OK, I am probably stupid, but I brought home 4 piglets last night

[mama24]

The woman was giving away the little ones for free if you bought a bigger piglet b/c they looked like they were dying. I bought a healthyish looking older girl(none of them looked HEALTHY, but she looked pretty good compared to the half dead ones), and then gave her $20 for the 3 teeny weenies, 2 boys, 1 girl. They can't weigh more than 5lbs each and were obviously way way too young to be taken away from mama, which she admitted, said she bought them from someone else. I think I need to call a vet, but I wanted to ask for advice here, too. They don't seem to know how to eat. The smallest boy was dead this morning, which I was expecting sadly. The girls drank some water, but none of the 3 I have left have eaten anything that I can tell. I tried force feeding the 3 bitties a bottle of milk with sugar and half and half added last night, just to try and get some energy into them. The weakest one that died swallowed the most, the other boy a little, and the healthy (well compared to the boys anyway) none at all. Too little too late I guess. I have half a mind to call animal welfare people on the people I got them from. All they were feeding them was free out of date cookies. That's it. Not even oatmeal cookies, which would be slightly better, but lemon creams. There were hundreds of empty packets next to the pens and not a scrap of anything else in sight. And the water bucket was too high for the bitty ones to reach. temps in the 90's and 100's here the past week, and they were on dry dirt. They were in the shade, but they could have sprayed off one end to make them cooler or SOMETHING.

I gave them some wazine and sulmet last night, b/c I had those on hand for my chickens and goats and felt like I needed to do SOMETHING, and those were all I had in my animal med cabinet that were labeled for swine. The girls both look a lot better already today (and smell a heck of a lot better as well!) but the little boy isn't looking too good. I can see every bone in his body through his skin. I milked one of my goats right into a pan for them and put some puppy food and a little goat chow in it. I really have no experience with pigs, I hope that was OK. I thought the protein and fat would be what they needed most at this point and will get some pig chow later today. Not like they're actually eating it anyway. Maybe I need to go buy some cookies and throw them on the ground...

On the bright side, the burrowed into the hay in their pen and were MUCH cleaner and far less stinky this morning when we fished them out this morning. They do all have diarrhea, which is why I did the sulmet and wazine first off. What is the best wormer I should get for them when I get to the feed store later? I'm sure they need it. And any tips on getting them to actually eat something? I appreciate any advice. I know I am stupid for taking on little sick babies when I have no experience, but I am a huge softy when it comes to animals. And kids for that matter.

 

[Mo's palominos]

. I know I am stupid for taking on little sick babies when I have no experience, but I am a huge softy when it comes to animals. And kids for that matter.

It's just part of being a kind hearted person. You are at least giving them a fighting chance.
My dad use to let us bottle feed the "squeelers" as the were called. The runts that probably weren't going to make it, but that was 30 some years ago. I do remember we used whole milk and karo syrup. Goats milk should be good too. Will they drink any of it out of the pan? Maybe add a few of those lemon cookies to try to get them to taste the milk? Sorry I couldn't be much help. Good luck with the little ones

 

[mama24]

I just saw the big girl--she's probably a few weeks older--eating and drinking, so I know she'll make it at least. The 2 little ones keep burrowing behind and under some bales of hay I have on a pallet up on blocks. It's my goat/rabbit hay, and it's fine for them to use as bedding as long as they don't ruin it all. Anyway, I can't get to them. I sent my son in earlier this morning to pull them all out, that's how we found the dead one, and I tried to get them to eat then, but they didn't. They're not going to make it if I don't get them to eat. They are VERY thin and weak. I couldn't get them to take a bottle or eat/drink out of a pan. Thanks for your encouragement!

This is the big girl, my kids named her Bacon. I'm a huge softy, but we aren't vegetarians. LOL. She got out of the pen, went right under the gate! Whoops! LOL. But that's ok, it's just temporary. We already bought supplies to put up a large electric fence, and I'm planning on letting them range with the goats. I think as long as we butcher before any goat babies are born next spring, or the pigs get too big, they should be ok together.

 

[Mo's palominos]

Maybe your son could pull them out again and you could use a syringe to get some milk down them? Do you have some nutri-drench? You could try some of that to perk them up a bit.

