A Harrowing Farrowing

We had a big first on our farm this week.

Our first babies were born on the farm.

It was quite the adventure and a lot more dramatic than I expected.

I had been reading everything I could get my hands on about farrowing and new piglets and I thought I had a good game plan. I had everything ready in the barn and was going to implement it all once I saw signs of nesting and restlessness. I had a big round pen panel to divide the stall so they could be near each other but separate, heat lamps to warm babies, fresh clean hay and towels to dry little ones off if I needed to. Our pigs are pretty skittish so I was hoping to be very hands off unless there was a complication.

On Wednesday evening we went out to feed and do chores. At a first glance everything looked fine, pigs resting together, no nesting activity, some feed eaten, some water drank. I was about to grab a fork to tidy up when I noticed a black twitching lump in the hay. And then another. Oh boy...

As we watched, the bigger pig Emma, got up and started walking around. There was 300lbs of pig stepping recklessly close to the tiny squirming babies scattered around the stall. Adrenaline kicked in as we watched another was born and Momma partially sat on it while Emma came by and gave it a kick. We knew we had to get those babies somewhere safe and give Momma and babies space of their own. Matt searched the hay and passed me 3 piglets to dry off. By the time we got to the newly born one, we couldn't revive him. Momma showed absolutely no interest in her piglets at all and we couldn't get close to her. We were concerned that our intrusion might have been part of the problem so we got everything set up, said a prayer and left.

I made a call a local farm, Hope farm, and they gave me the best advice and probably the hardest advice they could have given: Don't worry, things will most likely be just fine.
It was excruciatingly hard to watch Momma pig settle her 200 lb+ self on a little pig and just let nature take its course. There were quite a number of times I just closed my eyes and looked away. But Momma pig figured it out and hopped up once she realized there was a squealer under her. No babies got squished or stepped on. It was so so hard to watch. So many times I wanted to scoop them up look after them myself.

We kept checking back every hour. Not a lot was changing, piglets were getting colder and Momma didn't seem to notice. We corralled them to the middle of the stall under the heat lamp again hoping Momma would take an interest. In the process of moving them we noticed one little guy was much much colder than the rest. I tucked him under my shirt but he still didn't warm. Finally I took him inside to warm him by the fire while Matt stayed with the sow. By the time I got him inside he was completely limp. He quickly perked up as he warmed but he was sort of spasming hard enough that he couldn't get on his feet at all.
Matt came in to tell me that he had slowly crept up on the sow and had been able to get the piglets nursing. We brought the little guy out and put him with the others. Four piglets had gotten the hang of things and were vigorously nursing. There was a little runt that was weak and small and the shaky piglet that couldn't seem to get it together. After an hour or so of trying, the shaky pig was cold again. Matt milked me some colostrum and I took him to the fire to try to get some into him. He was shaking too hard to latch or suck on the bottle but I was able to squirt and drip it into his mouth. He perked up again but I knew something wasn't right. He couldn't get on his feet and despite all the warming, I just could not get him up to the temperature of the other piglets.

Trying so hard to get some colostrum into the little shaky piglet. I had to hold his head still against my chest just to get the bottle in his mouth.





We spent another 45 minutes trying to get him to nurse with the others and squirting milk into his mouth. Finally we went in and set the alarm clock. All through the night we would go out and find where the shaker had squirmed to and creep up on the sow and put the runt and the shaky pig on to nurse with the others. It took quite a long time to get a bit of milk into them but it was such a neat thing to be part of. I think emotions are heightened by the lack of sleep and the darkness of the night. Lying there in the hay, listening to the sucking noises and contented grunts, there was great hope when you finally get one latched and the amazement of watching them change by the hour and get stable on their feet! Such a victorious feeling when towards the morning the little runty pig claimed his place with his siblings and fought to get the best spots. The helpless feeling of watching the little shaker slip away despite all our hopes and effort.

Such joy and tragedy. I think both are just a part of farm life.

So that is the story of our first farrowing.



Enjoying the hot water bottle until we got a better heat lamp system in place.



It was very draining but I feel like we learned a lot. Despite how urgent everything felt at the time, the advice from Hope farm was probably the most important thing we will know for next time. Despite our worries, once Momma nursed her babies she suddenly became a phenomenal mother and has been so attentive to them.
Next time we will also try to stay on hand to break the sac off the babies. Matt was right there when the last one was born and the piglet didn't take its first breath until after Matt had freed him. He said it was harder than he expected.
As far as the little shaker goes, from what I have read, first time mothers are sometimes not immune to a virus that can cause cause shaking piglets. I believe that was the problem with the little guy we lost.

The rest are hardy and becoming more capable and pig-like by the day!