# My pig only had three piglets!???



## RedneckPete (Aug 23, 2004)

My pregnant sow only had three piglets. She started around noon today and had two pretty quick. A third one was born dead around 5 pm, and now nothing since.

Is she done? Is this normal? The dead one hadn't even completely cleared the birth canal, I lifted the back legs out and cut the cord.

I'm hoping she isn't plugged up or something. She is just laying in her nest with the two live piglets sucking like crazy! Hopefully tomorrow I wake up to a few more healthy piglets.

Pete


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## Misty (May 29, 2005)

Pete you need to check her and make sure nothing is stuck. If there is, the others can die, she can become septic. You need a big ob glove and some lube. I always give penicillin if we have to go in a hog. 
Good luck and keep us posted.
Misty


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

any more news?


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Is this the sow you got from the confinement operation? What was the reason they culled her? Was it due to small litters? If so, this may be "normal" for her.


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## RedneckPete (Aug 23, 2004)

Lots of new information!

The next morning, there were still only the three piglets, two live and one dead. I called the farmer who owned her before, and asked him about it, because he is the local pig expert in my books. He felt she had a pig stuck and said I should check her out.

So... on his instructions, with an extra clean scrubbed hand and arm, and with the help of a pail of really soapy warm water, I checked out my first ever pig. No gloves, no proper lube, nothing but my arm and a few deep breaths.

And guess what? No more piglets in there either.

So, that done, he dropped by six hours later with a couple shots of antibiotics, he gave her one and left one to be administered 24 hours later. He said it was necessary because of my armâs invasion of her privacy.

He also noted her bursting udder (two piglets werenât making much of a dent in the milk production) and offered we pick up some piglets from a litter of 17 he had farrowed that morning. So, now we have a total of six piglets and one happy sow.

They are doing great. The downside is that I spent a bit more on the piglets, although I think he would have given them to me for next to nothing. The upside is that I have four little boy pigs with no genetic relation to their âmother.â Iâm thinking of keeping the best one for my herd boar.

Pete


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## Junkmanme (Dec 16, 2006)

Quite a day and quite an adventure, Pete!


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## goatmarm (Nov 19, 2005)

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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Glad things turned out O.K. 

Heather


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## RedHogs (Jul 7, 2006)

Have you asked what her breeding status was??? By that i mean - live cover, AI, or a boar running in the pen. One of the mosr predictable traits is litter size given equal variables. The 2nd 3rd and 4th litters are the cream. Maybe this sows future could best be sausage as your boar will not be able to breed a sow for atleast 11 months whereas he could breed all the gilts in seven months from now on. A brother sister cross can often be the best _maternal _ pigs in the barn.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

RedHogs said:


> your boar will not be able to breed a sow for atleast 11 months whereas he could breed all the gilts in seven months from now on.


Huh?!? Why do you say that? Most boars are ready and active within about five months and they're not shooting blanks. By seven months they're quite productive. This is from experience, not the books.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## RedHogs (Jul 7, 2006)

I was talking about how high he could reach, Pete's sow looks to be a real good size sow. I have recently bred a real young boar back to his mother and grandmother using AI from a fresh collection off the young boar. I use this method for larger litters because I have had small litters from a young boars breeding sows larger than he is.


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## Abouttime (Oct 17, 2005)

Gosh, I hope that not the case with mine (smaller boar = smaller litters). My boar is 4 months younger and much smaller than my gilt and she had 16 this first time. It worries me about the next time!


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Hmm... Size matters, but even a fairly small five month old, boar can reach - we call them "Ambition". At six or seven months old they're big enough to easily service even the big sows who out weigh them three fold.

I to have read that younger boars produce smaller litters but my observations in the field are that it is not true. The female determines how many eggs are produced. The males are producing prodigious amounts of sperm to fertilize thousands of eggs with billions of sperm per mating.

The key to getting larger litters is good genetics (how big was the litter that the sow came from and the boar came from), low stress and good food. If the feeding is off the litter size goes down. Interestingly, even sow size and age is not the determining factor I would have thought. If you have a sow that is producing small litters and you're taking care of her, good food, etc, then she is unlikely to produce big litters in the future. I now send gilts to market who produce sub optimum litters, have a temperament issue, etc.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## beeman97 (Jul 13, 2003)

if this is a sow that has had litters before then you need to cull her, she won't produce enough in her litters to justify her feed bill, I have had acouple guilts that produced low litter #'s & thought that if i gave them another chance they would do better on there next litters & they never do. they eat alot & don't produce, cull them.
Of course if this is a seriously rare breed pig that is hard to come by then you are kinda stuck with her for a time so you can get more to presearve the breed, but run of the mill breeds certianly warrents culling in this situation.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

beeman97 said:


> if this is a sow that has had litters before then you need to cull her, she won't produce enough in her litters to justify her feed bill, I have had acouple guilts that produced low litter #'s & thought that if i gave them another chance they would do better on there next litters & they never do. they eat alot & don't produce, cull them.
> Of course if this is a seriously rare breed pig that is hard to come by then you are kinda stuck with her for a time so you can get more to presearve the breed, but run of the mill breeds certianly warrents culling in this situation.


Agreed, along with her daughters. 

One caveat. If this pig suffered a period of high stress, sickness, or malnutrition (or overfeeding) during gestation that could also be a cause of small litters.


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## RedneckPete (Aug 23, 2004)

She was bred by AI the last time. This is only her second litter. I don't know how many she had the first time, but seeing as the farmer was shocked that she only had three, I don't believe she had a supper small litter last time.

Seeing as she was bred by AI I was thinking it could have been something as simple a a bad syringe of sperm or that the farmer could have almost missed her heat period. Alternatively she could have poor egg production. Running with a boar should solve two of these potential problems.

Thanks Highlands, I was wondering if a fresh young boar would be be able to mount a full sized sow. I was just figuring that teenage hormones would find a way to get it done.

Pete


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

RedneckPete said:


> Thanks Highlands, I was wondering if a fresh young boar would be be able to mount a full sized sow. I was just figuring that teenage hormones would find a way to get it done.
> 
> Pete


Are either of her two pigs gilts? Might be better off breeding a gilt and starting fresh.


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## RedHogs (Jul 7, 2006)

> I to have read that younger boars produce smaller litters but my observations in the field are that it is not true. The female determines how many eggs are produced. The males are producing prodigious amounts of sperm to fertilize thousands of eggs with billions of sperm per mating.



but wouldn't it be fair to say that your systen uses alot of boars... and only 30 sows. You don't use all in / all out management and your sytem affords you the luxury of plenty of trail and error time for a young boar. Without these variables, the research and industry standards might well be valid.


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