 

[mama24]

Thanks! I gave them nutridrench last night and this morning both. It did seem to help, though they acted like I was killing them! LOL. I used the syringe on the advice of someone on Facebook. I mixed an egg in with the milk/cream/sugar I already had in teh bottle and gave that to them by syringe. The girl fought it and spit it out, the weaker boy started sucking and looking for more after the first squirt. I gave him about 15ml using a 5ml syringe before trying the bottle again, which he rejected again. While I was messing with him, the girl finally found the food I had out (milk/cream, puppy kibble, and scrambled eggs) and started wolfing that down. mostly drinking the milk. I went and fetched the older one who was still out, probably looking for cookies and brought her in. As soon as she saw the other one eating she went nuts. The little guy woke up from a short nap and ate a few mouthfuls, then they all settled in for a nap. I'm very happy and feeling more confidant that they'll make it. I need to go to the feed store. Is it worth me buying hog milk replacer? What kind of feed and wormer do you recommend I get for them?

Oh! Here's a pic.

 

[mama24]

That's a rabbit cage next to the mineral feeders, if that gives you an idea how tiny these babies are. They're as small as the English Spot rabbits I have in that cage!

 

[Mo's palominos]

Awwww. They are tiny!! I use wazine on my guinea hogs but not very often. Did you give them some already?
The replacer wouldn't hurt. I think the goats milk is good for them too. Maybe add some corn syrup to sweeten it a bit?
They do have a baby pig starter pellet at our co-op. Get something for piglets and make a mash out of it. They are under weight and anything nutritious you can get them to eat, should help. I'm so glad they are coming around for you !!!
I do remember the little piggy screams !!! Boy oh boy can they scream like the dickens !!!

 

[mama24]

With the help of a friend, I finally found the courage to call animal control just now. I hope they can save the rest of the piglets and whatever other animals they had hiding back in the woods. I just can't understand it. I mean, I understand buying and selling the piglets to make some extra cash, but you should make sure you can take good care of them while you have them!!!

 

[mama24]

I brought the boy into the house. The 2 girls kept rooting under him, looked like they were looking for a nipple, and he was too weak to get away. I syringe fed him 15ml of milk mixed with half and half again. Still haven't made it to the feed store, but will for sure this afternoon. I also weighed him after I fed him since he was in the house. 3.2lbs. Whoever took these babies off their mama has some big time karma coming to them! I wonder if any of the others made it? Woman I got them from said she had 8, I took the last 3.

I also think I will stop and get a baby bottle from WalMart or the dollar store next to Tractor Supply. My youngest baby is 4, I haven't had a bottle in the house for years. Maybe if I had a smaller nipple, he'd take a bottle. That would be easier than refilling the syringe. I think a bigger syringe would be too big for his mouth. I've been trying a lamb nipple. Not too big around, but probably too long.

He has pasty gray super stinky poo. And frequent. Every 15 min I'd say. I'm surprised he's hanging in there, frankly. Any ideas of anything else I can do to help him pull through? I gave him a bath and he's adorably pink with white white hair. Any guesses on his age? I'm thinking he can't be more than 2 or 3 weeks old, but i have no experience with pigs.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Yikes so sorry to have not "chirped" in here earlier. I doubt you will be able to find pig replacer! What you need is whole milk yogurt & that is hard to find in the stores these days due to the manufacturers thinking we all want "low fat" food! You mentioned goat milk so can you make your own yogurt? If you do not have any starter go grab a small pot of natural yogurt from the store. If it is not too late this will save the piglets. You will need to feed it in a syringe & squeeze it down their throats. My advice is to feed them in the sink & have the hot water tap ready to wash them off. They will get it all over themselves & you but they will be happy. Yogurt is important as it also acts as a Probiotic & helps their digestive system.

I don't need to tell you that those piglets are PAINFULLY thin. If you save them, give yourself a pat on the back but if you don't, don't cry too many tears - you have done your best. Cookies are not a good diet for them & if the place where you got them is as bad as you say then I would suspect they were not feeding the sow, hence the thin piglets.

Hope this helps,

Liz