Pamela
Loving the herd life
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2015
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- 233
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Yesterday, our second sow, Penelope, farrowed. She had 15 piglets in just a couple of hours. 3 were DOA, 2 of them looking like they had possibly had a twin to twin transfusion problem (if such a thing exists in pigs) 1 was really small, like the size of a cube and a half of butter, and the other was enormous, about the size of our month old litter. These 2 came out consecutively and were both DOA. Anyhow, after she finished, she got up and went into her farrowing crate. My son and I locked her up so she could eat and lay down to nurse, but not have such a high risk of stepping/laying on her babies. At 7 pm, we had 12 babies, by 8 pm we were down to 10 with the missing 2 nowhere in sight. This morning we had 9, with the one she had stepped on prior to being crated, having died. No big surprise. We came home from church to 9, but a couple of hours later were down to 7. The babies are getting sucked under her in one way or the other. I know I have said that with moms this big and litters this big, you have to expect some losses, but 8 in less than 24 hours is ridiculous! I am at a loss as to what to do next. I feel that if we pull them this early they will certainly die, but if we leave them on mom, they are just as likely to die. They have had colostrum, so there is that bonus. If I have to pull them, how do I keep them alive? Any thoughts? My two does are still in milk because I haven't been inclined to wean their babies just yet, so I do have a source of fresh goat mild, if that helps.