# milkreplacer for piglets



## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

We had a litter of pigs on fri. morning...This was this particular gilts first farrow. We have ran into something new to us....Things seemed to be going along well,then today I found 2 dead piglets,and realized her milk had dried up!!!The remaining 6 piglets were hanging on by a thread..Guess I have two questions?First what makes a good milk replacer for pigs,I happened to have some kitten formula with colostrum ,and gave them what I could get in them, and 4 of them seemed to perk up shortly their after.. I also have some calf supplement with out colostrum. Next question is gilt is shaking as if freezing is this some type of milk fever?or something else?I gave her a shot of penicillin this afternoon,and plan on another one tomorrow.Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated...(what do you think Walter?)thanks Ron


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Ron, you have a sick pig quite possibly suffering from Lactation Failure or Mastitis-Metritis-Agalactia (MMA). The first sign is hungry piglets and then the sow may have a fever, be depressed, unwilling to eat, reluctant to rise and constipated. Is there an increased vaginal discharge? The sow will recover but it takes 3-4 days usually so get on to your vet for confirmation as there is a specific drug that will speed recovery and she should come back into milk.

As for feeding the piglets, the calf supplement will be ok - forget about the colostrum as it's too late for that anyway. If you can get them to feed themselves out of low dishes it will help you, if not your going to have to do it by hand. I would leave the piglets with her in the hope that when and if her milk comes in, they will go back to suckling from her.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

Thanks Ronnie we are using small baby bottles and eyedroppers to try to get something in them.We lost another one through the night, and two more dont look good...Just trying to save the three others if we can .I will call my Vet and see if she can come out for the sow..We have never had this before, it is heartbreaking to watch this playing out....


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## luvrulz (Feb 3, 2005)

I've bottle fed them but like said above, it's much easier and less stress on the piglet if you feed them out of low dishes. I had 2 that the mom left for dead and we had huge success. Don't give up - mine squealed and carried on every time I tried to feed them - if yours take to the bottle, go for it! Good luck - they are just too cute to give up on!


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## shagerman (Apr 10, 2008)

had this not to long ago... what i did is used a old pan,made sure it was clean, added instant nonfat dry milk with warm water. i had to put there noses in it but they drank it like no tommorrow and use oatmeal in a couple of days. i had no scours no problems add in a week or so a little fine ground corn to get them started, or get what i used is purina baby pig chow. to a small feeder, they will get the idea on there own, mine came out just great,also later on in the day clean the pan out and put warm water in it, they will drink it sparingly but they will get used to water, i lost half a litter before i figured out what was actually going on, i have pictures of my last 3, and they are really doing good now.


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## RedHogs (Jul 7, 2006)

I have made the mistakes you are making one too many times..... bottle feeding is treating the symptoms and no the problem, both farrowing and nutritional of the sow..... By quickly treating the sow with electolytes and an "Orange Juice" _this a solution prepared by my vet which conains XYZ for treating milk related problems which is kept inside the refridgerator in the house at all times_, we have not lost a litter or any real number of pigs to starvation in years.....bottle feeding is hit or miss when they are under three days old..... 50/50 on survivial at best...

Use this as a learning experience, If you are to continue with sows..... this will happen again and the drugs have a long shelf life when kept cool....

consult a vet immediately by phone.... I think you are using pennicillian inncorrectly here, I think it is the wrong kind of antibiotic.....

I know that getting her up and getting electrolytes in her will help.....I would stop the pen... until you talk to a vet....

The vet will need to know if the afterbirth was discharged, any chance of a retained piglet???? 

This could be a continued farrowing problem / or a milk related problem....... the treatment will be dramtically different for each...... but fluid and movement will be critical in both cases..... a sow that lays down for long periods of time in the cold is not getting up.


