Farming Friends

Here are some pictures of Claire’s Saddleback pigs.

hi sara  Here are 3 pics, one of baby’s wondering what that chicken is doing in their bed and the other of mom watching over her babies and one of dad which we now have him up for sale if u know of anyone that’s after a boar in the uk let me know thanks
from claire

Claire has been one of my readers since she asked a question about her farrowing gilts Penelope and Tiny back in June.

Here is Claire’s story:

can u tell me how would i know when my pigs are ready to give birth as i got two girls that are pregnant when i got them i have no idea how long they have got left to be mothers thanks for any advise from claire

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The temperature in the farrowing pen differs from the temperature in the creep area.

The creep area where the piglets can move away from the sow should be heated to a temperature up to 32 degrees Celsius. Heating can be attained by the use of an overhead heat lamp, a heat pad, underfloor heating or a well bedded area.

The farrowing pen itself where the sow is requires a lower temperature. The temperature in the farrowing room should be around 18 to 20 degrees Celsius. This is important because high temperatures can affect the sows milking ability.

17 Saddleback weaners for sale in the York to Hull area. Available from 10th November at 8 weeks old as the piglets were born on 15th September and 23rd September.

The Saddleback piglets are pedigree piglets and will be birth notified and registered with the BPA.

The piglets have been reared indoors. There are 15 gilts and 2 boars.

The sows that farrowed the piglets are from the Warrendale Rosette line and the boar is from the Gillbeck Grand Duke line.

The sows and the boar are friendly and good natured pigs, making the piglets excellent for breeding and as well as fattening.

We are based in the York and Hull area and would be happy for any prospective buyers to come and visit to view the piglets

The piglets will be £40 each at 8 weeks old.

If you are interested in the piglets then please leave a comment in the comment box below or contact me via the contact form below.

Did you know that as soon as piglets are born they start to suckle and hunt for the sows teats. The suckling instinct kicks in within minutes of being born.

Initially the piglets will fight for the teats and there is alot of movement between teats and then within a day they settle down and always stick to the same teat. The most dominant piglets get the best teats. Some of the piglets even get to suckle on more than one if they are canny!

 Moe from Iowavoice left a comment,

“I just watched on animal planet a story about how piglets fight pretty agressively for the teets the first time, with the dominant piglet getting the best teet, and on down the line, and how once the piglets establish who has what teet, they never change. Even if you take all of the piglets and mix them up they will all go back to “their” teets without any fighting.”

Animal behaviour is so interesting to watch.

I am delighted to say that Cagney, my Saddleback sow has had nine healthy piglets.

On Tuesday tea time I placed Cagney in the farrowing crate as she had milk when I squeezed her teats. I was able to do this on my own as Cagney is a very placid and gentle sow. It wasn’t long before she had her first piglet.

This is Cagney’s third litter. The second litter she farrowed unaided and before I got to the barn as it was in the early hours. In some ways it is better when you are not there as the sow and piglets just get on with it. However it is always good to be there so that you can assist if a piglet needs help or the sow is becoming aggressive like Lacy did over a week ago. With Lacy biting one of her piglets whilst she was farrowing I became very nervous when Cagney started to farrow. Once bitten twice shy if you’ll excuse the pun.

Cagney was very restless and after the first piglet was born she kept turning round and I thought that she might snap at the piglet so I decided to put the piglet in a box. I gathered each piglet into the box under the lamp as they were born.

When the piglets are born they instinctively start to search for the teats within minutes of being born. I let each piglet do this for a few minutes so that Cagney would know that the piglets were there.

The first five piglets arrived quite quickly but then there was a long gap and I had to put my hand in to check that the piglet wasn’t stuck.

Farrowing pigs is always difficult because you never know how many piglets they will have.

When cagney had her 7th piglet there was alot of cleansing which is a sign that the farrowing is over. However her behaviour was unchanged and she seemed to still be having contractions and pushing.

Another two piglets arrived and then as Lacy was feeding her piglets Cagney started to cleanse. Once she had done this I let her rest for a bit and then took out a piglet and let it try to nuzzle at the back of Cagney. I was very nervous as I didn’t want to release the piglets for Cagney to attack them. I got a stick and pretended that the stick was a piglet and moved it around near Cagney’s face. She looked at the stick but didn’t snap at it. I thought that it would be safe to let the piglets go in with Cagney. I gently emptied them from the box and there was a lot of grunting and squealing and then Cagney laid on her side and the piglets started to suckle. When they first go to the teats it is interesting to watch as they swop teats and try to find one that they are happy with. I stayed to make sure all was well and then went to bed at 2.45 in the morning.

Here is Snuffles the hand reared Saddleback piglet that was injured when my Saddleback sow Lacy was farrowing.

Snuffles and I are developing a relationship as I hand rear him. He climbs onto my lap as I give him his milk every few hours or so.

I just hope that I can give him enough milk to help him grow strong. The poor little piglet has a punctured face which makes breathing difficult and a tongue that is cut which makes suckling difficult.

I will keep you posted about the piglets progress.

One of the Saddleback piglets is injured, infact during farrowing the sow bit the piglet and punctured the piglet’s face and tongue making it difficult for the piglet to breathe and suckle.

I have named the piglet Snuffles as he is breathing heavily. He was born on Monday and is nearly two days old. He has been finding it hard to suckle although he makes attempts to get the sows milk and wants to be with the other piglets.

I have been supplementing Snuffles suckling with some calf milk every few hours. Before lunch he drank a fair bit of calf milk and then started to suckle the sow so this is a great sign. Fingers crossed for a full recovery and the ability to suckle properly so I don’t have to hand rear the poor little piglet.