Pig Tales and Porkers... page 3, Farrowing

Farrowing, by a Mucky Midwife

One of the best memories I have of our pigs dear reader, is spending nights in a pig pen next to a sow ready to farrow.

Sitting in the warm, or laying on fresh clean straw beside the farrowing crate, waiting for things to happen is really quite terrifying the first time, but becomes a delight once you have mastered a few techniques.

First lesson, Madam Sow is the boss and will decide when, and if she will give birth that night.
If she decides to cooperate, the piglets are delivered in succession encased in a membrane which must quickly be removed, the mouth opened and any gunk removed, all airways must be cleared and the pigs breathing checked, a brisk chest rub and, or a few breaths into their mouth always worked for me.
There is nothing as beautiful as a warm newborn piglet, they feel like silk and look divine.

One big problem is that piglets are born with sharp little teeth and they can bite the sow causing her pain which can make her stand up and refuse to feed the newborns. They can also damage the sows teats and cause infection to set in, rendering the sow unable to feed the piglets at all.

Sows have 14 teats and all our litters seemed to be around 14 so it was vital that all teats were delivering a good flow of milk.
The only answer to this and to save the sow from pain and discomfort and ensure happy feeding times is to clip piglets teeth as soon as they are born.

To clip piglets teeth you will need a good pair of clippers, the pliers type of toe nail clippers are very good for this.

As soon after birth as possible, ( if you are at the birth and can do this before the piglet goes to suckle so much the better) open the mouth and clip the teeth as close as the gum as possible, being careful not to catch the gums and making sure the tongue is out of the way.
Work as quickly as possible, once you master this technique it only takes seconds and neither sow nor piglet realise anything has been done.

Present piglet to the teat and make sure it suckles as this first feed is vital as it contains colostrums.
Doing this 13 times more and I have a happy sow and 14
Feeding or sleeping piglets.

All quiet for an hour now if I am lucky, quick sleep and then check all is well at the next feed, then leave them in peace until morning. Although we used farrowing crates e never closed the gate on so the sows could walk out if they chose and we never had a sow crush a piglet the entire time we were farming pigs.

Infrared heating lamps at one end of the pen meant the piglets could keep warm and mum could have a stroll out and get some fresh air or do her own thing between feeds.

Thus begins a good healthy life for the piglets and maintains healthy and happy sows, and a sane pigwife.

At this happy point I shall close dear reader, until next time when I will talk about how to tell when a sow is in heat and when exactly she will stand for the boar

Page 4 Breeding Pigs

page 2 How to move pigs

page 1 getting started with pigs