Hi all,
Bertha farrowed this afternoon. She had 8 piglets which were all delivered between 4pm and about 5.15 today.
Unfortunately, number 2 to be born was very small in size, and although holding her to the teat repeatedly, she found it very difficult to keep latched on while her brothers and sisters were all moving around. We left her sleeping peacefully, but don't expect her to be alive tomorrow. All other piglets are feeding off Bertha extremely well.
She really is only half the size of the others - quite strange we thought - although I expect those of you with much more experience than us have seen it many times.
We did contemplate hand feeding her, but everything we read and a phone call to a nearby farmer who used to breed pigs said even if you put in a lot of effort to that 1 piglet, it still may perish.
Survival of the fittest springs to mind.
Apart from keeping a regular eye on everything going forward, is there anything else we should be doing?
Any help is greatly appreciated.