If you have been following me on Instagram this summer, then you already know we decided to completely overhaul and expand our existing farrowing barn. We knocked down the right wall, doubled the sized, busted out and re-poured a new concrete slab, hard wired electric, put on a metal roof, and completely redid the fencing and configuration of the paddock. It was a bit of a project, but it is officially complete and it feels great to have such an awesome set up in place.
If you follow closely, yes this farrowing barn is now our third revision. Our first set up we used when we had zero experience whatsoever. Some things worked, most things didn’t. Enter our second set up, based on things learned from the first. We tossed out the dog kennel creep and went with the “pitched roof” style, and increased the size. It worked well for us, but there were some functionality aspects that could be improved. Plus, it was only big enough to accommodate one sow. Because we have retained several gilts for breeding to increase our operation size, we needed something bigger. Hence the doubled in size farrowing barn.
Below is a video tour where I walk you through the setup. At least as much as I could in the 15 minutes allotted to me by Youtube. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read the previous posts that I wrote on each version. We didn’t start out with this set up, it took a few years of trial and error, and failure. While it may not be perfect, based on our previous experience we think it’s quite fitting for our needs.
We are extremely excited about this new farrowing barn set up and all of the piglets that will be born here in the coming years!
Happy Farrowing,
Farrowing season is a very exciting time on the homestead, and personally is my favorite of all. It can be a bit nerve wracking (especially that first time) but just like with kidding, a well stocked farrowing kit is a safety blanket that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Our vet that “treats” pigs is over an hour away, and to be honest I have more experience with farrowing than they do. I have learned the hard way some of the difficulties and issues that can arise, but I’d be lying if I said that my farrowing kit hasn’t saved piglets lives.
I detail the purpose of many of the items in my kit in my post on caring for piglets from birth to weaning, but not all. And some of the items I discuss in that post are not in my “farrowing kit” because they aren’t relevant to the farrowing or moments surrounding it, but later down the road. In addition to all of the items mentioned in both, there are medications I have accumulated over time that are multispecies and not necessarily “pig specific”. When you raise enough animals, there is a natural build up of medical supplies.
When I refer to the farrowing kit, I am referring to what is by the door waiting for me to grab on my way out when we have a mama in labor. As always, let this be my disclaimer this is what I use and have accumulated over time. There may be things that you may need that I don’t use, or vice versa.
What's In the Kit
For the Piglets
- Mistral Powder
- Nutridrench for Pigs
- Iodine with spray nozzle
- Puppy Pads
- Frozen Goat Colostrum and small syringe for administering (not “in” the kit but something that I always have in the freezer in case a piglet needs a little extra help)
- Livestock Marker for marking litters
- Chlorhexidene Solution
The mantra around here for any baby being born is “dry, dip, drench, colostrum”. Mistral powder is used to dust on the piglets and dry them off (this is most important during winter farrowing not so much summer or fall), spray their cords with iodine, give them a couple pumps of Nutridrench in the mouth, and make sure they get that oh so important colostrum. The mistral powder is used for drying versus rags or towels, but I do keep some puppy pads in my kit to wipe my hands off as well as to help stimulate and revive piglets that are born close to death.
Chlorhexidene solution is always good to have on hand in any kit in the event of a cut or abrasion. I did have a piglet born with Epitheliogenesis Imperfecta. While it can be severe enough that the piglet should be euthanized, it wasn’t severe enough that didn’t clear up on its own with some antiseptic. It can come in handy.
For the Sow
- Thermometer
- Chlorhexilube
- Shoulder length disposable polypropylene gloves
- Slapshot with various size syringes/needles if you need to administer meds to an agitated or ill sow
- Oxytocin
- Nutridrench
- Molasses/Corn Syrup
The administration of Oxytocin is another protocol that some feel very strongly for or against. While I do agree that it is very much mis and overused, there are circumstances where I do believe the benefits outweigh the risks when properly administered. I try to use it as an absolute last resort measure if I suspect there may be a retained piglet or placenta. For me, if I’m faced with the risk of infection and sepsis in my sow or administering a dose of oxytocin, I’m going with the oxytocin.
If I think the farrowing is over but I have not seen the placenta pass after quite some time, I will first sleeve up and go in to see if I can feel any piglets blocking the birth canal and pull them. If the birth canal is clear, and after more time there is still no placenta, I administer a dose. For several minutes after administering a dose, the hormone strengthens smooth muscle contractions which can help pass a retained piglet/placenta.
Throughout the farrowing I will occasionally give the sow some Nutridrench to help keep her energy up, and give her bumps of selenium that helps release the placenta naturally. You can also use molasses/corn syrup as well, that can be poured into the mouth or rubbed on their gums. Fortunately we have always had relatively quick labors that only last for 2-3 hours. But, if things aren’t moving along so quickly it can last as long as 8. So, a boost of energy to keep things processing along can prevent stalling.
Generally speaking, when it comes to farrowing for the most part the sow will get the job done on her own. I however am always of the mentality “I’d rather have something and not need it, than need something and not have it”. Especially considering our vet is largely useless when it comes to farrowing, not to mention over an hour away. Even if they were helpful, the chances of them getting here in time to be of any use are slim. Even more especially since farrowing always seems to happen here during the wee hours of the morning, when no one is awake much less open!
The ideal scenario for farrowing let alone any birthing is that mom does it all on her own unassisted, and without issue. Obviously this is the gold standard everyone hopes for. Sometimes no matter how good of a mother you have on your hands, or how good things have gone in the past, stuff just happens. We all need help now and then, and these are living animals we are talking about! We breed pigs to provide a source of feeders for our own consumption, as well as to sell to fund projects on the homestead and offset feed costs. So, I want as many healthy and live piglets as possible, and if that means occasionally I need to lend a hand, I will do it. It is for this reason that I always have my farrowing kit stocked and ready on hand.
