Our large sow (charmingly known as "fat pig") farrowed safely on Friday night. Disappointingly, she only had a small litter of four piglets. She has no trouble at all farrowing, though she can be extremely protective of her young!
The following video clip shows the first two arrivals. The pig on the right is captured getting his first ever suck of the teat whilst still covered in birth membranes:
This clip clearly shows how the sow makes a nest and has a fairly elaborate ritual before lying down to feed her young. She firstly roots out the babies from the straw, before carefully lying down:
This final clip shows how hyper protective the sow can be post-farrowing if she perceives a threat…even from someone who feeds her every day! The sparring piglets in this video are one and a half days old:
Comments on this entry are closed.