# Pig Farrowing Problem - What should we do?



## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Yesterday evening, Jim discovered a newborn piglet with its head eaten off. We immediately separated the mom from the other pigs. This is the first litter for this particular potbelly pig. We watched the pig for several hours last night, and she was still having contractions. 

This morning, there are still no more piglets. The pig is still having what I assume are contractions - lifts her tail, and either stares into space or seems to be pushing. In between, she is walking around, eating some, laying down some. She doesn't seem to be in any sort of distress. She still looks like she has piglets in there - she's not all saggy.

This is not a tame pig. She won't let us near her. Any suggestions as to what we should do? This is completely new to me.

Best guess, she's around 8 months old. The piglet seemed to be a decent size. I don't have a due date as she just runs with the boars.

GeorgeK - this is the black and white pig we got from you in October.

Thanks so much,
PJ


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## JennNY (Aug 10, 2006)

Well, you said it wasn't a tame pig.. Not sure what you can do, if you can't get near her...the only thing I can think of to do, would be to stick your arm up in there and see if you can find anything. She didn't deliver the placenta? Seems like it shouldn't take her over a day to deliver. Mine usually deliver w/in 6 hours of starting.

Jenn


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## RedHogs (Jul 7, 2006)

It's a sluff pig....aborted to relieve pressure. This is common in gilts bred to young. At 8 months she should be bred now - not farrowing. If she has on stuck- you will have to pull it. On a potbelly- that will be hard. In the future don't let a boar near a gilt for 210 days and then only if good size. Death rate in durocs bred to young is about 30%.... loss of piglets 75%. Duroc have very large babies and this is a concern for my breeders... potbellies may not have this problem... I just don't know.


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

RedHogs - assuming it was a sluff pig, how long should it be til she delivers the rest? a few weeks? this week? She is still contracting, with nothing happening. She's walking around still, doesn't appear to be in distress at all. But she's still pushing.

Jenn - til the pig goes into distress and goes down - there is no way I can examine the pig up close. (I am 7 months pregnant and definitely not up to catching this pig!) I'm hoping it doesn't get to that.

Thanks for the help,
PJ


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## GeorgeK (Apr 14, 2004)

She's over a year old by now. I believe she was born in March of last year. Does she look pregnant? Was there an afterbirth? Is this the same one that delivered and lost a litter in october/november?


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Yes, she still looks pregnant.

We did not see any afterbirth. Her backside was a bit messy, but not much.

No, this is her first litter.

Glad to know she's over a year old. But still don't know what to do!

Right now, she's in a pen by herself. She walks around it. Still eating, but not a lot. She regularly stops, lifts her tail in the air, and hunches like she is pushing. She's been doing this since Sunday, but nothing is happening!

The piglet looked like it was about full term (hard to tell when there is no head!)

Thanks,
PJ

By the way, one of the other pigs that is the same size/age as this pig had a litter on Friday. Eight piglets. 3 dead when we found them in the morning. 5 still alive, although there is one runt that I'm not sure is going to make it. 3 girls, 2 boys. The runt is a girl. She is being a great mom - took the 4 of them out for a walk today - cutest thing I've seen in a long time.


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## PETSNEGGS (Oct 7, 2005)

pj, sorry to hear you are having problems with your piggy, but I can't even amagine how cute the others must be. Are the new ones potbellies also? If so I wished I lived closer, I would love another potbelly. hubby and I have actually thought about getting a male so we could have babies. We have one female "Sassy" and just love her to death. I don't have tons of acres though so I'm not sure if we could. Do you have to keep them seperated when they are pregnant? I hope all goes well for you and your piggy. Good Luck


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Pets - thanks for the concern. Yes, the other piglets are potbellies too. I can't get over how tiny they are. The runt weighs only 6.8 ounces. Actually, yesterday, she was up to 7.0 oz. Haven't checked closely on her yet today. (Spend most of the time watching Miss Pretty walk around and contract and wonder what to do for her!) The piglets follow the mom like little ducklings. We got these potbellies from GeorgeK and we let them all run together - no separating. We haven't had the easiest time breeding yet, but I'm hoping things will turn around soon! Right now I just want Miss Pretty to survive!

PJ


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Well, Miss Pretty had another dead piglet when I went out to check on her again. So, the good news is that she managed to get it out if it was at all stuck. I still don't think she's done (but she might be). She's just not acting right yet. There did seem to be part of the placenta still attached to the piglet. I assume pigs have multiple placentas, is that correct?

PJ


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Still contracting...


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

PJ, forgive me if I sound rude but stop ballsing around and either get the vet out or get in there yourself and find out what is going on. Each piglet grows in a "horn" and when they are ready to be born they come out into a central birth canal. If a piglet gets stuck, anything following it will die because the umbilical cord will have already broken and they have no way of breathing until they are born. You have had a stuck piglet and any other piglets she may have been carrying will now be dead. It's been going on too long and you are now running the risk of infection. 

If she were my sow, I would be getting in there now to clean out anything remaining and probably be ringing the vet to get some oxytocin to help expel the afterbirth. 