Happy Farrowing,
Every time a new baby is born, I think I like that species most. Goats are surely my favorite when they’re kidding, and nothing can possibly beat lambs. But, if I’m being honest with myself, piglets really are the best. When I first decided to get into breeding pigs I was amazed at the seeming lack of information out there on farrowing let alone how to care for piglets. There are a billion different books on chickens, and I mean honestly, how boring are they in comparison? Yet pigs, the dogs of the barnyard and anatomically, the closest to humans, there is little information. What there is, is scattered. I don’t get it.
This is why I have made it a point to be “heavy” with the pig content on my blog. My hope is this blog can become a source of information for people who are having the same struggles that I did with the lack of information. I am certainly not an expert on the matter, but I have been around the block a few times. How to care for piglets is certainly something I should have posted about long ago, but hey, I’m only human. Better late than never!
When you farrow, you are left with a litter of piglets to contend with. I once heard that when it comes to breeding livestock, farrowing is where the men are separated from the boys. Based on some of my experiences, I don’t disagree! If you’re fortunate enough to have a good sow (who is worth her weight in gold) you can rest easier about a lot of scarier things that can happen once they’re born.
Big Marie is the most nurturing, careful, and attentive mother I could ever ask for. This is exactly why we retained two of her daughters for breeding. Despite the fact that trimmed down she’s still in the 900 pound range, she is oh so careful with every step she takes and when she lays down to try and not crush a piglet. Sadly accidents do of course happen though, and unfortunately that’s the name of the farrowing game. That’s why pigs have such large litters, to ensure some offspring survive. Oddly, it’s very un-mammal like? You will however have mothers that are “floppers” and will just go down like a sack of potatoes without taking a first look let alone a second. Or more horrible, will savage and turn on their own offspring. So, I say it again a good sow is worth her weight in gold.
While you can put a lot on mom, us humans do have a hand in things. There are some things that we need to do for the piglets after they’re born, and a general timeline to follow to ensure we are raising a healthy litter with as little loss as possible.
Immediately After Birth
How to care for piglets after they’re born is not much different than caring for goats. With any animal we raise there is a general post birthing sequence I follow: dry & warm, dip, drench, colostrum. This is a common theme outside any special cases or abnormal birthings.
Depending on the time of year you’re farrowing and if you happen to be there of course, the drying part may be unnecessary. In cold climates, it is important to get the piglets dry as quickly as possible. Rather than using rags or towels, I keep a bucket of mistral powder close by to sprinkle on piglets and rub all over them. It’s a mineral based anti-bacterial absorbent that absorbs any moisture and allows them to get warmer quicker. It literally sucks the moisture right off their bodies. Once they get a good coating of mistral, I quickly hold them against my chest and trim their umbilical cord if needed, and give good soaking spray of iodine. This is followed by a couple of pumps of nutridrench in their mouth. Give that awesome sow some nutridrench too to help give her a boost and keep the party going.
I sprinkle mistral on each piglet as they’re born. The rest of the process (dip and drench) is given to each piglet individually once we have a few on the ground, and after I’m sure they’ve gotten some colostrum. Just like with goats, sheep, or any other mammal, colostrum is essential. From this point on, it is just a matter of observing the piglets and making sure they are nursing and (hopefully) not snuggling with mama. Depending on where your sow decided to farrow, the piglets may need help finding their creep space initially. If need be, I will put each one in there after i’m sure they’ve nursed. This way they learn where it is, and that it is a warm area they will be wanting to go.
Days Following Farrowing
Piglets are born with a limited store of iron, and due to their accelerated growth they require supplemental iron for tissue growth and blood production. The stores that a piglet is born with is only enough to sustain them for 3-4 days before becoming anemic. Supplemental iron can come from natural sources such as dirt when raised outdoors. But, when raised inside or born in the winter when the ground is frozen, it must come in the form of an injection.
If your piglets have no access to a natural source, they should each get a 2ml (or what your bottle specifies) shot of injectable iron with a 1/2″ 20 gauge needle to the neck. If they have access to the outdoors, rooting through the soil or the soil on the sow’s udder when nursing should be sufficient to make up for this deficiency.
How can you tell if they have enough? You will be able to tell fairly easily if your piglets are anemic. Piglets will become lethargic, look white or jaundiced, have pale eyelids (think FAMANCHA in goats), rapid breathing, and scours. These all indicate a deficiency, and they should be dosed.
Within the first week of life, piglets are highly susceptible to scours due to an immature digestive system . While the consistency and color of the piglet’s poop will naturally change as the sows milk turns from colostrum to milk, it’s important to be on the lookout for excessive scouring. It can be caused by something as innocent and temporary as them gorging on milk, to a more serious and persistent cause such as E.Coli or Rotovirus. If it should happen and it seems excessive or concerning, it should be addressed quickly with an oral solution such as Spectoguard.
Under 2 Weeks of Age
At around a week old, I start to incorporate creep feed into the piglets diet. Essentially creep feed is just soaked grain/feed. Soaking the feed good and sloppy makes it more palatable and digestible for them at this age. They will still feverishly nurse from the sow, but at this age they do start to transition to nibbling on feed. I soak a little feed with goats milk or whey to make it more desirable for them, but regular milk or even water will work just as well. Put it in a large shallow pan in their creep space away from mama, where they can nibble on it in peace. Soaked feed does spoil quickly, so it’s best to toss what isn’t eaten after 24 hours. Start with a small amount as they won’t eat much initially so you have minimal waste. As they start to get the hang of it and eat more, you can increase the amount of feed and dial back the sloppiness.
