pregnant pig question

janandkenny · #1 11/07/05, 04:34 PM

a friend of ours has two pigs that we are watching. They are both pregnant and are due within 30 days or so. This is their first pg each and they are both almost a year old. Anyway, today we noticed that one appears to be in heat, her vulva is swollen. She appears pregnant, her teats are growing.
Is it possible for her to go into heat while pregnant, or could this be something else? Our friend is positive that she was bred. I am going to search the forum for answers but in the meantime, if you have a suggestion or a thought please post it thanks.

janice

agmantoo · #2 11/07/05, 05:34 PM

My opinion is the sow is about to deliver.

beeman97 · #3 11/07/05, 08:01 PM

I would start watching for her to start building a nest within the next 24 hrs & she will delivery not to far from then ,, probably within the next 36 hrs at most.
give her space & peace & quiet , she will handle it all jsut fine on her own.
Good Luck.

Misty · #4 11/07/05, 10:22 PM

her udder will change drastically in a few hours if she is close to farrowing. Her vulva will swell to a tremendous size, her tail head will soften, she will seem sunken in around her tail as her vulva swells. If she is outside what is the climate? You should watch her close to make sure she tolerates the babies. Some gilts are just not good mothers and will eat the young.
email any of us if you have questions.
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janandkenny · #5 11/08/05, 12:28 AM

She was due to farrow the first week of December, this seems rather early doesn't it??? I will get down to the barn first thing in the morning and get some hay in there, and separate the two also. I did go back and read Carla's book about how to check if she was in heat and she didn't act like she was in heat at all. Her teats are visible but she is not bagged up yet, but maybe she wasn't being fed right at the last place she was at. She seemed tired today, laying down a lot, otherwise was as friendly as could be. I will update you tomorrow on how she is doing. Thank you all for the advice.

janice

janandkenny · #6 11/08/05, 12:29 AM

oh and the barn is ok as far as warmth goes, and we do have a heat lamp for the babies, have to drag that out too ( everything is at the neighbor's barn.)

Misty · #7 11/08/05, 06:46 AM

Yes this is early. It sounds like she is going to abort. We had still borns at three weeks early. If they are viable, they will need heat lamps. Newborn piglets thrive at 90 or so degree's the first few days. There may be mold in the feed or some sort of disease process. Strep will cause it, PRRS will cause it, could be a number of things. Do you know what day she was bred?

GeorgeK · #8 11/08/05, 07:26 AM

Ditto, sounds like she's gonna soon pop

Quote:

Originally Posted by beeman97

I would start watching for her to start building a nest within the next 24 hrs & she will delivery not to far from then ,, probably within the next 36 hrs at most.
give her space & peace & quiet , she will handle it all jsut fine on her own.
Good Luck.

janandkenny · #9 11/08/05, 09:51 AM

good morning.
Thank you for all the replies

Miss Sow is not pregnant after all... hard to tell these things when you haven't had the pig the entire time, but this morning she was definitely in heat and wouldn't leave the other sow alone. We borrowed a boar and she was very happy to see him. Guess she will be due in March now.
Still hoping the other pig is pregnant, she is due the first week in December.

Next time we do this I am going to have the sow from the beginning... well now that I think of it, I do have the sow from today's beginning.

thanks again for all the responses, I appreciate it.

janice

Misty · #10 11/08/05, 10:47 PM

:1pig: :1pig: :1pig:

janandkenny · #11 03/03/06, 01:20 PM

Hi everyone, remember this post? Well pig #1 started farrowing last night, right on time. Our neighbor has been through many farrowings and assured us she wasn't quite ready, but as you probably know, each sow does what she wants at her own time. So while we were all snoozing away in the night, she started delivering her first litter. We got to the barn at 4:30 and found five dead piglets, it didn't look like she had done anything to them, they weren't squished but it was really cold last night so we think they froze ( yes we had the heat lamps in the corner, but no one there to tell them to go toward the light), found a sixth dead piglet stuck between the fence and the outside door, frozen, sigh. Seven Eight Nine and Ten entered the world this morning, number nine we are not sure that it was squashed or not, but it didn't look too good when we got to it. ( we crated up Momma because she was really acting up) there was some debate about it suffering, so I went and put it in my coat, took it home, heated it up and fed it whole milk with a syringe and let it rest near the furnace vent, wrapped up in towels. I really thought it was going to die. It didn't! After an hour it perked right up and was moving around pretty good so it is back with the litter and is nursing away on momma like a pro. Momma is still a bit jittery, so we are taking the piglets to her and removing them to the heat lamp when they are done. Hoping that in a couple of days all will be normal.

Now Pig #2, we don't exactly know when her heat was, sometime within two weeks of the first one, but no one thought to write it down, so we expect to be doing this again within two weeks.

Misty · #12 03/03/06, 04:26 PM

if momma is acting up, give her a couple beers. She will calm right down (hopefully) nurse those babies and decide they are okay afterall. This is why we crate them and try to be there. Watch for her udder to really swell up. Her vulva will also swell up terribly before she goes. She will appear sunken around her tail head. She will be very agitated a few hours before she farrows. We put cardboard in our crates so the mommas can tear it up and make the nest. They seem to really like it.

milkinpigs · #13 03/03/06, 04:54 PM

Janice, sounds like you're getting to be an expert pig midwife ( that's a compliment, by the way) I'll call you when our next litter is due!!! GREAT JOB!!!

Up North · #14 03/03/06, 11:53 PM

Buckshot boers- About the beers, did you mean that literally? Or are you just joking? I mean, would you pour out a couple cans of coors and let sow drink to calm her down?

janandkenny · #15 03/05/06, 01:19 PM

#11 and 12 entered the world safely, rather late that night actually, but are doing just fine. We babysat through the night, and by the next morning momma and babies are getting along just fine.

Just waiting on #2, who is starting to bag up.

Misty · #16 03/05/06, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Up North

Buckshot boers- About the beers, did you mean that literally? Or are you just joking? I mean, would you pour out a couple cans of coors and let sow drink to calm her down?

yes, I meant it litterally...I would use but light however...much better than coors light.

Up North · #17 03/06/06, 02:35 AM

Buckshotboers - I can still learn from you! LOL.

Misty · #18 03/06/06, 10:21 PM

I learned that from a guy on another forum...he is full of really great simple/practicle ideas. I also learned from him to put cardboard in the crates if you crate farrow so they sows can tear it up with their agitation, leave their mats alone, and still use their nesting instinct to feel maternal. If you are really nervous, I would say you should drink a beer with the sow so you are calm also.... I have not tried drinking with the sows...I think I would fall asleep soon after if I did.

janandkenny · #19 03/07/06, 07:01 AM

Today we are preparing the other pen for the second sow. She is starting to bag up, I still think it will be a week, but what do I know as a novice pig midwife? LOL.

Mama #1 wasn't eating and drinking, I did get her to eat some hard boiled eggs, but was concerned about her, our friend came over with some shots and gave them to her and within a half hour she had her snout in the trough eating and drinking. Last night she seemed to have more energy. The piglets appear to be growing at a nice rate, so we are going to keep an eye on mama and feed her lots of protein goodies. She was on a corn and milk diet, I did go get a bag of sow feed to mix in for variety. I am looking forward to the garden producing this summer. She's getting all the leftovers.