For future reference, try to remain with your sows when farrowing commences and anything longer than 15-20 minutes between piglets warrents an investigation. One stuck piglet could cost the remaining litter.
The sow probably took the head off her first born through stress.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Ronney said:


> If a piglet gets stuck, anything following it will die because the umbilical cord will have already broken and they have no way of breathing until they are born.


I'm really really not an expert, but I DID stay in a Holiday Inn last night  

We watched one of our pbp sows birth last week, and cleaned off the piglets for her as they were born. They came out WITH the umbilical cord still attached, and with each, we waited until they crawled around enough to break the cord, then cleaned them up for mom.
One was kicking right at the opening but she was not pushing, taking a rest, and piglet quit kicking. We weren't worried, thinking it was just "resting" too. When she expelled it, it was dead. This one came out WITH the cord already broken, and had asphyxiated.
But the 4 behind her came out just fine, with their cords still intact.

So what you said only applied to one of our piglets, not the rest.

Yes, we did try hard to revive the piglet, but it was not to be.


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## Boleyz (Sep 7, 2004)

I've farrowed thousands of pigs. Your young gilt should have been confned in a crate (Even one made of lumber), which would allow her to stand up, and lie down. The bottom slat should be several inches from the floor so the pigs can go in and out to suck, yet are safe from attack,since momma can't turn around.

That said, if your gilt does have a pig inside that is dead and she does not deliever it and the afterbirth, she will die from massive infection as the dead pig decays inside her.

If she's not up and about in a day or 2, you'd better start making funeral arrangements.

Since you're very green, you should seek the help of an experienced hog person or a vet, as someone suggested.

Also, get a piece of plywood about 5' x 3'. cut hand holes in the long side on the top, and use this board to herd your gilt into a crate or a confinement area. The board will protect you from attack and also (eventually) turn her and make her go where you want. 

If she tries to attack you violently, a 3' electric shock stick is mighty handy. They can't stand a jolt on a wet snout...

Good luck...


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

What I'm saying is if the stuck piglet is there for too long, anything already in the birth canal is very likely to die because the cord will have broken in the extended time lapse. If the stuck piglet is expelled or removed quickly enough they have a much higher chance of survival. I've lost a stuck piglet and the four behind it because I didn't act quickly enough but the following three were fine as they would have still been in their horns and attached to the placenta.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## PETSNEGGS (Oct 7, 2005)

Okay PJ, haven't heard from you... how is that little piggy doing? I'm worried about ya's. Let us know what is going on. Prayers your way


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Pets - Thanks for the concern, I was just coming online to update.

Miss Pretty is doing fine at the moment. No more contractions since Wednesday night. She ate very well this morning. Walking around normally. She's not all saggy like the other gilt was after farrowing, but Miss Pretty has a much more potbelly look anyway. So, we continue to wait to see if she's done or if she had 2 "sluff pigs".

Ronney - no offense taken. My first reaction when I run into something beyond my capability (which this situation is!) is to call the vet since there are no pig people around here that I know. Unfortunately, NAIS (on the state level) has reared its ugly head where we live. Since we have not registered our premise, our hands are kinda tied when it comes to calling in a vet. This is not a business for us, just a way to provide healthy food for the family, so we didn't consider calling a vet a viable option.

bbbuddy - we got these pigs from GeorgeK in the Fall and are trying to follow something of a hands off approach as he does. Good moms stay, bad moms don't. We may change our approach in the future, but right now, with me being pregnant and Jim working all week, that's going to have to be the way it is. Without having due dates on the sows, it has hard to know when to put them in a farrowing crate.

Thank you all for your input. I will let you know if she has any other piglets.

PJ


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

So NAIS can regulate your property even IF you are not selling animals, just keeping them for personal use?


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

Technically, we do not have to register if we do not buy or sell. But there is so much confusion and the "authorities" are pushing it that even if you have them, you need to be registered. The vets around here are all under the impression that just having an animal means you need a premise ID. Friends of ours have had calls from "the authorities" questioning whether or not they were registered. So far we are "under the radar" and we're trying to remain so.
PJ


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

Holy buckets!! I've had animals-goats and chickens here for 7 years and even show them; no call yet. sshhhh :nono:


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## GeorgeK (Apr 14, 2004)

sorry you are having problems, PJ. Maybe I've just been lucky, but over all I've only seen one die from being too small to birth, and 2 sows who had to be butchered for eating other sows' piglets. I'm glad at least one of the sows is being a good mom and getting along with all the others. The good sows can be too good in that they may get depleted from milk production. She will need extra rations.

2 questions

The piglet without a head, was it born without a head, or had it been decapitated?

What all feed are you using? There are reports of pigs dying from tainted feed from the whole China Wheat Gluten thing. 

Sorry I don't get on line everyday. My nerve damage makes typing somedays rather painful


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## jimandpj (Feb 8, 2006)

The piglet was decapitated.

They eat all the household scraps and plain oats or corn - so it shouldn't be feed.

Miss Pretty is back in with the other pigs - acting totally fine and normal. So, she's got another chance to have a healthy litter. The two dead piglets appeared to be full-term size, so I'm guessing she's done. She's always had a bigger potbelly than the black ones, so it was difficult to be sure she was even pregnant.

The other sow is doing well and does get as much extra feed as we can get to her. She's got one huge piglet, 2 medium, and 2 small. But all are up and about and doing very well.

PJ


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