Pigs in the Parlor
(Page 2 of 4)
CLEAN AND WARM
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Once you have your orphan,there are several facts to keep in mind. First, more baby
pigs die from being chilled than from any other cause. They
come from a warm womb (over 100°F) and must be kept at
90-95°F for the first few hours of their lives. From
then on, the tiny sucklings will thrive in 75 ° to 95
° temperatures.
Second, a piglet's surroundings should
be kept as clean as those of a human baby (I even boil my
orphans' eating utensils for the first few days), because
shoats are born with no immunities at all. The young
animals normally get such biological safeguards from
colostrum (the mother's first milk), and if a baby pig is
denied this protection, it will be quite susceptible to
bacterial infection.
Third, remember that the poor mite has
been rejected. Its mother is dead or sick, or perhaps the
piglet has been shoved away from a life-giving teat by
stronger, more dominant littermates. Either way, it will be
hungry and cold when you bring it home.
For all these
reasons, as soon as I acquire an orphan, I bathe it in
warm, soapy water ... paying particular attention to hoofs,
ears, eyes, and the sides of the face. (It may take more
than one bath to soak off dried dirt.) My husband has often
brought me a limp little newborn . . . shivering and
scarcely breathing. You'd be surprised at the new life a
good soak in warm water will put into such abandoned
babies.
Once the tiny creature is clean, you can wrap it in
a warm towel and rub it briskly (but not too hard) to get
its blood circulating ... and, thereafter, keep your new
charge warm and out of drafts.
FOOD FIT FOR A PIGLET
We always have a little stock of pig suckle
on hand for emergencies. (Several brands are available at
feed stores, but don't try to substitute lamb or calf
suckle, as the protein requirement for each type of animal
is different.)
When raising Smilie, our first orphan (he
was given to me by a friend, before our family began to
raise pigs), I used regular baby formula, but the wee one
had some trouble digesting it. If you don't have access to
pig suckle, though, you can use cow's milk served at
100°F. Don't add cream or sugar, but skim milk
powder—at a ratio of one tablespoon per pint of fluid
milk—is a worthwhile supplement.
If you have only one
or two pigs to feed, forget using a bottle ... it'll just
make weaning more difficult. Instead, use a teaspoon.
Here's how: Once your new houseguest is clean, warm, and
wrapped tightly in a towel, gather the baby up against your
left side with its head facing right (or the reverse, if
you're left-handed). Hold its body with your left arm and
its head in your left hand, then—with the teaspoon in
your right hand—force the warm suckle into its mouth.
