Fair shows typically don't follow ARBA show standards of disqualifications. Unless it is a sanctioned show, the judges are generally more interested about helping the kids learn and will overlook things that disqualify in the sanctioned show ring. How did your marking work? What method did you use? I would agree with tatooing a dot in the left ear that you can cover later, or simply sharpie-ing it up. all that baby fur is going away eventually. You're right about those mommas being good cleaners! That's the prey instinct at work...no smells to attract predators to the nest, so the babies have to be spotless!
I had a large and small litter of nzw this week, and wanted to blend them as a couple little ones in the large litter were pretty thin on day two. I want to keep a buck out of this batch to start my line breeding program, so it is important to me to know which litter they came from. I've always raised show prospects in the past and eaten my leftovers, but these guys are just for eating. So I got the nerve to ear notch...oh how it pained me to damage a little ear, ingrained as I am with show dq's and proper type. But the deed is done! No going back! For anyone queasy about notching newborns, I used a pair of sharp toenail clippers on the tip of the left ear of two kits, making a small slit then meet it to make a v shaped notch. There was no blood and one of the two didn't even flinch. The other barely wiggled for the second cut. So it's pretty painless all around. I grew up raising pigs commercially (before the super farms put everyone out of business) and that is a much measure ordeal.