Piglets at any moment now.

[Pamela]

I just checked on our mama pig, she is due tomorrow, I am thinking it will be any moment! She is dripping mucus, her milk line is enormous! This will be her second litter. She raised 9 of her 12 last time. 2 were stillborn, 1 got stepped on. I hope she will hold off until tomorrow though. We have a dance recital and a musical tonight so I won't be back until midnight.

 

[Pamela]

11 so far!

 

[Latestarter]

Well, isn't it always the way? They just wait till the most inopportune time to go right? You said you wouldn't be back till midnight, but posted at 10:41. Or was that my time - Mnt, and you east coast time making it after midnight? Sorry, I can't remember (if you stated anywhere) where you live.

Anyway, Congrats! Hope after all done they are all healthy and mom's being a good mom.

 

[Baymule]

Waiting on pictures!!!!

 

[Pamela]

I actually got home earlier than anticipated. I'm in Idaho, so mtn time as well. My husband got home shortly after nine and she had 3 on the ground. One was pushed to the side and cold, dh brought it in, warmed it and fed it some goat milk. It went back out after a few hours and was happily nursing at midnight, but dead this morning. Mama pig had 13 total, the last one being DOA and arriving sometime late this morning. We have lost 2 additional piglets to being laid/stepped on. Mama is 600 lbs so staying off of little slow moving bodies is tricky. She is now in the farrowing crate and babies are doing well.

 

[jhm47]

The feeding of the goat milk is more than likely what killed the "cold" baby. It needed porcine colostrum, and the substitution of milk that is alien to it's digestive system caused it to have severe digestion problems. These babies are quite fragile in the first hours of their lives, and it doesn't take much to cause them to die. That being said, after a couple days they are quite resilient, and can eat most anything.

 

[Pamela]

That is a possibility. However, since I have never milked a pig nor do I ever plan to, I believe my husband was doing what he felt best at the time. The mama had already tried to cull the piglet once, it was no surprise that she did it again, the second time with success. She has been doing quite well with the nine and we hope she will continue to do so. Nursing 9 piglets will take a tremendous amount of weight off of her, so I am, in fact, relieved that not all 13 have survived.

 

[misfitmorgan]

The feeding of the goat milk is more than likely what killed the "cold" baby. It needed porcine colostrum, and the substitution of milk that is alien to it's digestive system caused it to have severe digestion problems. These babies are quite fragile in the first hours of their lives, and it doesn't take much to cause them to die. That being said, after a couple days they are quite resilient, and can eat most anything.

Goat milk did not kill the piglet that would be ridiculous. Goat milk is the #1 recommended non-formula milk replacer for piglets. Literally 100's of people use goat milk to feed piglets. Also if there was anything that could kill a piglet in Goat milk, products like "Nurse All" would not list pigs and goats among the many animals it can feed. While the piglets do need colostrum, colostrum is also not specifies specific and a newborn animal not getting colostrum 99% of the time does not kill them in less then 24hrs. We have had many goats, lambs, and piglets that did not get colostrum and did not die at all. We recently finished nursing botbelly piglets whose mother was killing them and not letting them eat at all. They never got colostrum at all and were nursed on goat milk and multi-species formula...no problems.

The piglet more likely died from getting to cold or being laid on.

 

[misfitmorgan]

That is a possibility. However, since I have never milked a pig nor do I ever plan to, I believe my husband was doing what he felt best at the time. The mama had already tried to cull the piglet once, it was no surprise that she did it again, the second time with success. She has been doing quite well with the nine and we hope she will continue to do so. Nursing 9 piglets will take a tremendous amount of weight off of her, so I am, in fact, relieved that not all 13 have survived.

Your hubby did well.

 

[jhm47]

Goat milk did not kill the piglet that would be ridiculous. Goat milk is the #1 recommended non-formula milk replacer for piglets. Literally 100's of people use goat milk to feed piglets. Also if there was anything that could kill a piglet in Goat milk, products like "Nurse All" would not list pigs and goats among the many animals it can feed. While the piglets do need colostrum, colostrum is also not specifies specific and a newborn animal not getting colostrum 99% of the time does not kill them in less then 24hrs. We have had many goats, lambs, and piglets that did not get colostrum and did not die at all. We recently finished nursing botbelly piglets whose mother was killing them and not letting them eat at all. They never got colostrum at all and were nursed on goat milk and multi-species formula...no problems.

The piglet more likely died from getting to cold or being laid on.

Colostrum most certainly IS species specific, and baby mammals that don't receive the correct antibodies will not get the immunity that colostrum imparts into their systems. Goat milk could be fine for piglets that have received colostrum, but it's never good to give it as their first feeding.

In fact, calves that receive colostrum from cows that are on different farms from where they are born often are susceptible to scours and pneumonia. This often happens when a cow has no milk, and someone goes to another farm or dairy and gets colostrum to feed to the calf. I will grant you that feeding bovine colostrum from another farm is better than no colostrum at all, but it's always better to feed colostrum from another cow that has been on the same farm, where the bacteria and viruses are the same.