[leighemmott]

Hi I have taken 7 orphaned piglets from a friend.

We go them on Saturday morning, they are under a heat lamp in kitchen in the dog cage on sawdust.

I have been feeding them with a bottle warm goats milk every two hours.

Am I doing it right and what do I do next.

Please any advice would be grateful, I have sheep and have reared lambs in the past but never pigs.

Cheers

Leigh

[RaisinHall Tamworths]

When I have reared them I have used powdered piglet milk never tried on goats milk. If you are happy bottle feeding then carry on but I fed mine every few hours and put the milk in a big tray and they slurped the milk up. Not ideal but they did fine, got messy though!! They will need an iron injection if they havent had one yet. I would try getting them on food as quick as possible, I mixed some grower pellets with milk and they started taking that well. I weaned mine at 3 weeks and they fattened by 6 months so werent too far behind those reared on the sows!
Good luck 

[LouiseG]

Hi, I hand reared one last year on goat strength lamlac so goat milk should be fine, I agree that although very messy a shallow dish was easier than a bottle especially as you have 7. Keep them very warm for the first few weeks as chills can bring them down very quickly. My vets weren't too worried about the iron injection so Percy didn't have one. I did struggle to wean him though as he liked his milk and refused pellets however I tried to disguise them  . Anyway he did eventually eat them when we went for the well eat them or go hungry approach at about 4 weeks.  He grew up to be a lovely pork pig who went in the freezer at about 8 months. 


Anyway Good luck 


Louise

[Marches Farmer]

A small pile of clean garden soil (I use molehills as they don't have livestock faeces or rotting vegetation in them) will do for iron.  Just keep it topped up.  Have 16% sow & weaner pellets available from about ten days old.