal this morning only getting a bit icky with me checking her teats, very chatty though in that lifting the snout kind of way.   I was nearly tempted to give her a kiss on the end of her snout then common sense got the better of me.  My gut feeling is to leave her be now today and check as Beewchyd says at feed time. We are already worn out!
Bed time soon.   Just got to finish all the usual chores.

We should have 5 more litters before the end of the year.  I hope I don't get as silly over those as I feel right now!  I can't think about anything else  .  I was going to see Anna Kariena for a couple of hours to take my mind of off things but I think sleep might be better.

[Tamsaddle]

I know exactly how you feel.   I get incredibly wound up in the last few hours waiting for it all to start, and find it very difficult trying to get some sleep as I would much rather be outside checking what is going on.   But don't worry if you do miss a bit of it, most pigs manage perfectly well without any human help at all.   Even though it is an incredible and magical experience if you do get to be there at the right time, I have learnt over several litters to try and keep my distance, out of sight and smell, watching from around a corner if possible, and only ever intervening if it is really necessary.   Tamworths in particular seem hyper-sensitive to having a human audience, saddlebacks are much less bothered.   
Do hope it happens soon and all goes well.  In our case, milky teats plus nesting behaviour have been dead cert indicators that farrowing will start within 12 hours, never been longer than that.  Looking forward to news, and piccies too.   Good luck - Tamsaddle 

[Fowgill Farm]

Our GOS are always 4 days later than their due date, don't know why but thats how it seems to go. GOS generally don't mind you being there but i have a cctv camera rigged up and can watch from the house which means she can thrash & trash to her hearts content before settling down to get on with the job and i dash out at the first strain usually though in July i stayed with Clover in a sleeping bag which at one point she decided she would like it to make her nest with trouble was i was in it when she decided to drag it to her side of the farrowing shed , any chance you could rig up a webcam or something similar?
Agree entirely its frustrating i lose sleep for about a week around farrowings and it takes a lot to catch it up!
   Mandy 

[Beewyched]

... though in July i stayed with Clover in a sleeping bag which at one point she decided she would like it to make her nest with trouble was i was in it when she decided to drag it to her side of the farrowing shed ...
   Mandy 

I can just picture it now 

[Mrs Snoodles]

So I am not completely mad then? Or rather if I am, then I am in good company 
She seems perfectly normal tonight. I am in a tizz about the amount of straw in the farrowing area, and she has shuffled huge mounds into place but I am resigned to the fact that she is having the babies not me and I will stop fussing. We are all going to bed as normal tonight after having plenty of wine tonight. 

Staying out in a sleeping bag.....it reminds me of a school friends gran, who was a shepherdess and slept in a tent for a fortnight every lambing up until the age of 75!!!

I am just praying that we haven't all got it completely wrong and are seeing what we want to see rather than what is, you know after what the vet said.   Wish I could post pics. I can get them on my phone but not onto this iPad   

[P6te]

Wish I could post pics. I can get them on my phone but not onto this iPad   

If you can put them on Photobucket from your phone, you should then be able to post them here from your iPad.

Pete

[Beewyched]

Keep an eye on the huge mounds of straw - that's one of the factors that can cause squished piglets.
What's the betting you'll get up tomorrow & find she's done it all by herself 

[Mrs Snoodles]

Thanks ...I'll rearrange her bedding tonight.  She's on concrete and I  didn't want the piglets to get cold, but now she's bundled it all up anyway and left spaces.

[Mrs Snoodles]

I think she had a contraction last night after a poo. She stood very still and I could clearly see her body tensing in, then out.  Her normal self this am but thereis the tiniest amount of milk when I squeeze her back teat so fingers crossed, maybe tonight