-June 2019:
Pinkie and No.Three Try Again -but
he keeps falling off
Another Attempt to bring Pinkie and No.Three Together was Quickly Abandoned
-because she had lost interest
No.Three Moved to Maternity Pen
Increased Ventilation for the Farrowing Pen
No.Three Has Problems Again
Banana Tree Harvested -For Food, Forage, Compost and Nesting Material for Sow
Balcony Fencing Finished -In case we have "orphans" again
Farrowing Not Started Yet
Still Nothing from No.Three
Another False Alarm
Tuesday, June 25:
Wednesday, June 26:
Thursday, June 27:
A Normal Day
Although some piglets have wounds on their noses from sibling fights
Friday, June 28:
Another Normal Day
Still Concerned about the Runt getting enough to drink
Saturday, June 29:
Sow and Piglets Seem to Understand Each Other -and Stay Separate when not nursing
Piglets fairly Active -but haven't discovered the Exit yet
Sunday, June 30:
All Seems Well
Piglets at Last Start to Discover the Garden
Then Tragedy: Mother stands on sleeping piglet and kills it
Monday, July 01:
Still Hungry and Sleepy.....
....but More Adventurous Too
Tuesday, July 02:
One week Old Tonight!
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Unfortunately, we did not respond quickly on June 30 -when a piglet was trodden on by the sow.
This was because we had often had incidents of crushing where a surviving piglet complains to their mother.
We did not realize that the death cries were different to those of an angry but otherwise viable piglet.
However, given the nasty flesh wound, it is also not certain that we could have saved the piglet if we had responded earlier.
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Apart from the one tragic incident, this seems to have been an almost perfect farrowing.
The relatively small number of piglets -and perhaps the fan -coupled with the good natural instincts of the sow have given us (up to July 2) little reason to intervene. We did not cut any teeth, for example.
However, Fatima did give some preventative anti-biotic just before farrowing actually started.
On the other hand, the piglets did seem rather lazy and unadventurous in the beginning. It took them a relatively long time (compared with other litters) to discover the exit and the garden. However, once the discovery was made they were often outside, either sleeping or playing in the garden.
These piglets also seemed to be less shy and nervous regarding our presence. That may be because of their personalities -or it may be because we are more accustomed to dealing with piglets.
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For several days we were worried if the runt (who is very small in comparison to the others) was getting enough milk.
However, she seem to be managing quite well -and is reasonably active.
Now the piglets are venturing outside the pen -we can provide extra milk (if required) where the mother can't reach it.
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PIGLETS -June 2016
More Piglets
Even More Piglets
Auntie Brownie's Second Farrowing (2017)
No.Three's Third Farrowing (2018)
Brownie's Third Farrowing (2018)
No.Three's Fourth Farrowing (2018)
Brownie's Fourth Farrowing (2019)
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Piglet Mortality Log
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