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Farrowing   (cont.)

If you observe mating occur between your boar and a gilt, calculating a due date is a lot easier. Gestation is around 114 days, however just like in women, this can vary slightly from pig to pig. In some animals you will notice that their stomach will become more rounded, however this can be hard to see and even harder to spot if the pig is carrying a small litter or you are not familiar with the way your sow looks. If you are aware of the sows due date and you have a particular area in which you would like her to have her young, move her well before her due date. Leaving it to the last minute can be a challenging experience especially if the sow has already chosen where she is going to have her young. We have found that once they have chosen their spot they are very difficult to move or to keep in a different area.
Leading up to the due date, the sow will start to have milk in her teats. By gently squeezing a teat you can see if there is milk present. The presence of milk can indicate that birth is 24 to 48 hours away, however we have had two Tamworths that had milk over a week before they gave birth.
The sows teats will become more swollen and red and it appears that a 'saddle' is under the teats. This 'saddle' become more prominent closer to birth. The vulva of the pig will become swollen, however the degree of the swelling we have found depends on each individual pig and does seem more pronounced in our Tamworths compared to our pink pigs.
If the materials and space are available, the sow will build a nest to have her young in around 24 hours before she is due. She will dig up the ground and then collect hay, wool, grass or other available material to prepare for her babies. She will chew up the hay to make it into small pieces and softer for the piglets. We buy round bales that we place in the farrowing paddocks for the mothers to do what they wish with. We have also put wool in reach for the mothers which has been shorn off our sheep. As labour progresses, the mothers get increasingly restless and uncomfortable. We have found that gently stroking their stomachs rubbing their ears and of course talking to them helps to sooth the sow leading up to the first piglet being born.
Watching a pig build her nest is an amazing spectacular, second only to watching piglets be born. We have had piglets, born front feet first as well as back feet first. It does not seem to matter which end comes out first. When the first piglet is expelled it will come out with a membrane covering it. It will lay lifeless for a few seconds and then wiggle, taking its first gasp of air and breaking the membrane. It will pull bit by bit in an attempt to break the umbilical cord releasing it from its mother. We allow the piglets to break their own cords and do not cut them. We also do not put any solutions on the cords.

When born, the piglet will start trying to suckle almost immediately at the vulva, before working its way around to the teats. We try to be with the mother while they farrow and while we don't take the piglets away, we have moved them to teats closer to the front of the sow, as during birth we have found that the sow can kick her back legs when expelling another piglet, thus putting any born piglets near this leg at risk. We put faith in our pigs and their mothering abilities as we believe they wouldn't be where they are in the world today if they weren't good mothers.
The sow can have multiple placentas and we allow our pigs to eat their placenta as it provides them a meal full of protein and the hormones contained in the placenta also help with milk production. Farrowing should only take a few hours and sows can have, depending on the age of the sow, breed and fertility of the sow and the boar, 1 to over 15 piglets. Our Tamworth litters have ranged from four to nine piglets with larger litters in our white sows.
While we don't use heat lamps with our piglets as (it is amazing how warm a nest will be) it is important that the animals are provided with shade and protection from the sun, rain and cold drafts. In some environments heat lamps may be necessary and some breeds of pigs may need heat lamps more than others. I remember going up to one of our pigs on a frosty August morning and to my surprise and worry there were no pigs to be seen in the area. The mother, Squeek had rearranged her nest so that it was like a wave with her and the piglets inside. There were no pigs to be seen, but there was a bunch of hay that oinked when you called. Again a testament to how smart these animals are.

We ear notch purebred Tamworth piglets within the first few days, as being free range we find it easier to catch then when they are tiny and early ear notching allows for identification of blood lines. Ear notching before seven days old is recommended as best practice. We always clean ears with Betadine after notching and only use piglets ear notching pliers. Special ear notching pliers for new born piglets are available. Piglets can swap mothers if given the opportunity so early ear notching lets you know who each piglet really is. Rip and Flick shared a farrowing area. Flick only had two little girls that were born the day before Rips piglets. In the coming weeks it was not uncommon to see all of the little boars drinking off one of the girls and the little gilts off the other mother. However, if you do decide to farrow multiple pigs in the same area, you need to ensure that older piglets don't suck of an sow about to farrow as they will consume all of the colostrums and the unborn piglets will suffer.

Free Range Pork