Sow help

Breeding questions, sow talk, semen management, baby pig basics
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Morganbutton
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Sow help

Post by Morganbutton » Sun Dec 04, 2016 9:36 pm

Just had a liter of 12... 4 stillborn... she killed the rest laying on them.. we had her in a farrowing crate.. any ideas to help prevent her from not killing them.. planning on breeding her again.. this is her first liter.. did she kill them because she doesn't know what's going on?? Nervous?? Help!

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DFSP2014
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Re: Sow help

Post by DFSP2014 » Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:38 am

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. A few things come to mind.

1) If she laid down on all at once I'd say that's just bad luck and maybe a 1st time mistake.

2) If she laid down on all at different periods I'd look at why that happened. Did it happen due to the piglet not being able to get out of the way, or was it due to a really nervous and high strung mother.

If they can't get out of the way, I'd suggest making sure you have them spend a little time in a heat box or under a lamp far enough away from the mother right after they are born. This period of time seems to help them obtain balance and get used to gravity before they go right away to sucking and not being sure footed. It's been a huge help and a must on our farm. I usually know it's time when I'm constantly trying to get them back under the heat lamp. Then I just let them go ahead and find the nipple. (Average time is about 10 min or so)

If she's up and down all the time and restless, hopefully the next time around she settles down. If not, I'd probably ship her. A great mother is worth a lot more than a good show pig that can't be a great mother. A lot of people, myself included; will induce a gilt. If you have gilts in the future this maybe a good option to try out. What I've been told is that it helps calm them down a bit. Not sure if that true, but I can tell you once I started inducing gilts, I've had a lot better success than prior times with out inducing.

I hope this helps and again, I'm sorry for the situation you are faced with. Good luck.
“The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.” - Vince Lombardi

Morganbutton
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Re: Sow help

Post by Morganbutton » Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:07 pm

Thanks for the reply!

buckibri
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Re: Sow help

Post by buckibri » Wed Jan 04, 2017 10:57 pm

It happens. Rarely.

Instincts simply not good however some times if you attend farrowing sand remove all pigs until done farrowing it is possible they accept pigs.

The better course of action is to go the sausage protocol.

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