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

Well we are down to 4 .Vet suggested jump start with electrolytes for sow and piglets.We also bought some milk re placer for multi animals, including pigs..Vet also said one more shot of penicillin,wouldnt hurt..When I checked on her about 3 hours ago she was out rooting around with the rest of the herd, she looked really good. will definitely watch her and keep the stuff on hand in case this ever happens again... The piglets are not healthy enough to drink from a pan,but we are getting a little bit of milk in them. Hope we can save the remaining 4. Thanks for all the help.... Well keep youall posted...Ron


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## RedHogs (Jul 7, 2006)

put them back on the momma NOW!!!!!!

I know you don't like crates, but confine her for just 24 hours and the pigs will all survive.....tight confinement of a sow is not to be mean.... it is to save the piglets.... she will accept them back after a while....


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

I understand what you are saying, and I believe that would work.But I do not have any crates and at this point I dont think the piglets would survive more than a couple of hours!!Moma seems to be doing fine, but her teats do not appear to have any milk in them.The temps here are slightly below freezing, and will be in the single digits two more nights in a row.All my shelters are in pastures right now and I do not have a hog house yet...We had planned on strictly pasture raising them, but we will definitely build a hog house for unexpected temp. changes and sick pigs.It looks as if we will save three of the 8 babies...But it is still just a guess.4 are still alive but one is not looking all that good.Thanks for your help Redhogs..will keep updated..


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

Well after a long night of feeding every 3 hours ,all 4 remaining piglets are doing well.One weak one gets stronger every hour.....the other 3 drink from the bottle willingly , and fuss every 3 hours to be fed.All body functions seem to be working and that is definitely a good sign....will update later this eve.....Ron


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## shagerman (Apr 10, 2008)

i only have one thing to say, i was a beginner also and i heard the whole shimmaro of this and that, not tocut anyone dwn, because i did try everything ,everyone told me, i had lost a bunch to stupidity of listening, sometimes, finally i got angry and said ok this and that didnt work, i wrote it down everytime, and went on my own venue of finding stuff, i tried the farm&fleet all milk replacer and lost babys , the only thing i did finally find to work was what i wrote earlier. i also talked to the vet and did what he said...didnt work, what i found actually worked and i was impressed when everything else failed. just remember we all have loses, and we learn by our mistakes, keep a journal of what you did, and tried, in the end youlll know exacly what to do the next time, although i am still learning myself.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

I used to get pig milk replacer through Moor mans Feed. It's now ADM Alliance. I don't know if they still make the milk replacer but here is a link to their starter feeds.http://www.admani.com/allianceswine/MomentumStartersCompleteFeeds.htm
They also have a dealer locater link.

If you can keep them going and get them started on a good high quality early wean feed, 1 bag will be enough, they will be all right.


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

All 4 are now doing fine .they eat really well, and are walking around fussing .Thanks for the link Allen W.Checked it out,and the nearest distributor is about 50 miles away.I think they will make it now ,but we will get a bag of starter feed for sure....We have farrowed dozens of litters ,and have never ran into this before!!Hope we dont have to do it again!! But we will be more prepared next time.....Ron


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Ron, I'm supposed to be on my way to the vet with a cat that I think has had a stroke so won't waste time commenting but am interested in what your vet's diagnosis was?

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

The vet. never came out,but said it was probably M.M.A.like you mentioned...She said to get the electrolytes in her asap and the penicillin wouldnt hurt either.I then put her back in with the other pigs to help keep her warm in the straw because she was shaking so bad.All this really worked,she looked great the next morning.The 4 remaining piglets are doing great.I wish I could have put them back with her but she does not have any milk at all.I gave her 6 c.c. of penicillin and the electrolytes..Things are going much better now, except for having to feed the piglets every 3 hours...But not so bad since my wife works nights and does the 12 & 3 a.m.Feedings but they are definitely a hand full ,jumping around and getting all excited at feeding time!!!


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## tinman1 (Jan 20, 2009)

All 4 piglets are doing great!! We started out with the bottles, and have switched over to a shallow dish...(much easier) If they hadnt been so bad off we could have started on a dish.If this ever happens again, we will get them to the dish as early as possible, as was suggested above by many of you...Thanks for all the help & suggestions....Ron


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