Under the two week mark, unless you are keeping a male in tact for breeding, this is the time to castrate. Admittedly this is the worst part and the least fun job. The general rule is castrate the males as soon as you possibly can. So, if you can protrude the testes, castrate. For us, we try to do it by one week of age at max. Doing it at as young of an age as possible has numerous benefits. Not only is the piglet physically smaller and easier to hold and handle, but it will bleed less, heal faster from the antibodies in the sows milk, and poses minimal risk for a hernia when done properly. This is in addition of course to less nerve development which means less pain. Pig’s skin heals incredibly fast, especially at a young age. The castration itself is a simple process seen in a timelapse below:
- Sterilize area with iodine
- Cut slits over the protruded testes with a sharp scalpel or some people use side cutters (admittedly this Is where I need to speed things up because I always try to cut as small of a slit as possible when honestly it doesn’t matter)
- Pop the testes out, and pull to allow the spermatic cord to rip on its own as opposed to cutting. Not only is this faster, but it heals quicker. The more spermatic cord you pull the better.
- Repeat with other testis and check to make sure spermatic cord isn’t left hanging. If it is, trim it at the site of incision.
- Spray with diluted chlorhexidine solution and send him on his way
They will be immediately be back up and running around, and by the next day it will already be healing and scabbing over.
Depending on the climate, within the first two weeks you can start to raise or adjust the timing of the heat lamps and mat. When piglets are born they require incredibly warm conditions in the 80°-90°F range, as they don’t have any fat to help stay warm. It is a proven fact that initial environmental temperature conditions has a direct correlation to piglet mortality. The warmer you keep them, the greater chance of survival. Not only this, but the larger size at weaning. As they grow, piglets will require less heat. This can easily be gauged based on their behavior. If they’re piling, huddling, or shivering, clearly it isn’t warm enough and the heat lamps need to be lowered or additional ones added. If they are lying next to each other and seem content and at ease, the temperature is good. This is highly variable depending on the time of year and climate, and behavior is going to be your best indicator on if the conditions are acceptable or not.
Two Weeks On
From this point on until weaning, it’s just a matter of basic maintenance. Continuing to dial back the supplemental heat or turning it off altogether, as well as increasing the amount of creep feed. At around two to three weeks when they are getting adventurous and able to withstand the elements, this is when we begin to train them on our electric netting.
Piglets will still continue to nurse up until the time of weaning (6-8 weeks), but they will naturally get more interest and desire to eat supplemental feed as well. Once they have reached the appropriate size/age, we physically separate the sow from piglets. Feeders we are selling go to their new homes and the rest we keep to raise for meat.
It is our desire to raise our pigs as naturally as we possibly can given our climate and land. The piglets have access to the outdoors from day 1, and are raised completely outdoors from weaning until butchering. Because they are raised with space to move and roam and not be confined, things like docking tails and cutting needle teeth are unnecessary things for us to do. Our pigs need their tails to swoosh away flies in the summer, and we have never had even an inclining of a problem situation with needle teeth as newborns or adults. So if this is something you need, consider that in your timeline. Another thing to take into consideration is your vaccination protocol. Depending on what your philosophy is you may choose to vaccinate or not. This is something that should be worked out with your vet for what works best for you in your geographic location. This is not something I am educated enough on, or feel comfortable offering any kind of advice.
This general timeline works well for us, our needs, and our set up. Maybe you live in the south and rather than battling cold you have excessive heat. Or, maybe you are in the same climate and have a completely different set up and system altogether! Just like with any other livestock, make it your own and do what works for you and your animals. This is a good general timeline that works for us and the piglets we raise. For more on all things pigs in general and specifically farrowing, be sure to check out my numerous other posts as well 
Happy Farrowing,
We have since applied the elements of this farrowing house to an improved and expanded farrowing barn! This will allow us to accommodate more sows, and has several significant improvements!
One of the more amazing things about essentially starting a homestead from scratch is you can see the progression as you learn and fine tune. Everything we have built more than one of, you can tell which was first and see the improvements through trial and error. You can see how each stall in our goat mini barn improved as we built them, the quality in our fencing job, and our most recent farrowing house design is no different.
I could delete the original blog post I posted prior to our first farrowing and pretend like I had it right from the beginning. But, that’s not how I roll. I learned how I wanted to change the set up because of failures, things that didn’t work, and things that did. So, if you didn’t read my first building a farrowing house blog post, go back and read it. I am going to make direct comparisons on what worked, what didn’t, and what we changed. So, let’s hop to it!
The Layout
So, if you remember previously we essentially took 1/2 of our chicken coop and built a dividing wall with a door for access. A 6×8 portion was given to Big Marie, and the remaining area was given to the ducks. We thought that this 6×8 section would be plenty big enough for her to be comfortable and raise her babies in. Honestly, it worked pretty well. What we didn’t think or know about until we saw how she was as a mom, was how devoted she is! Feeding her outside was no longer an option, as we struggled to get her to eat the first few days after farrowing much less leave her babies. So, she just didn’t have enough space to comfortably eat, or move around easily when you factored in how much time she was spending in there. It became cramped, and we ran the risk of piglets accidentally getting stepped on no matter how careful she was.
With the new farrowing house design, we busted down that wall and removed the door, and opened up the entire area for her. So now, she has roughly 12×8 feet of space to move around. Because of her size, I feel that this is big enough for her to be comfortable, but small enough to be in that “sweet spot”. No matter where she lays she is close enough for her piglets to find her. Thinking forward, this space is definitely large enough to accommodate two smaller gilts, such as Red Jamie and Claire
One thing we also added was bumpers all the way around. We made them the same height and distance from the wall as before, but they surround all interior walls. Previously we only had one bumper on the wall we constructed to divide off her section. It worked well and served its purpose. But last farrowing, at some point in labor she switched sides and wedged her butt in between two studs on a wall (left above). She had four piglets here, which piled up and got trapped with nowhere to go. They died.
With bumpers around all walls, she can’t wedge her butt in between studs anymore, and is always at minimum 8 inches from the wall. So, the piglets will at least have a fighting chance to not be crammed and be able to find their way to mom.
