Hi Clive,
It sounds like it might be hernia's
Though it's quite unusal to have such a high percentage in one litter (even in Kunekunes where there is a much higher incidence of hernia's) They don't usually affect them when it comes to growing on for pork, but I wouldn't earmark any of the litter for future breeding (others might disagree)
We had a Kunekune boar with a suspected hernia (destined for meat) until someone came along looking for some pigs and Lumpy went along with them
The new owners fell in love with him and decided to keep him and get a hernia repair and castration done by the vet.
On examination it turned out not to be a hernia after all, but an underdeveloped testical on one side and fluid in the other (I
think, my memory isn't the best
) but it definately wasn't a hernia in that case.
Have they been getting picked up and handled a lot ?
What breed and age are they ?
Karen