With Delilah, one of our Berkshire sows, inside for farrowing, I get another chore to add to my list. Her pen has to be mucked out, fresh wood shavings put down to mop up moisture, and fresh straw added to her bedding. I do roughly half the pen at a time, forking and shovelling muck, [...]
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Tag Archives: farrowing
Should I let a sleeping pig lie…
1 February, 2011
7 Comments
We brought Delilah, one of our Berkshire sows, in to the farrowing pen on Sunday. Her estimated farrowing day is fast approaching, she was increasingly tetchy with the other pigs and clearly wanted to be left alone. She was a bit reluctant to leave the field at first, but when she realised where we wanted [...]
Read more Not the best of litters
17 October, 2010
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Daisy, one of our Berkshire sows, started farrowing just before 9am today. She delivered her first live piglet quite rapidly, then half an hour passed before she delivered three dead piglets in quick succession. All were a good size but appeared to have died of asphyxia, indicating their placentas had separated too soon.
Read moreFarrowing: a long day’s work
5 August, 2010
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2145, August 5: Doing the evening checks and noticed Doris, one of our Berkshire sows, was dribbling milk from her teats. 2345, August 5: Checked Doris, serious contractions have started. 0105, August 6: First piglet delivered, very large gilt, weighing 1.9kg.
Read moreTime to come inside
25 July, 2010
1 Comment
When we went out to check the pigs this afternoon, Doris was waiting at the gate to her pen and was quick to indicate she’d decided it was time to move to the farrowing pen. She pushed at the gate, grunted loudly, looked at me and then down the track, and then grunted again. The [...]
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