She has the same door configuration that allows her access to the same paddock as before. I will rehang an old rug once she farrows for draft control as we found this made a significant difference in reducing drafts while still allowing her free access to go outside.
Piglet Creep Space
The last thing that we drastically changed was the creep space for the piglets. This is their “safe space” to stay warm away from mama so they don’t accidentally get crushed.
Originally, we tried a dog kennel as mentioned in the previous post. It barely made it out alive through Big Marie’s aggressive nesting, and then only held up for a couple of days after. If it had held up, piglets would have rapidly outgrown it and another space would have had to be created anyway. So, we scratched that idea pretty quickly and had to improvise. We assembled a corner creep area with some boards, but given the total size of the area we didn’t have much room to work with. After a couple of weeks, the piglets quickly outgrew that space as well.
With this farrowing house design, we went all out. Now that we know how much space even a litter of seven piglets can take up once they’ve grown a bit, we over sized it. We took a six foot long corner that was the furthest point away from Big Maries door to reduce drafts. Using wood we took down from the wall, we blocked off the corner to create roughly a 3 x 4 x 6 triangle. After seeing how Big Marie behaves when she is nesting or has piglets, we didn’t want her to be able to see into it if at all possible. So, the boards had to be high enough over her head, and built strong enough should she try and get a snout under it checking on her piglets.
It fits our 24 x 36 stanfield mat with plenty of room to spare and for piglets to grow. Instead of just vertically stacking the boards like I see so many do, we actually had the boards go back towards the wall to create a pitched roof. This will help retain heat and keep it in the creep space, with enough of a gap behind the peak to drop in additional heat lamps.
So, to quickly recap what did we change based on our experience with two farrowings in the original space?
- Doubled the total size of the area from 6 x8 to 12 x8
- Applied our same bumper design to all interior walls
- Scrapped the dog kennel for a creep area, and utilized a corner to create an oversized space with a pitched roof to help retain heat
With the new farrowing house design, we are improving upon our failures from the previous version in an effort to avoid the same issues in previous farrowings. This doesn’t mean that this version is perfect, or we can guarantee that accidents or deaths won’t still happen. But as long as we are providing our sows the housing and tools to set them up for success, then we have done our part.
If you’re going to be breeding a gilt or sow via artificial insemination, then tracking her heat cycle is an absolute must in order to time it properly! When you receive the semen in the mail, it will be mixed with an extender that allows it to stay viable for longer than a week when kept in the proper conditions. But, you need to know when to expect her heat cycle so that you can order it and have it ready on hand for when she is ready to be bred. The ovulation window is short, and semen providers typically have specific collection days so it isn’t something that you can just wing at the last minute.
The heat cycle in gilts and sows averages every 18-21 days. Depending on the particular gilt/sow and the time of year, this can fluctuate. Prior to breeding Big Marie last fall, I tracked her cycle for a few months leading up to the month I planned to inseminate her. She was like clockwork and would go into standing heat every 21 days on the dot. This allowed me to plan and order the semen so I had it a couple days before breeding to keep it as fresh and viable as possible.
There are two “phases” of the heat cycle that can be observed physically and behaviorally:
Proestrus
Proestrus is essentially the early stages of heat where estrogen and hormones are being released in preparation for ovulation. Depending on the gilt/sow, this can occur anywhere from 2-3 days prior to estrus. There are many physical signs associated with this that can vary in their obviousness depending on the individual pig, and typically tend to be more apparent in a gilt. These signs will give you a heads up that she will be fertile in just a few days and you better have everything ready and on hand for insemination:
- Reddening and swelling of the vulva due to increased estrogen levels
- Increased vocalization and restlessness, aggressiveness, and fiestiness! If there are multiple sows and gilts in with each other, you may see them trying to mount each other
- Increased interest in males whether they be pig or human – this is the time that my husband tries to stay away from Big Marie as she gets particularly fiesty around him!
- Clear sticky discharge that drips from the vulva and stickiness will increase over the course of proestrus period.
- Can have reduced appetite and may go off feed
Estrus
Estrus is the phase of the heat cycle that is referred to as “standing heat”, and occurs immediately after proestrus. The follicular stimulating hormone, leutinizing hormone, and estrogen levels have peaked causing the follicle to rupture and ovulation to occur.
The standing heat cycle in gilts is shorter lasting from 24-48 hours, and 36-72+ hours in sows. This is when insemination happens! At this point, applying pressure to the back and rump of the sow will trigger a standing reflex. This pressure (that simulates what she would feel when a boar mounts her) stimulates the release of oxytocin in her body causing her muscles and body to lock up for 10-15 minutes. The “strength of the stand” can vary from sow to sow, as well as depending on their diet and body condition. Maybe she doesn’t 100% lock up and shuffles around a bit, or perhaps she becomes stiff as a board and doesn’t move a muscle. You will learn what her “normal” is. While in standing heat, Big Marie will quite literally let me do backflips, bounce up and down, and pound on her butt without moving a muscle!
Some other indicators of standing heat include:
- The swelling of the vulva and discharge has peaked and reduced
- She will be less antsy, restless, and all around calmer.
- She becomes a “stalker pig”. During standing heat it seems that no matter where I am or what I’m doing, Big Marie is lurking watching me like a statue.
- Reflex test. You apply pressure to her rump/back and you can see a physical reaction where her body stiffens, back arches, and ears may prick. Ear pricking isn’t as obvious in floppy eared breeds, and is not a reliable indicator for me and Big Marie. But, her ears will twitch and be in a more alerted position
My recommendation is that if you think your sow is in standing heat, check her at minimum morning and night. Boar scent is a very useful tool as well, and a spray to the nostrils before testing can help you get a more accurate reading and stronger stand.
If I get any kind of reaction out of Big Marie when I check her reflex, this is when is when I swing up on her back for the ultimate test. If she immediately balks, she isn’t ready. If she starts walking around a little but doesn’t hate that I’m up there she’s close. If she immediately locks up, I know it’s go time!
