What Farrowing Supplies are Needed

Breeding questions, sow talk, semen management, baby pig basics
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ONeilShowPigs
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Post by ONeilShowPigs » Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:41 pm

one of the biggest things to look for when she starts is some brown colored mucus with little piglet poops in it. if you see this mucus coming out of her she has a pig that should be ready to come out. If she doesnt pass one in 45 min go in and check. Ive had many ive worried about with just some mucus and what not that havent really started. But over the years ive learned that when i see this its the real deal.
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Post by SpotShowDad » Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:20 pm

PJP wrote:If you want to mix it yourself I heard to buy a 200 ml bottle of iron and remove 100 ml then add 50 ml pen and 50 ml Draxxin. Others might be able to advise you better on this.
HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is why you should not believe everything you read on the internet.

Hopefully this is just a typo!!!!!!! The recipe given DIRECTLY from Dr. Hendricksons office is 2cc of draxxin[/size:0933cfce75] per 100ml of the iron/pen mixture.(2 parts 100mg iron and 1 part long acting pen)

Please do not add 50 ml of Draxxin to the iron/pen mixture!!!!!!!
"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." Franklin D Roosevelt

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Post by PJP » Sun Jan 24, 2010 10:08 am

Thanks for setting me straight like I said it is just what I heard off another forum, that is why I buy the premix.
Don't squat with your spurs on.

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oldobserver
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more advice

Post by oldobserver » Tue Jan 26, 2010 3:01 am

just what you wanted! more advice from the experts! wel l am not one of them but i have farrowed quite a few.
the oxytocin advice is very good. talk to your vet about how much to give and how often to give it. i use it on gilts and sows that have not had a pig in over an hour after they have been going a while.
try to get your crate built so you can contain her better. you can never tell how she is going to react to the whole process. some are great and others not at all. if you get all the supplies that have been suggested you should be in great shape.
i would add that you get the gilt/sow used to human contact prior to farrowing and be there to help farrow, dry off babies, clip navels and needle teeth ( i know some people disagree about the need for that but i think it needs to be done on farrow-day). scratch on her belly to get her used to layiing down with that simuilus if she is not already friendly.
the advice about the metal cable puller is very good. we have saved many pigs with this and gotten some stuck ones out too. it is a pain to clean afterwards but i would not trade that tool for anyything.
put her in the crate about 3 to 5 days before she farrows so she can get used to that confinement and get some bran in her diet so she will stay loose and not constipated.
i put together a farrowing kit in a medium size plastic tote box and try to keep it up to date and ready to go. i have several bottles of lube, some alcohol, syringes, string to tie off navel cords if bleeding badly, towels to dry them off, a plastic babies nasal sucker to clean out mucus in nose and mouth, ear notcher, needle teeth clipper (small sharp side cutters), latex gloves, oxytocin, pennicillin, banamine,
good luck. keep us posted the results.
Good bless!
good luck
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Post by machog » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:00 am

Well we are 8 days out and all is going well. I have been gathering all of the supplies that you all have recommended. Oldobserver, I appreciate all of the advise and encouragement. My opinion is that you can never get enough advise from people who are passionate about what they do. My gilt is friendly and I have been spending as much time with her as work allows. She will lay down and let me rub her stomach. You can feel the babies kick. I am enjoying the experience and am hoping for a smooth farrowing. Thanks again for everybody's help.

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Re: What about Laxative?

Post by porkin » Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:32 am

MidnightCurfew wrote:Did I miss putting her on a laxative a couple of days before Farrowing?

I think that's one of the biggest mistakes with newbies and good hogs.

Just my 2 Cents. :D
The gilt should be switched to lactating feed 5 days before farrowing and the feed should already contain a laxative. I used epsom salts the one time I had a problem. It doesn't take that much, I gave her WAY too much and she had the squirts for a day.

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Post by Bowhunter415 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:36 pm

I have been showing pigs in 4-h for a couple years, and this is my first year farrowing a gilt too. Thanks everyone for all the information! I would be lost without all of you!

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Post by machog » Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:16 am

My gilt farrowed Saturday evening. All in all it went great. 13 born alive and 1 that was still born. Thanks to every one here for helping me get prepared. The one thing that I did not get was oxytocin. The biggest reason was that I was not 100% comfortable with giving it to a gilt with it being our first time farrowing etc. Looking back I really wish I would of had it available because my gilt had a hard time torwards the end and I believe that the piglet that we lost would have been born alive if I had it to use. It was born 24 hrs. after #13. I had thought that she was done and cleaned out because # 13 came out two hours after # 12 and along with # 13 was the second round of after birth, after birth was alot so we thought she was done. Had I given the oxy she would have finished sooner. I have learned and am passing this along so that others will be ready. If ti is your first time, the other thing that I would recommend is to have some help, another set of hands. My gilt went fast for the first 6 piglets, only 30 minutes. At one point I had one in the box and was drying the next and the third hit the ground and then # 4 and this was all in about 15 min.

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Post by CHOPSTER » Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:28 pm

sometimes the reason they slow down is because they get exhausted. maybe the reason you had 13 alive and only one dead was because you didn't give the oxy.

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Post by porkin » Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:47 am

CHOPSTER wrote:sometimes the reason they slow down is because they get exhausted. maybe the reason you had 13 alive and only one dead was because you didn't give the oxy.
:D

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Post by machog » Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:38 am

As I stated in my post I totaly agree. I have learned alot prior to this experience and learned even more while going thru it. The reason I passed my learning experience along was so that others can learn from it.

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