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Author Topic: How and when to tell if "in pig"  (Read 7965 times)

greengumbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #15 on: May 25, 2018, 11:50:30 am »
UPDATE:

Well we are pretty sure she is in pig now. No signs of heat since AI. She is visibly bigger now around the belly (especially on one side ?) and spends a lot of time sleeping or resting.

She was AI on the 25th March so we think she will be due around the 19th July ?

Exciting times. :pig:

greenbeast

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #16 on: May 25, 2018, 01:37:41 pm »
good fun, never gets old and we have 12 sows :)

greengumbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #17 on: July 02, 2018, 09:14:00 am »
2 weeks (ish) to go......her teats are huge now and she is swelling more and more by the day.

We plan to let her farrow in her pig ark that has a bar and hope to let her get on with it (obviously we will be standing by if needed!) but if anyone has any great tips or other opinions that would be really excellent.


harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #18 on: July 02, 2018, 12:01:18 pm »
The vast majority of farrowing go well and without any assistance. Only 2% of all the farrowings need intervention so relax.


My tips are
  • Watch from a distance if at all possible. First timers and old timers can be upset by people getting too close. That's when they jump up and stand on piglets.
  • Keep a walking stick to hand and a pig board. Piglets that have got trapped behind Mum etc can often be hooked out of danger with a stick. Always have a board handy.
  • Use a farrowing ark with back door. Escape routes always a good idea.
  • Don't use lots of bedding, especially long straw. Piglets get stuck/lost in it. I like shavings. Driers pigets off quickly and they don't get stuck in it.
  • She may farrow outside the ark so be aware.
  • Piglets need to be kept within the ark initially as they can wander off during farrowing and get lost/cold.
Keep us informed  :thumbsup:

greengumbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #19 on: July 16, 2018, 11:35:34 am »
All great advice !

Phew well that was and is nerve wracking. She started to properly build a nest in the arc at about midday yesterday then was really restless all afternoon and looking huge underneath....like everything had dropped.

About 9 - 10pm she would lie in the arc on her side for 30 mins wheezing and then getting up again. Finally at about 11 she popped out the first piglet but it seemed to confuse her and she was up and down. I managed to hook it out the way a few times and we removed even more straw after seeing how helpless they were which did make a difference. Second piglet came out about 20 mins after the first and again she was standing up and down and we were worried sick. Finally she lay down for the night and delivered 13 (we think!!) piglets with three stillborn.

This morning the 10 remaining were feeding well. Still worried she will squish them as she seems to get up and down a lot. Hopefully as they get stronger they can get out the way. Any advice to help ?

I will certainly be getting an ark with a back door in the future as I can see how it helps. Might even prepare a bit in a barn for her.

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #20 on: July 16, 2018, 01:14:10 pm »
Well done all.


Does the ark have farrowing rails? Not much you can do now to change anything. As I said earlier not too much straw. Sows in arks produce a large amount to heat to keep piglets warm. If possible feed her when they have just sucked and going to sleep. That way hopefully they aren't under her feet.

greengumbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #21 on: July 16, 2018, 01:38:29 pm »
It has one farrowing rail but not great to be honest....In hindsight I would not use the arc but thats experience for you !

Yes the straw tip was great. We removed a lot from the arc at first and thought it looked quite minimal but after we saw the piglets I realised you meant a lot less !

Fingers crossed the rest thrive :)

greengumbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2019, 01:55:06 pm »
The vast majority of farrowing go well and without any assistance. Only 2% of all the farrowings need intervention so relax.


My tips are
  • Watch from a distance if at all possible. First timers and old timers can be upset by people getting too close. That's when they jump up and stand on piglets.
  • Keep a walking stick to hand and a pig board. Piglets that have got trapped behind Mum etc can often be hooked out of danger with a stick. Always have a board handy.
  • Use a farrowing ark with back door. Escape routes always a good idea.
  • Don't use lots of bedding, especially long straw. Piglets get stuck/lost in it. I like shavings. Driers pigets off quickly and they don't get stuck in it.
  • She may farrow outside the ark so be aware.
  • Piglets need to be kept within the ark initially as they can wander off during farrowing and get lost/cold.
Keep us informed  :thumbsup:

Just opening this thread again as we are now sure that our sow is back in pig and wanted to prepare an indoor area for her when the time comes (Due late April).

We have a concrete floored barn with power points for a hung heat lamp and can get her into this area a day or two in advance when she is showing signs. So I wondered what we should do to fully prepare. We plan on having a corner sectioned off by some kind of bar with the heat lamp suspended above that the piglets can get to without risk of crushing. But if she delivers in the opposite corner of the room - will they even make it across or should we be prepared to move the heat lamp / bar etc ?

If anyone can point to a good set up with images then that would be grand. 

greenbeast

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #23 on: March 01, 2019, 06:45:09 pm »
They move remarkably well, remarkably early.

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #24 on: March 01, 2019, 07:26:30 pm »
Newborn piglets can move an amazing distance. So once they've had their first feed they look for heat and a place to snooze. Often they can be found asleep on the sows teat.

To keep them in our arks we place fenders on the front. This serves two purposes.One is to keep the piglets in the older and more mobile they get. Second to deter predators from getting in.
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

pharnorth

  • Joined Nov 2013
  • Cambridgeshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #25 on: March 02, 2019, 02:58:34 am »
We have a similar set up, concrete floor, bars in the corner protecting a space under a heat lamp. If we are around amd the sow is agreeable to,it we shuffle the first piglet under the heat lamp if it doesnt go there immediatly by itself.  They can move ver soon after birth and are very quick to go to the warmest place.  Smart little things.

greenbeast

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #26 on: March 04, 2019, 09:37:32 pm »
To add the other side, our sows all farrow in unheated arks. Although we are not free from crushing deaths....

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #27 on: March 05, 2019, 07:11:20 pm »
To add the other side, our sows all farrow in unheated arks. Although we are not free from crushing deaths....

Dig in the sides of the huts/arks with mud and have the main door facing east to try and stop the breeze/wind from blowing into it (most common wind direction for the UK is SW to W winds). We also add 'curtains' to the doors to help stop the breeze getting in. You'll be surprised just how much heat stays n the hut/ark when doing so.
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

greenbeast

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #28 on: March 06, 2019, 03:29:14 pm »
Indeed, 90% of our arks have the door in the lee of the prevailing winds (mostly to the south, south west here near the south east coast)

greengumbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How and when to tell if "in pig"
« Reply #29 on: August 29, 2019, 01:52:46 pm »
Opening up the post again !

Plum pig was due to farrow this week but we found it too stressful for her to move to barn so left her to farrow in the ark again. She showed no signs last night but this morning at 7am there were 3 piglets feeding away. She is huge so I expected a lot more.....4th one arrived about 9am. Nothing since. She is still lying down but doesn't seem too stressed and her food is gone so I suspect she has been up and about. Have not been able to get a very good look inside ark but......would you think she is done at four ? Very small litter for the size of her and going on previous litter. Have you heard of this long between births ?

Going to ask vets for advice but you guys are super informative !

Good news is all 4 doing great.

 

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