If this is your first time heat checking your gilt/sow it may take you a few cycles to learn what her “normal” is and to pinpoint exactly when she goes into standing heat. So, start paying close attention a few months ahead of time so you can not only know what to look for, but also properly time ordering semen. Knowing this is important because the onset of standing heat is essentially when the clock starts for artificial insemination, and then comes the farrowing!
I thought that I was prepared for everything that Big Marie’s farrowing could bring. I had her farrowing house set up and ready ahead of time and prepared her and myself as much as possible. What I wasn’t prepared for? The emotional and physical toll the whole experience would take on me. I have never felt such a combination of total physical and emotional exhaustion, frustration, happiness, helplessness, and sorrow.
Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows Big Marie was five days overdue when she gave birth. She is a gilt (first litter) and this was my first farrowing experience, so I was doing everything in my power to make sure I didn’t miss it. Pigs (especially gilts) can need intervention, and I didn’t want her to be alone in case she needed assistance or something went awry. Even more, it’s the middle of winter so it was my responsibility to make sure those babies got dried off and warm immediately after being born. So, starting before the day she was due I checked on her from the video camera and would set an alarm for every two hours at night to wake up and check on her. After six days of this she went into labor so suddenly I didn’t even know it was happening despite me watching her like a hawk.
The Farrowing
The actual farrowing brought on an incredible mix of emotions. Big Marie was an absolute champ and required very little assistance from me. The only point I really had to assist was when she had been struggling and pushing for quite some time and was having no success passing the piglet. At this point I was afraid of two scenarios: that she would totally exhaust herself on this piglet early on and wouldn’t be able to deliver the rest of the litter, or the the piglet had been in the birth canal for so long that it wouldn’t survive if it wasn’t already dead. So, I sleeved up and went in after it. After working for several minutes and struggling to get a good grip on this rather large baby, I managed to successfully pull her. She wasn’t breathing, and I had to aggressively work on her drying and patting her trying to revive her. I was able to, but she was noticeably weak right off the bat and passed shortly after.
Big Marie ended with a total litter of nine, with only four survivors. Two girls that looked like their Berkshire daddy, and two boys that looked like their mama. Four babies were born dead perfectly developed, and we lost the one after I revived it. It was hard to see these seemingly perfect little piglets be born dead and at this point we still don’t know why the mortality rate was so high. We have several ideas as to why, and are working to try and reduce this number next farrowing.
Despite the high loss, Big Marie really did incredibly well for her first time and didn’t have any complications I couldn’t handle on my own. For this I am incredibly thankful. Of course most importantly, she was okay and doing great after and quickly was up, moving around, eating, and checking on her new babies.
Mother of the Year
With any new mom, there are concerns and cautionary tales that you hear. Some mothers will turn savage on their newborn piglets and attack them, while others won’t accept them and let them nurse. Some just make generally bad moms and will pay no attention to them, and will carelessly step on them or flop over onto their side crushing the entire litter. Big Marie is part Gloustershire Old Spot, who are notorious for their natural mothering abilities. Paired with her incredible temperament and personality, I had high hopes for her but was mentally preparing for the worst.
Thankfully, Big Marie was a natural and exceeded my expectations. She was an extremely attentive, caring, and wonderful mother right from the start. She would run to her babies when they screamed and cried, and respond to their grunts and squeals demanding milk. She would carefully watch her step as she moved around. When it came time to lay down, she would gingerly ease her massive body down and then as gently as possible roll onto her side to let her babies nurse. While she laid there letting her babies suckle, they would crawl all over her body and face without a single bit of grief from her. At one point while the babies had a bit of scouring, I even saw her cleaning their butts which is atypical behavior in a sow. She truly is the best mother there is. Despite all of the sadness this experience has brought, Big Marie and her natural mothering has been my beacon of light. Seeing her dote on her babies and do such an incredible job of raising them has been my source of happiness and inspiration through it all.
Milk Production Issues
The first 36 hours were incredibly exhausting but went off without a hitch. Everyone was gorging on milk and had more than they could drink. But, being that this was everyone’s first time, there was no way I was going to be able to soundly sleep throughout the night and let whatever happens happens. In the first three days of a piglets life they are bumbly and clumsy and their mortality rate is at its highest. With only having four piglets survive I wasn’t going to risk potentially loosing them all to an accidental crushing in the middle of the night.
Piglets in their first week of life need to nurse every 2-3 hours. So what did I do? I went out there every 2-3 hours around the clock. I would let them out of their kennel and monitor as they went to mama to nurse, filled their bellies, and then put them back in their warm kennel and shut them in. While I recognize this is a burden I 100% took upon myself, like I said I wasn’t willing to take a gamble with my small litter.
After the first day and a half, I noticed that something wasn’t right. Big Marie although was eating hadn’t really gotten back her appetite yet and I noticed her body was struggling to produce milk. To produce milk you need to eat, and it is recommended that a sow eats 3-4 pounds of food a day for her bodies maintenance and an additional 1 pound per day per piglet. So, she should have been eating eight pounds a day, and was barely eating four. Milk is also supply and demand. The more the babies suckle, it triggers her body to produce more milk to keep up with the demand. Big Marie has fourteen teats and and only had four piglets nursing. Between a combination of the decreased appetite and small litter, her body was struggling to produce.
