Weening

[ErikaMay]

Well, Moms been avoiding the piglets and slept in a different pile of hay....I suppose its time to help a sister out and ween the little ones. Almost 6 weeks old and some of them are already a good 45 lbs!

This is my first time weening...any suggestions how to get it to run smoothly? None of my property is fenced separately (I'm getting posts run in tommorrow!) so I am thinking of just running some hog panel down the center of the barn to fence the piglets in. Will that work, or will mom have trouble drying up if she hears the piglets?

[pig1]

Im know expert but I weaned my pigs last thursday just about the same way and my sow is just about dried up now. Just make sure them little ones can't get back threw that panaling .

[highlands]

You need to firmly separate them. A double fence with both physical and electric is idea. After three days the sow is basically dried up but don't mix them yet, give them more time. I wean feeding them yogurt as part of their diet. This helps with immunities and eases the transition. After seven days the sow reheats and is ready to breed if she's in good condition.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/