First time Weaning

ErikaMay · #1 03/24/13, 08:49 PM

Well I THOUGHT Rosie was ready to wean at 8 weeks, but since I started feeding the piglets more and they've been giving her more space she's been more patient with them. I've gone in the barn many a morning to find her sleeping apart, but seems now that I've separated them she is very concerned about where they are. My set up it not the best: electro rope and part of the barn is keeping them apart (I was planning to keep them the first day in the barn but the piglets escaped the barn thanks to a hole mom punched in the door a while ago that i did shore up well enough.) she seems happy as long as she can see them.

I've heard others talk as if sows don't care for their babes much prefering their feed to their babies. Not Rosie. She has been a very attentive mother and when i tried to feed her away from her piglets last week she ditched her feed to keep an eye on her babies. We'll see how it goes...but I just might find another hole in my barn soon. *sigh*

How do you all deal with upset, firsttimer, weaning mommas?

Menglish · #2 03/25/13, 09:02 AM

Just separate them. 8 weeks is too old to still be nursing on the mother. I prefer to separate them out of sight from each other.

ErikaMay · #3 03/25/13, 10:53 PM

I've heard from others that 8 weeks to 10 weeks is a good time to wean...why do you say 8 is too long and when do you prefer to wean?

(the piglets are just fine with the situation and now that I watch Rosie I think she was more mad that she was confined to a MERE 1 acre and no access to the barn! She was much calmer today, but one teat was leaking milk like CRAZY! I was almost tempted to try and milk her...but that would defeat the purpose.)

gerold · #4 03/26/13, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErikaMay

I've heard from others that 8 weeks to 10 weeks is a good time to wean...why do you say 8 is too long and when do you prefer to wean?

(the piglets are just fine with the situation and now that I watch Rosie I think she was more mad that she was confined to a MERE 1 acre and no access to the barn! She was much calmer today, but one teat was leaking milk like CRAZY! I was almost tempted to try and milk her...but that would defeat the purpose.)

I tried weaning at 8-9 weeks. It just pulls the sow down to much. I was feeding them 12-14 lbs. feed a day and they still started to get poor. Now i wean at
5-6 weeks. Breed the sow back in 4-7 days. Works out a lot better this way.

cottrell · #5 03/27/13, 10:05 PM

We pull all of our pigs away 2-3 weeks of age. And they do just fine

ErikaMay · #6 03/28/13, 12:37 AM

Interesting. The fellow I bought the boar from wanted his weaned 8 to 10 weeks...so I did just that. I am surprised at how well mom has kept her body condition...i think she in better shape now than she was when she was bred! She is actually eating more during the weaning than she was before. I'd feed her but she wouldn't eat all her grain and everyone else would steal it! She just prefers to eat a little grain and lots of grass. but the 1 acre she is on doesn't have a ton of grass yet, so now she wants lots of grain everyday.

hopefully i can get her breed again, soon.