Seeing my loving mama pig roll over and answer to her babies cries for milk only to have them suckle and be quite literally starving almost broke me. It was heart breaking and I cried for her and for myself. In the meantime I was doing everything imaginable I could for her. Buying gallons of raw cows milk to make her feed more desirable and get as many nutrients in her as I could, calling every feed store within fifty miles trying to find an alternate food to give her, and Saturday night runs to the vet to get her some oxytocin in hopes that that would help. I was sparing no expense, and my life quite literally revolved around trying to get Big Marie’s milk production up over the course of almost the next week. If something seemed like it could possibly help I was doing it. There was little improvement, and about twelve hours after I noticed the problem I had no choice but to supplement the babies diet with raw goat’s milk I had saved in my freezer. So, round the clock I went outside every 2-3 hours allowing them to drink from a saucer and fill their bellies thanks to Audrey. This is an incredible commitment to say the least. Waking up every two hours to heat up milk go outside in the freezing cold and feed piglets and then doing it again after a two hour nap. By the end of their first week of life I was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.
Fast forward to now, the piglets are about a week and a half old. All but four of Big Marie’s teats have dried off due to lack of suckling. Thankfully, her appetite has improved, I have switched feed, and her milk supply has gone up some. It was all a bit too little too late however, and I am still supplementing the piglets three times a day to make sure they are getting enough to eat. Thankfully they are only needing to eat every 3-4 hours at this age, so I don’t have to go out in the middle of the night anymore for feedings, just morning noon and night.
Midge
As the piglets approached being one week old I felt a huge weight beginning to be lifted off my shoulders. I wasn’t leaving them shut in the kennel anymore. Despite all of the stress, the sleeplessness, and the frustrations that came with this farrowing they were strong and healthy. They were also getting some milk from Big Marie! So with the litter doing great, and Big Marie such a cautious mom I decided to treat my body to a full uninterrupted night’s sleep. So for the first time in almost two weeks I slept without my alarm being set for every two hours and it was incredible.
The next morning feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed I went out to do chores and bring their piglets their morning supplement. I went into the farrowing house and found Midge (the bigger of the girls) laying in front of her warm kennel. I picked her up to put her in to the kennel to warm up and she immediately flopped over unable to stand. Obviously something was very wrong, so I immediately whisked her into the house and put her next to the wood stove with a heat lamp. I thought that she had just somehow gotten chilled and couldn’t go back into the warmth of her kennel on her own. I thought she would just need a quick warm up and she could go back out with the rest of the litter.
After only about a half hour she was standing, walking, and eating. I thought great! She’s still a little bumbly and fumbly, so I am going to give her a couple more hours until she can hold her own with her siblings. That’s when she took a turn for the worse. She couldn’t stand, would flop over to her side paddling, refused to eat, and began convulsing. Did she get stepped on? Kicked in the head? Her temperature and poop was good, was she sick? The symptoms of head trauma are almost identical to symptoms of strep meningitis. Meningitis is something I could have quite literally picked up on my shoes and brought home with me from the feed store, or when I dropped off our meat pigs at the butcher. Head trauma is an extremely likely cause too however, despite the fact that Midge was one of the fastest of the litter. It could be as simple as she was standing behind Big Marie when she took a step, and got a hoof to the head. With the size difference between mama and her piglets, it doesn’t take much.
I did absolutely everything I possibly could to save Midge. At one point, after watching her seize and convulse I decided I couldn’t let her suffer anymore. After cuddling her and bawling my eyes out I grabbed what I needed and was taking her outside to put her out of her misery and let her be at peace. She refused to eat for six hours and at that age, she should have eaten two meals in that time. If it wasn’t the head trauma/meningitis that was going to kill her she would have starved and I just couldn’t let that happen.
Just before taking her outside something told me to give her one more try at eating. So I did, and to my surprise she ate! I thought there might still be hope and if she was going to eat then I was going to keep trying and doing everything I could. I called the vet, gave her some medication I had on hand that could help if it was meningitis, and planned on being at the vets office at 6:30 the next morning when they opened to get the rest of the medicine I needed. I went to bed, made sure she was comfortable and crossed my fingers she would make it until morning so I could give her the rest of the medicine that could save her. When I went to check on her in the middle of the night, I found her dead.
Naturally, I blame myself. WHY did I sleep through the whole night? I should have set my alarm for at least every three hours to check in on them. But now that some time has passed and I can reflect, would that have helped? If she did get kicked it would have happened in such a split second that unless I was physically there to grab her from behind Big Marie’s foot I couldn’t have helped. But then, maybe I could have gotten there shortly after, seen her lying there in front of the kennel and warmed her up sooner? Although I can rationalize that I wouldn’t have been able to do anything, I still of course do blame myself to an extent and I feel that that reaction is only natural.
Farm life is hard there is no denying that. For every baby that is born alive and thrives, there are those that don’t make it. The highs make you feel like you’re on top of the world and you couldn’t be luckier, and the lows make you question all of your choices. When you truly care about your animals as much as I do, you take every loss to heart and the sting is very real and raw.
Farm life is also all about learning quick on your feet, making choices, and adapting. This experience if nothing else has brought me a wealth of knowledge. Going into my next farrowing I am going to feel so much more confident and prepared because of this whole experience.
So was it worth it? I’m not going to lie, over the past couple weeks I have had some serious doubts if I want to put myself through this again. I mean, how could I not? It was truly a heart breaking experience and part of me feels like I must be a masochist or something to knowingly put myself through this again potentially. But then, I see Big Marie with her babies and what a phenomenal mother she is. I see Smidge come running over to me oinking and quacking and crawling up my legs for some snuggles and those fears fall to the side. With every lows there are highs and at the end of the day I do have three very healthy and strong piglets with a fantastic mother at the helm. So was it worth it? Yeah, I would say it was.
This is our original farrowing house design that has since been upgraded, and then finally expanded upon to our farrowing barn. We did incorporate elements from this initial design that worked well, and upgraded and changed those that didn’t based on using it for a few farrowings
A couple weeks before Big Marie’s highly anticipated litter was due, we scratched our original plans for a hoop house style farrowing house and went back to the drawing board. Big Marie has lived her life here being rotated through our woods while sleeping in a three sided Port-a-Hut. I hope that someday we will be able to have our sows farrow on pasture with little to no interference from us. But, our first farrowing with a first time mom in the dead of winter was not the time to start. So, we decided to design a more secure and protected house for her to have and raise her babies in. Something to protect Big Marie and the piglets from whatever weather we had while allowing us to implement some safety measures for the piglets.
