signs labours on its way?

twigletthepiglet · Post by **twigletthepiglet** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:16 pm

i have an in pig kunekune, can anyone help me with sure fire signs that labour day is close? im not sure of her due date as she never had an obvious season but shes got to be due between the end of feb/ begining of march due to the time that the boar was in with her, shes got a nice round tummy but not huge, her teats are enlarged and (may sound strange but!) her vulva is longer than it was before, does anyone have any photos of 1st time in pig gilts as close as possible to their due date for me to look at please?

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:00 pm

Hi, try to have a little squeeze of her teats every morning and evening as she is feeding... when you get a few beads of milk... she'll probably farrow within 24 hours, so heat lamp on ready.
Mine also 'nest build', carrying bits of straw about! Her vulva will enlarge and slacken, and she'll 'bag up' which means her udders will swell and drop and look like... well ~ bags!
Good luck ~ enjoy your squealers.

Di · Post by Di » Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:26 pm

Sometimes mine 'nest' as said before, however this week the only sign I had was that at 9.30am she didn't eat all her breakfast and looked a bit uncomfortable - I can only describe it as "shall I lie down? or shall I sit up? not sure what I want to do".

At 11.45am she had 6 piglets all dried off and feeding like there was no tomorrow. That's the way to do it!!

Some sows seem to take ages - like 3 hrs from first to last piglet with a little sleep in between.

Good luck and enjoy your pigs.

Post by **simon** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:52 pm

When you think shes massive, couldn't possibly get any bigger and must surely be due any day - then it'll be another fortnight.

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:49 am

yes, sometimes it's a bit like trying to work out exactly when they're due... my boar likes to romance his ladies in private ~ even though I can see their meadow from my kitchen and living room window, I rarely see the 'deed' done. So it's 3 months, 3 weeks, & 3 days, mulitiplied by when you have to go out for the day, divided by the very time you've pre-booked your holiday, add the day you have a power cut! That's about right isn't it?

twigletthepiglet · Post by **twigletthepiglet** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:20 pm

aha thanks guys!! no holidays booked so she cant get me that way i spend every morning and night squeezing nipples, lifting her tail and ages spent rubbing her tummy with my head on her side trying to hear baby movement!! hope no ones wotching else i'll be getting carted off in a straight jacket!! today i noticed that her vulva looked much more swollen than yesterday but no milk, can they give birth without being massive or are they always huge before they go into labour?

Di · Post by Di » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:05 pm

Swollen vulva is a good sign. Milk can appear at the very last minute! No they do not need to be huge - I missed one of mine until I found 2 piglets in the arc with her!! Didn't even know she was pregnant. So how useless is that? and I've been breeding for about 6 years now!

Relax and enjoy!

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:10 pm

Okay my Ada has just presented me with 8 bouncing babies

Started nesting this morning, swollen girlie bits, baggy boobies... no milk though, so I thought maybe tomorrow. (I too wonder what passing traffic who don't 'know' about pigs must make of me having a squirt of her teats and a look up her nether regions!)

I went back at 1pm, eating happily and nothing doing... back at 4pm ~ EIGHT gorgeous suckling squealers, happy Ada

ahhhhhh. Heat lamp on, shut the stable... waste couple of hours sitting on a bale of straw in there, with silly grin.

twigletthepiglet · Post by **twigletthepiglet** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:47 pm

ok thanks for your reply think i will hav 2 get my camping quarters ready as i really dont want to miss it!! would rather spend a week missing out on sleep/camping in the stable than miss out on our very first litter!! may sound strange but today she was looking at me different!

twigletthepiglet · Post by **twigletthepiglet** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:00 pm

right sorry to sound like one of those overprotective mothers but just cant help myself with twigs!!
farrowing quarters all ready! sat with her for ages this afternoon she seemd quite happy to just lay and let me stroke her tummy for her which seemed to be doing alot of twitching!! but more like there were lots of flys about (which there wasnt) rather than in th tummy movement but was hard to tell.
went down earlier tonight and she would flop down like they do when you get the right spot only to jump straight back up again!! still no signs of milk though, this suspense is killing me!!!

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:41 am

Ha ha... Mother Nature having a laugh

She'll be fine, relax and just let her do her thing. So long as she is away from other pigs, and in safe quarters you can lock each night (foxes can take newborn piglets while mum is busy delivering).

twigletthepiglet · Post by **twigletthepiglet** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:13 am

6 beautiful little squealers!! 3 boys and 3 girls, do have one fab little brown boar (stripey at th mo!!) with 2 piri piri who wud be perfect to breed from if anyones interested, ru/kereopa breeding both mum and dad owned so can be seen contact me on twigletthepiglet@hotmail.co.uk

Di · Post by Di » Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:30 pm

Congratulations!!!

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:42 pm

Congrats

... ain't they just scrumptious?

Wendy will likely put me right here, but I didn't think the 'striped' brown ones were desirable to breed from, as they are a wild hog throwback? You might like to study the breed standard, to familiarize yourself with which ones you should be offering as breeding stock, or pet. None the less lovable though!

Enjoy

wendy scu · Post by **wendy scu** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 2:27 pm

congrats on your piglets and i do agree Pandora

my advice would be to castrate your boys as there is a very limited market for entire boars and we are soon to implement a 'boar approval scheme' to approve the best boars for breeding. although you will still be able to breed from any boar, it will draw a firm line between those recommended for breeding and those not

The British Kunekune Pig Society

signs labours on its way?

signs labours on its way?

piglets arrived!!!