Auntie Brownie's Second Farrowing:

December 2017



Imags of Boar and Sow in the same
        tropical backyard pen
Auntie Brownie and Boar Pinkie -28 August 2017


October  27:

Workers Constructing New Pig Pens

Images of construction of new tropical
        backyard pig pen

December  10:

Setting up the "Creep Space" for Piglets in the New Farrowing Pen

Images of creep space for piglets in
        farrowing pen

The Connection for Lighting is Established

Images of electrical connection to
        tropical backyard pig pen

December  11:

...and the Lighting is Installed in the Farrowing Pen

IMages of lighting in tropical
        backyard Farrowing Pen

December  13:

Auntie Brownie is Transferred to her new Farrowing Pen

IMages of Pregnant Sow being moved to
        a Farrowing Pen


Tuesday December 19:

Tuesday is our normal day for shopping but we decided to go yesterday, just in case...
Last time Auntie Brownie was also two days early.

06.00 AM -Normal feeding time, there were no signs of anything out of the ordinary. Brownie was also eating normally.

10.00 AM -Fatima noticed Brownie snouting the ground, trying to move the sawdust around. So Fatima gave her some banana leaves -which Brownie used to make a small nest.

02.00 PM

Images of tropical backyard sow
        getting ready to farrow

Images of tropical backyard sow shortly before
        farrowing

Still not much of a nest, but Brownie was both restless and tired.
The weather was also quite warm -at least 28 degrees and maybe above.

Images of tropical backyard sow
        farrowing -as seen from balcony of house

02.40 PM -From our balcony Fatima watched as the first piglet was born, very vigorous and looking just like his dad.

2.50 PM -Second piglet, like dad but more black than brown

3.00 PM -Brownie turns over to make her teats more accessible

3.02 PM -Third piglet, Black with a few light brown spots

3.07 PM -Fourth, like dad but more black on the face


Images of tropicalbackyard pig
        farrowing -seen from house balcony

3.09 PM -Brownie has a nibble on the nesting material

3.12 PM -Brownie is rooting in the leaves and making short grunting noises, the other two pigs answer her

3.15 PM -Brownie lies down again in the middle of the pen

Images of tropical farrowing watched
        from house balcony


3.19 PM -Fifth piglet , like dad and quite large

3.27 PM -Sixth piglet, Black and White (like mother)

3.28 PM -Seventh piglet, lots of Black spots on the backside and very vigorous

3.32 PM -Eighth piglet, like dad but spotty


Images of just born tropical backyard
        piglets
As far as we can see -a total of 8 live piglets Observed from our balcony about 10 -12 meters away.

It is now around 4.50 PM.  The other pigs were fed about 4 PM -but we haven't been near Brownie because we don't want to disturb her until she gets hungry. We are still observing her (from the balcony) to see when she wants feeding -and we can take a closer look.

Images of tropical backyard pig pen
        during farrowing

6.30 PM -There were loud squeals and we thought perhaps somebody was being crushed.
So we went down to have a look and to feed her.
Everything seemed to be ok -however, Fatima counted 10 piglets.....
So two must have been born after we had assumed farrowing was over.

Images of tropical backyard sow just
        after farrowing

We also gave her some food and water.
Then we fed ourselves.

Images of bean stew

I cooked a bean stew for dinner

Wednesday December 20:

Morning:
Images of tropical backyard piglets
        one day after being born

Everything seemed normal in the morning.

IMages of exhausted tropical backyard
        sow after farrowing the previous day

Although  (as is usual for the first 3 - 5 days after farrowing) Auntie Brownie is a bit under the weather
 -and off her food somewhat.
IMages of tropical backyard sow with
        one day old piglets

But we still have ten lovely piglets -in all sizes and colours!


Evening:
IMages of tropical backyard sow too tired to eat or
        drink after farrowing the previous day
Brownie was still very tired.
She didn't eat her normal food -but did eat some fruit and vegetables.
And she did drink some water later.

Images of tropical backyard sow being given a cooling
        wipe with a damp cloth after exhaustion from farrowing the
        previous day
Beacause Auntie Brownie was getting rather warn,  I washed her neck and shoulders  with a cool, damp, cloth.
IMages of tropical backyard piglets in the "creep
        space" where they cannot be crushed by their mother
The piglets seem to have already discovered the creep space  -intended to stop crushing by the mother

IMages of tropical backyard piglets one day after being
        born
 -including the built in "small piglet escape hatch".

A few piglets did venture outside already
 -but seemed overwhelmed by the space outside -and so quickly retreated back home.....
Images of one day old piglets exploring their
        environment
So Now you See them -and Now you Don't!