The first three days of a piglets life are its most critical and mortality rate is its highest. Piglets are their most vulnerable and prone to accidental crushing or being stepped on when they aren’t as quick or haven’t learned to get out of mom’s way. There are some design features we built into the farrowing house that would help keep the piglets safe in these critical first few days and beyond to minimize the potential for accidents as much as possible.
The Layout
When building the farrowing house the last thing that we wanted to do was construct a whole new structure just for one purpose. This is only going to be used when she farrows and until the piglets are weaned. Then she will be back in the woods rooting to her heart’s content sleeping in her port-a- hut. So for something that is so temporary, we decided to close off a large portion of our oversized chicken coop and convert it into her farrowing house rather than build new.
We ended up closing off a 6 x 8 foot rectangular portion of chicken coop and giving it to Big Marie. The key with this was walking the fine line between giving her enough space to get up and move around, but not too much space so that she could potentially lay down far from her piglets heated safe zone and they get lost when trying to nurse. When they are only a day or two old, they bumble and stumble around, and if mom is too far away they potentially may not be able to find her. With this set up, whichever direction she decides to lay down she is very close to the babies for nursing.
I would never feel comfortable with such a small enclosure if this was all she had for space. She needs to walk around, go to the bathroom, and get some fresh air! We have a large paddock for her that she can access whenever she wants to stretch her legs, which is is where her food and water are. Putting these things outside encourages her to get up and walk around a bit, which is what she needs post farrowing. Because of the additional ~2,000 square foot outdoor space she has, I feel very comfortable with the smaller size of her enclosure and it has worked well thus far.
The east facing 8 foot long wall has a bumper that sticks out eight inches from the wall and twelve inches off the ground. This gives her something to lay against that isn’t a wall. As she is going down, if a piglet is in the way it can run under the bumper for safety and not get crushed. Behind the bumper on the wall that divides the farrowing house and chicken coop is a man door that gives us a point of access.
On the opposing west wall is the door that gives Big Marie access to her paddock. There is a permanent door that can be shut. But, because she doesn’t particularly like to be shut in, I fitted the door with carpet padding and a rug to help block any drafts. This will allow her to have free access to go in and out as she pleases, but it will cut down on the drafts to preserve heat in her house. On sunny days, I have a hook that I can pull it up with to let in the warmth and fresh air.
To the right of the door is an old 3×4 foot wire dog kennel with the door removed. While most people put in a second bumper for the piglets, our heat mat happened to perfectly fit in a spare dog kennel we had and decided to give it a try. This serves as the piglet’s “safe space” where they can go to stay warm and will help prevent them from getting crushed by mom. The bottom of the kennel has a Stanley heat mat with heat lamps hanging from the wire above. Because they aren’t in a heated and/or insulated barn, being born in the winter months calls for multiple heat sources to keep them warm and a comfortable 80-85 degrees.
Drafts are always a concern so three sides of the kennel are lined with 10″ tall plywood to keep the heat contained, block drafts, and help channel the piglets to the door. About a third of the kennel opening closest to the paddock door is fitted from top to bottom with a piece of plywood, as well as another piece perpendicular to it about halfway up. It serves again as draft control as well as a way to keep Big Marie from sticking her head in the doorway and potentially pulling out the heat lamps and mat. The piglets have enough space to scoot out from underneath the wooden board to go out and nurse, then when they’re done they sneak back under to warm up. This keeps them from cuddling with mom to stay warm, and helps minimize the potential to be rolled on and crushed.
We are four days post farrowing, and while accidents can always happen, I can take a little bit of a breather knowing we are out of the 3 day “danger zone”. So far, the farrowing house set up as a whole and more specifically the dog kennel set up have worked very well for us! The piglets have learned to go into the kennel to warm up on their own, and they are getting bigger and stronger everyday while learning to watch their mom’s footing and get out of her way.
Do you raise pigs for breeding and have a farrowing house or do they do it on pasture? The best way to learn is from others, so let’s hear what everyone does below!
Our desire to keep our own sow for breeding piglets stemmed from our frustration trying to get quality piglets. Spring is the ideal time to get piglets for most, so they sell out quickly and our expectations are admittedly high. Keeping a sow of our own would allow us to have control over the breed mix and experiment with crosses, save the hectic spring scramble, and on the cost of buying piglets. Maybe, we could even make a little money on the side selling extra piglets!
When we first started scouring Craiglist for a gilt or sow, I admittedly at the time didn’t know a thing about what to look for. I had no pig mentor, and the internet leaves a lot to be desired in terms of information. So I figured I would just kind of trust common sense and go with it. I knew to check that she moved soundly, had nice feet squarely under her body, and that her vulva didn’t appear scarred or damaged, but that was it.
When we went to look at Big Marie, I was flabbergasted and literally taken aback by her size. I didn’t necessarily think she was overweight, because she is quite literally huge in stature. The people said that she was a year old and had never been bred, but had been in with a boar so she could potentially be pregnant.
There was nothing that screamed “don’t get her” to us, so we loaded her up on the trailer and brought her home hoping that we may have some piglets on the way if she was already pregnant. It turned out that she wasn’t, and five months later I artificially inseminated her. I learned that not only was she in fact overweight (and not just big) but also considered “old” to be getting bred for the first time. Despite these challenges that I didn’t even know were an issue, I decided to move ahead with breeding her and attempt to overcome the obstacles.
