PIGLETS:

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2014

05 February:

A New Arrival

Images of young
(spekled) piglet

12 February:

.....and a new friend -for company
Meeting the new kid on the Block!

15 February:

Meeting young chicks

-Getting to know the world around them

Images of mother
hen showing young chicks the world in which they live

19 February:

The Pigs take a break

-while their pen is renovated

Images of piglets
taking a holiday while the pig pen is renovated

August 2014:

Good Bye Dindin III

Images of dead pig

Fiestas are bad times for pigs -and San Roque's fiesta is mid August. Miss Piggy was bought to fatten up for my birthday feast in May -but she was so beautiful we decided to keep her for breeding. So, a week later we bought Dindin III. She is the third pig we have fattened -each one with the same name.

In early May, we decided to save Dindin for fiesta. A short stay of execution, however, this time her luck did run out.

But we had meat in the fridge for a long time...... Penny's family too.

....and Miss Piggy's a big girl now!

05 December:

Penny, trying to ride Miss Piggy -to see if she is fertile

Images of woman trying to ride pig

Miss Piggy failed the test -so we try again next month
(after improving her diet)

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2015

13 January:

Miss Piggy gets pregnant?

Images of pig being artificially inceminated in the dark

View from above of pig being artificially inseminated

14 January:

Miss Piggy -The Morning After

Image of Pig the morning after insemination

05 February:

Miss Piggy and friend enjoy the sun

Images of PIg and chick

24 February:

Condemned Chicken House and Pig Pen

Images of old pig pen and chicken house -before being
demolished to make new pig pen

before demolition for construction of new Pig Pen

25 February:

....and down she goes!

Images of Chicken house being demolished to build new pig
pen

Then digging up the pig pen floor to place deep litter flooring

Digging up the floor of pig pen area -for deep litter
flooring

26 February:

Pit for deep litter floor started

Images of nearly dug deep litter floor for pig pen

27 February:

....and the pig pen continues to rise

Images of pig pen under construction

28 February:

....as the roof starts to take shape

Images of Nipa roof being constructed for pig pen

04 March:

Pig Pen fences ready to be attached

Images of Pig Pen under construction

05 March:

Pig Pen nearing completion

Images of pig pen under construction

07 March:

Miss Piggy enjoying her new home

Images of completed pig pen -with pig

04 May:

Miss Piggy takes a break while finishing touches are added to the maternity suit

Images of men working on pig pen

Bebe and Alex add anti-roll bars to protect piglets

06 May:

Miss Piggy awaits her term

Images of pregnant pig resting

09 May:

11:50 PM -Strange noises in the pig pen

Images of newly born piglets

10 May:

Eight hungry piglets

Images of young piglets in a box

Miss Piggy is shy about feeding them

The Full Litter

Immages of dead, sick and healthy piglets from a single
litter

2 Born dead, 2 crippled (one more than the other) and 8 healthy

11 May:

Modifications to Miss Piggy's pen attempting to stop her crushing piglets

Images of newly modified pig pen

(Two healthy piglets crushed in the night)

The Cripple and the Runt finally died

Images of two dead piglets

4 PM 3 PM

Six Survivors

Images of live piglets in a box

(However, there are still feeding problems with mother's milk)

12 May:

Second Runt dies in the night
(trampled on by others)

14 May:

Five Hungry Piglets

Images of hungry piglets running around in creep space

Farrowing Pen has become a Creep Space as refuge

Miss Piggy enjoys a snooze, a snack and a massage before work

Images of pig sleeping, eating and being massaged

Waiting to be let out

Images of piglets waiting to see mother

At Last!

Images of suckling piglets

But still problems with mother's milk -now being hand fed since Monday afternoon

So back home for a snack....

Images of Piglets being fed by bottle

25 May (Monday):

First warnings of diarrhea

Early warnings of diarrhea

26 May (Tuesday):

The struggle to provide fluids to keep them alive

Imgages of sick piglet being hand fed

They go to bed -and we prepare for the next session

Images of piglets and supplies for feeding

Feeding every 30 -60 mins. -when they wake up

...and we sleep between meals too...

Images of spmeone sleeping next to pig pen -ready for
feeding

piglets huddle together -but one dies

Images of sick and dead piglets

We are up all night -but Whitey dies at around midnight

27 May (Wednesday):

Trying to save the survivors

Images of sick piglets being hand fed

Our Dinner and Discussion in the pig pen

People eating dinner in the pig pen while discussing
situation

For the pigs: 6 PM Self-service buffet -with 2 hourly replenishment

Images of sick piglets and their pen

Not enough helpers -and everybody too tired to stay up all night again

8 PM Feeding

Images of sick piglets

All very weak -will any survive?

10 PM Feeding

Images of sick and dead piglets

Still very weak -and Mr. Spotty dies between feedings

Midnight Feeding

Images of sick piglets

Very sleepy again

28 May (Thursday):

2 AM Feeding

Images of pig buffet and feeding piglets

A shaky start to the day

4 AM Feeding

Survivors cheering up -with supplies ready for next feed

6AM Feeding

Images of Pig Buffet and sleepy pigslets

Pretty tired again

8 AM Feeding

Images of sick piglets sleeping

10 AM Feeding

Images of dead and sick piglets

Piglets cuddled up to dead sister

Midday Feeding

Images of sick piglets feeding

A little late.... but well appreciated....

2 PM Feeding

Images of sick piglets feeding

Blackie is rather sluggish and not eating much

4 PM Feeding

Images of sick piglet

Goodbye Blackie

Image of alive and dead piglet

6 PM 7.30 PM

Now it's Sleeping, Playing and Eating for the lone survivor

Who is lonely and now loves playing with his care givers

29 May (Friday):

The new daytime arrangement

Images of pig pen with surviving piglet

01 June:

After dinner Nose-Ball

Images of piglet eating and playing

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Note: The sow, Miss Piggy, was injected by an animal feed technician with Sustalin-LA (Oxytetracycline) within 24 hours after farrowing. Our research on the drug reveals that Sustalin-LA is used for infections such as pneumonia and should not to be given to lactating sows at all. This indiscriminate use of the antibiotic drug may have been what caused our sow's sudden agalactia or loss of milk.

The advice (from an animal foodstuff supplier) regarding treatment of scour (diarrhea) in the piglets was also incorrect. We should not have given Gatorade and did not need the Amoxicillin anti-biotic. Aprolite should have been sufficient -and could have been given earlier as prevention.

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Agrodok publications list

Pig keeping in the tropics
— Housing, breeding, reproduction, nutrition, healthcare, AD-1, ISBN 90-77073-53-1, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
— Download here

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Garden Diary
Project Home Farm

Trevor Batten
<trevor at tebatt dot net>
Baclayon 2015
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