A 4H Community Adventure: The Piglets Are Here!

What a surprise we had this morning! We woke up early to a call from SC saying that the Piglets were here! Miss Beatrice did such a great job, she didn't need any help at all! And she's such a good Mommy! No Hogzilla here either. We could not have been blessed with a better sow.

So here are all the details! Thanks to some awesome genetics, we have some amazing babies. Miss Beatrice gave birth to 13 baby pigs. One was still born, one is a little runty, and one has clubbed back feet. The other 10 are healthy and happy little piglets! We have three black (Hampshire) and nine pink (bluebutts). Two of the black pigs are females and one is male. Three of the pink pigs are female, including clubby and runty, and the other six are males.

SS, MC, RB, RV, AJ, and TABS, all stayed home from school to tend to the little buggers. TABS was absolutely amazing with clubby. She's tucked her inside her sweater to stay warm and kept trying to get her to suckle. Since clubby wouldn't use her legs, TABS would lay her on her back and make her kick to exercise her legs. By tonight Clubby was walking to eat and suckling like she is supposed to. All of the kids were really great with the pigs, very quiet and respectful all day, and it turned out to be really great to have them there.

Miss Beatrice has been absolutely phenomenal, both with the pigs and with the kids! At one point, TABS was holding clubby, keeping her warm, while Miss Bearice laid her head on TABS foot, and the other pigs crowded around. She has put up with kids in and out of the pen, picking up pigs, moving pigs, hugging pigs, and helping pigs nurse all day long without so much as an angry look! And she has been so careful not to lay on the pigs and has had no problem with them nursing. What a great Momma we ended up with!

We have them all penned in a horse stall with straw bedding and a separation where the pigs can get away from their Momma, so they don't get squished. We call that area the Pig Crib, and we keep it heated to help draw the pigs away from Momma. The feed and water are in the stall with Momma, where she has full access to feed and water at all times. This seems to have worked very well for us. We couldn't afford to buy a farrowing crate, and most of the kids were uncomfortable with crating Miss Beatrice for days at a time, without the ability to move around. She seems to enjoy the freedom of her stall as well, and the kids are happy.

Now for the fun part! Here come the pictures. (Most have a reddish tint, due to the red heat lamps we have in the stall.

Miss Beatrice, MC & SS Last Night