Tiny 4 day old piglet, please help!!!

[Melanie]

My mini potbelly pig, Sadie,had 8 piglets on the 15th. It was a horrible labor for Sadie, as it lasted 36 hours and we had to assist in two of the piglets births. The last piglet was a still born. We will not breed Sadie again. We noticed several hours after this little girl was born she was unable to suck well enough to get milk. We started dropper feeding as soon as we noticed. The milk replacer we had on hand was nurse all. We are feeding her every 3-4 hours and giving 15 ml. She is active but tiny and she seems to stand slightly hunched. Is there anything else we can do for her???

Here is some pics to show the size difference.

 

[Melanie]

We have decided to change her feeding schedule to see if it helps. Now she gets 10ml every 2 hours. We started this last night and this morning she looks like she has a full belly like the other piglets. Hopefully this will help.

 

[jk47]

It will most likely be the runt and be considerably smaller and for the hunched back it looks like it could be deficient in somthing. Have you already given an iron shot or has it had the firsf milk

 

[Melanie]

She did not get a shot of iron. I read that can cause them to scour. All the piglets got a drop of poly-vi-sol with iron and their cords cleaned and sniped after birth. I also keep a flat pan of dirt in their enclosure for them to root around in. If this is not sufficient for the iron I have no problem getting the iron shot. She appeared to be nursing after she was born. I watched each one to make sure they were nursing. I do not believe she got any colostrum because she still is unable to suck and get milk from Sadie. She looks better with the every 2 hour feedings and even looks a lot less hunched. Thank you for the input.

 

[Melanie]

Update...all the piglets are big and healthy. Two have gone to their new home, Yay!!! The small piglet never nursed but did catch up in size and is now as big as the others. Here is some updated pics of the piglets.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So nice that the little piglet caught up...sounds like a testament to good nursing care!