Colostrum
Providing vitamins, nutrients and warmth. Piglets will feed regularly every 20 minutes for the first 24 hours and then every half hour in the first couple of days to an hour after a week. The composition of colostrum at farrowing is:
Bagging up
You will notice that the sows abdomen will drop so much so that when you look from behind between her back legs it is almost touching the ground – referred to as “bagging up”. She will also start to carry straw from one area to another; will generally throw things around as she is having contractions. From the moment this happens it is generally six hours until birthing is imminent.
When your sow/gilt has made her circle of straw she will lie down, her breathing will become laboured and if she is a gilt from her vulva will come a very dark (almost black in colour) discharge (I have not noticed this dark discharge in subsequent farrowings) at this stage her vulva will be a very dark red and swollen, you will notice that the tail with thrash from side to side and then slowly but surely you will see the first piglet emerge.
During the first couple of days feeding the sow her normal ration is adequate then from day three increase the feed for both the condition and maintenance of the sow/gilt and for the production of milk that is required to feed the piglets.
From day three up the feed gradually to 0.5kg per piglet per day and yes, depending on litter size will be a lot of food, so please split the food to three times a day if possible.
TREATMENT FOR PARASITES
Consideration should be given at this time, for treating the sow for external parasites and therefore worming her a week before she gives birth to avoid placenta crossover of womb infestation.
It is also a good idea to vaccinate against Erysipelas three weeks before farrowing and if the mother has never been vaccinated before she will need one injection six weeks prior to farrowing and a booster three weeks later.
Always speak to your vet for advice on your medication/vaccination programme.
EMBRYOS
Embryos are not embedded until day nine of gestation and at that stage they can migrate from one horn (side of the uterus) to another, so if all embryos are lost in one horn they can migrate from the other one.
As long as there are four embryos in place, and both horns are occupied, pregnancy continues beyond ten days, otherwise it appears to be terminated. After twelve days the number of embryos may be reduced to as few as one and the pregnancy will still continue.
Litters of four or less are suggestive of embryonic death between twelve and thirty days of gestation.
THE AFTERBIRTH
It takes between six and eight hours from the moment the first piglet is born to the two afterbirths passing out and make sure there are two that are passed out one from each horn.
These are normally passed out between two and three hours after the birth of the last piglet is born. Do not pull them out let them pass out naturally.
THE FIRST FEED
The first suckle of milk from the sow/gilt is vital as it contains colostrum which helps give them energy, warmth and early immunity to various infections with the highest level of immunity present in the first twenty four hours.
Although the colostrum starts declining rapidly about six hours after farrowing commences, so does the piglets response to it.
A few days before birth monitor the food as if overfed the sow can become constipated and her gut distended. This can result in constriction of the reproductive tract, giving problems to farrowing.
Watch out for scouring (diarrhoea) as this can lead to dehydration, which can make the milk production more difficult.
Feed a little less over the three days before the birth, being careful not to totally alter the feeding routine. Exercise also prevents them from becoming too heavy and grass is a source of roughage. It is true that there is little nutrients in grass but it is an aid to their wellbeing.
GESTATION
A pig’s gestation period is one hundred and sixteen days from the day they are serviced. A few days either side is nothing to worry about however if a week has passed it would be advisable to have her scanned.
The OSBPG Charity Pregnancy Scanner may be of use to you should you wish to confirm that your sow/gilt is in-pig.
At three months of pregnancy the sow/gilt body stops producing fat and begins to break down their fat to produce milk and it is also at this stage the piglets are putting on their main growth rate.
Females can put on a pound a day during gestation.