Thursday December 21:

Morning:

   Images of tropical
          backard sow not well after farrowing two days earlier
Piglets are doing fine -but Brownie remains exhausted -and is not eating or drinking,

Images of tropical backyard sow exhausted and with
          discharge after farrowing two days earlier
 There is some vaginal discharge as well (which is also fairly normal).

Images of tropical backyard sow
                suckling two day old piglets

No signs of distress apart from tiredness.

Although she is not getting up to eat and drink, she does continue to suckle her brood.

Apparently. there is a typhoon in the area: Quite a bit of rain today and so fairly cool.

Evening:

Images of sick tropical backyard sow after
              farrowing

5.30 PM
Still lying quietly, not eating or drinking. Still discharging.
Put a damp towel on her neck.
Tried to give her some water to drink and some green vegetables to eat -but she did not seem interested.
Gave a bit of a gentle stomach rub, Couldn't find any milk -but some piglets were still suckling -and they all went to sleep afterwards.
So we assumed she has been giving milk.

11.00 PM:
Auntie Brownie doesn't seem to have stood up for some time now. Just moves around the pen a little by dragging herself over the ground without getting up. In situations like this -it is often difficult deciding if she would be better left to rest -or if we should intervene. She hadn't eaten during the (4 pm) afternoon feed.

Gave her some fresh water which she seemed to appreciate -and then some water with molasses in (already prepared by Fatima). She drank quite a lot, so I we tried some leafy green vegetables -which she ate while lying down -and finally one scoop (normally two scoops) of commercial feed, which we put on the floor and she licked up. This was followed by some more water with molasses.

After a very brief rest -she moved slightly and called her piglets for suckling.

Friday December 22:

01 AM:
Images of tropical backyard sow recovering after a
        recent farrowing

More green vegetable and molasses water

06 AM:

Images of tropical backyard sow apparently recoverd
        after farrowing 3 days earlier

IMages of tropical backyard sow with three day old
        piglets

Brownie manages to get up for her usual feeding at the trough.
Everything seems to be getting back to normal.


9.30 AM:

Images of four day old tropicl backyard piglet taking a
        short trip outside the pen
One piglet goes exploring outside -but eventually finds its way home

Images of tropical backyard sow suckling piglets and
        having a snack

Brownie suckles her brood and has a small snack at the same time....
Everything now seems normal.

3.30 PM:

Image of tropical backyard sow eating normlly after
        having problems recovering from the farrowing

No Problems with getting up to eat now!

Images of four day old tropical backyard piglets huddled
        together for warmth

However, piglets are huddling together for protection against the cold, rainy, weather.


Saturday December 23:

Images of tropical backyard Sow with piglets eating

No problems getting up to eat today!

Images of tropical backyard
                  sow suckling piglets

Warm and Sunny today (30 degrees) -so its good to have a snack while lying down and suckling.


------

One week later we still have 10  live piglets!
 No stillbirths or porcine parvo virus infection this time.

------
This brings a happy ending to a somewhat difficult year -Involving:
-Two lots of builders (and five projects)
-Problems with Dutch banks
-An earlier problem with an entire litter being born dead from the porcine parvo virus
-An earthquake on Leyte that robbed us of electricity
 (and sometimes water) for several weeks.
------
 We are hoping that No.Three's litter (in about three months time) will also be normal.

------

December  27:

Crushed in the Night

Images of burial of dead
              tropical backyard piglet

January  06:

Another Dead Piglet

Images of burial of dead tropival backyard
                piglet

While Life goes on for the Others

Images of tropival backyard piglets
                    playing in the garden
For a day or so, Fatima had noticed that the runt (Ihid) wasn't drinking much milk and was very inactive. This morning, she put a bowl with water and molasses outside the pen because they all like to go out after suckling. The runt drank some.

A short while afterwards it was making strange noises, presumably with stomach cramps, and died very quickly.

We now have eight, large, healthy looking piglets -and we have no idea why this one failed to thrive.... Perhaps unlucky genetics.... I guess it shows one can't be too complacent.


Shirtly afterwards, I went down to get the body, and while coming back with it, heard a strange squeaky toy sound. I looked down and it seems I had trodden (or nearly trodden) on a young gecko (tuko) -about six inches long..... Fatima heard and saw it too -it was really pissed off -snapping in all directions and complaining bitterly.

It scared, and almost attacked, poor Twisty (our pet duck with a deformed beak) -who did look as if she had considered eating it.....

-------------------------------------------------

Fatima's Video of Brownie Suckling

A Funny Video

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Auntie Brownie's First Time Farrowing:

 Piglets 2015
Butlig's Diary

PIGLETS -June 2016
More Piglets
Even More Piglets

A Harrowing Farrowing

Garden Diary -December 2017

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Trevor Batten
 <trevor at tebatt dot net>
 Baclayon 2017
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