# What would make a sow abort her piglets/ have them prematurely



## speakmanfamily (Aug 12, 2011)

Last spring we had a gilt have her first litter,

We didn't pay attention to her due date, but we think they were born early due to the state the litter was in.

"Kat" Went into labor, and had nine piglets. seven were stillborn, two were born alive. One was so weak he couldn't keep his head up, and the other was strong.
The weak one died within the hour. Kat's milk ended up stopping completely and we didn't realize for at least 24, as the piglet kept trying to suckle. We brought him in and bottle fed him, but he passed. Kat was very heart broken, and tried to nurse all the other sows piglets. 

We're giving Kat a last chance, and we don't want her or us to go through that again. Is there anything that could have caused this? Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Is there some sort of plant that she could have eaten? Or does it seem to be some sort of fluke accident?


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

pseudo rabies? among other things


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## speakmanfamily (Aug 12, 2011)

Kat showed no signs of having it. She was (at the time of her delivery)/is (as of now) a sweet affectionate pig.

Also, (another point) Kat was dewormed. I'm not sure if worms can cause abortions, but just another aspect.


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## CJBegins (Nov 20, 2009)

There are several infectious reasons for a sow to abort her litter among other things. Check out this site, it's loaded with information.

Merck Veterinary Manual


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Circo virus!!!


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## speakmanfamily (Aug 12, 2011)

thanks very much everybody. I really hope this litter turns out for Kat, she is due Feb. 23, so i'll post news then!


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

pseudo rabies is not like rabies, just what it is called. google it. It has been eradicated in the states, but common in the wild hog population.

I'm a great believer in minerals, especially selinium. Minerial shortages will kill adult pigs and a shortage of selinium will cause weak piglets.

Lepto is a problem for some. often spread by rats or other wildlife.

http://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v2n6/v2n6p29.pdf


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## speakmanfamily (Aug 12, 2011)

i did google Pseudo Rabies, and she had none of the symptoms  At least of what i can remember.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Did you look up circo? Also parvo virus.
We had this exact thing happen to us. Full term sow, previously had a normal litter, then all were still born except one or two and they were weak and died. It was circo, we had her tested. Now we vaccinate for both circo and parvo virus.

We found out it probably came from auction feeders. We bought some piglets from someone who we didn't realize had just got them from the auction. Big mistake.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

speakmanfamily said:


> i did google Pseudo Rabies, and she had none of the symptoms  At least of what i can remember.


I've had folks confuse it with rabies and look for rabies symptoms.


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

Your sow did not abort. She had a litter of stillborns. If she aborted the piglets would not have been full term.

There are several things that could have caused the stillborns. Obesity is one of the easiest causes for stillborns because of increased complications due to dystocia.

Stillborns can also be caused by PRRS, Circovirus, Parvovirus, and Mycotoxins.

Jim


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

If none of your other sows had any dead or weak pigs or mummies at birth I would say it was just bad luck as long as they were all together for a while before breeding.


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## Karenrbw (Aug 17, 2004)

PRRS - Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome
PRRS is caused by a virus and is highly contaigous among a herd. The sow may lose interest in food for a while, may farrow slightly early, give birth to mummified piglets, display coughing, have prolonged periods between heat periods, and may have a slightly elevated temperature. Ear tips may be observed to be blue tinged. Symptoms vary greatly in 10-20% of infected pigs may exhibt any listed symptom. 

Piglets may be born very weak and sows may have a lack of milk. Many piglets are stillborn.


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## speakmanfamily (Aug 12, 2011)

PRRS seems very likely.

She has all the symptoms besides the mumified piglets (they were just in the sac, normal), and blue ear tips.

I can't remember if she was coughing, but it is likely.
We never took her temp. but i know for sure her ear tips were not blue tinged.

How likely is it that it is now out of her system?


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## Karenrbw (Aug 17, 2004)

More detailed information: http://www.thepigsite.com/diseaseinfo/97/porcine-reproductive-respiratory-syndrome-prrs

Blue ear tips only show up in 5-10% of PRRS cases and may only last an hour or so.

PRRS is a virus and once a pig has it, she has it. She is also infecting her piglets and other pigs on the farm. It is a chronic condition. I had a student a few years ago that bought a show pig with PRRS. He took it home and basically infected his whole breeding herd. He had massive losses of piglets and ended up selling his breeding herd of over 50 sows and boars to the slaughter house. He had to keep all pigs off the property for over two years to let the virus die off.


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## speakmanfamily (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm thinking and hoping that's not what it is then.

We have had litters since then, which have been perfectly fine.


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