Before getting Big Marie, I knew that a gilt had to be at least 300 pounds and cycled a few times before being bred for the first time. I did not know however, how critical of a factor age is, and that ideally a year old is the maximum age for being bred for the first time. Seems young, am I right? Big Marie, was 18 months old when I went to breed her, six months past the ideal maximum age! Basically, having gone through many heat cycles with never being bred, she was at risk for developing (or already developed) follicular cysts. This leads to infertility, aka the inability to be bred. We obviously can’t “work through this problem” unless we somehow come up with a way to turn back time. So, the only thing I could do to address this was to try and get her bred immediately before she got any older!
Because I had no control over her age, the main issue that I had to address first and foremost was her weight. It’s so easy for a pig to get overweight, and unfortunately we didn’t know exactly what we were looking at when we got her as she came to use overweight. Fat sows/gilts have difficulty getting bred, and are at an extremely high risk for difficulties farrowing including stillbirths and breached babies. In an ideal world, I would put her on a strict diet to cut her weight down before breeding her. We were however, up against the age issue and time was not a luxury that we had.
The only option we really had at this point was to put her on a crash diet to get her to start cutting weight fast. I cut her daily food intake in half, and she got only 3 pounds of 14% protein feed a day with zero scraps. She quickly trimmed down early in her pregnancy, so I slowly increased her feed throughout her gestation to provide the necessary nutrition for her and her growing litter.
The whole breeding pigs experience certainly was a crash course before I even got the chance to inseminate her. I am just thankful that all of my efforts weren’t in vain, and I was able to successfully inseminate her and she didn’t have any major complications in her farrowing.
If at the time I went to look at Big Marie I knew more about pigs, there is a good chance I would have never taken her home that day. She was fat, “old”, and her underline is not ideal. Sometimes when you have the “learn on the fly” mentality, you end up getting burned and make some pretty big mistakes. But, hindsight is 20/20, and the homesteading journey is all about challenges, learning from your mistakes, and overcoming them. Thankfully I didn’t get burned in the sense I am left with a 1,000 pound infertile pig that I became attached to. Big Marie did get pregnant, we had a pretty good overall farrowing experience (not without its challenges), and ended up being a fantastic mother. But, through this experience I have learned what to look for in the future and am wiser because of it.
Here we are already, less than two weeks from Christmas and over halfway through Big Marie’s pregnancy. It’s hard for me to believe that she’s over halfway through her 114 day gestation period already. I also still have a hard time believing that Big Marie got pregnant via artificial insemination on my first time trying despite the fact that she was too old and too fat to be bred. Granted those were valuable lessons to learn, but I am still partly in disbelief that she took the first go around.
Now that she is confirmed pregnant and we are getting further along in her gestation, there are certain preparations I am making to ensure that the piglets are getting everything they need to develop properly as well as keeping her as healthy as possible.
Feeding
One of the biggest concerns I initially had when breeding Big Marie was her weight. While she is a very large pig in stature she was also overweight. Fat pigs can have difficulty not only getting pregnant, but it also typically leads to issues when it comes time to farrow if they do manage to get pregnant. I put Big Marie on a crash diet a month before insemination, cutting her daily feed intake from 6 lbs/day down to 3lbs/day. It was an aggressive cut, but necessary to get her in healthy body condition for breeding. She quickly dropped weight, and I maintained this daily ration through her first month of pregnancy.
Because I got a positive test result with the ultrasound at 18 days post breeding, this is a sign that she is carrying a large litter of at least 11-12. With potentially lots of little piglets in there developing and her being in good body condition, around a month or so into her pregnancy I upped her feed intake to 4 lbs/day. I have maintained that daily ration until now.
At this point (65+ days) in the gestation period, the piglets are demanding more nutrients to develop and grow properly, while her body still has to maintain and develop the products of conception (uterus, placenta, mammaries). Because I was able to get her into shape before breeding and early in her pregnancy, she doesn’t have excessive fat reserves to burn for calories to maintain her body condition. Basically, this means that without increasing her feed, the babies will take as much as they can for proper development not leaving much for her. So, I have increased her feed again to 6lbs/day. She will maintain this daily ration until the very end where it will be increased again when she is lactating and nursing her piglets.
I have also added supplemental fiber to her diet in the form of wheat bran. As with a human pregnancy, sows and gilts can have issues with constipation so the fiber will help keep things moving along for her and hopefully reduce those issues. The fiber addition will also satiate her hunger, and let her feel fuller in between feedings. During my research I found some interesting studies on the piglets themselves as a result of their mother being fed a high fiber diet during gestation. Results show that these piglets grew faster than those fed a lower fiber diet, and also showed less aggressive tendencies. Whether this is true or not, it certainly won’t hurt and if at the very least it helps her through her pregnancy it’s worth it.
Vaccinations
Prior to breeding Big Marie I never vaccinated her before nor did I give it much thought. I take a middle of the road approach to vaccines generally speaking. I think that they have their place, but like most other forms of medication they are overused and their use has spiraled out of control. So, I decided that I would minimally vaccinate to cover some of the more common diseases that could be detrimental to her health as well as the piglets, and ones that she could pass on immunization in utero. While there are countless vaccines I could give her to cover anything and everything, I have opted for more broad spectrum vaccinations. I firmly believe in the power of diet and environment and how it contributes to overall health and naturally immunity. With her being raised outside the natural way, she is extremely healthy. But, she is at a higher risk for certain diseases carried by other species such as birds, but at very low risk for certain diseases seen in confinement type settings. Regardless, I am administering Farrow Sure Gold and ProSystem TGE to protect against some of the “biggies” that are a realistic threat.
Right now, making sure Big Marie is getting proper nutrition as well as the necessary vaccinations are the top priorities in addition to her overall comfort. As she gets closer to farrowing, we are going to convert the part of the chicken coop into a farrowing house to give her a comfortable place to safely have her piglets outside in the beginning of February.
To say that we are ecstatic for our first litter of piglets is an understatement. She’s such an incredible pig and I cannot wait to see what a wonderful mama she will be. Oh, and the photo opportunities that will come as well!