But there’s also the fact that all pigs raises their young on a schedule: breeding happens one day, and then 114 days later you’re suddenly responsible for a litter of piglets that need warmth, colostrum, and careful handling. And 114 days after that, you’ve got to deal with a litter of piglets that require warmth and colostrum and your gentle touch. Because that time frame is set in stone, a good gestation chart is something to study, because knowing you’ll have piglets in 114 days give you something to work toward (and around). So here’s a complete chart of the entire sixteen weeks laid out (above).
What you see is that there are times when it’s very fragile (embryos implanting), other times it’s not (when the piglets look like pigs), and then there’s really fast growth. So no, you don’t have to learn all those stages by heart but you should know where most of the risk lies.
A Simple Guide to Pig Pregnancy and Birth
Turns out weeks one through three are pretty delicate, organs is developing, and embryos are implanting. If the environment changes suddenlly, such as temperature or how she is handled, you could lose your piglets before you even know they are there. After week eight the game change. Your sow requires increasingly more energy and it’s time for the barn to be prepared too. The final month isn’t about making things go right as much as avoiding making them go wrong.
Many people fail to prepare adequatly. Having the sow in a farrowing space a week or more in advance isn’t just convenient. She has time to adjust and won’t be pacing and stressed out when it’s actualy time to go. The chart above details development and flags the obvious clues when farrowing will soon happen. That’s right; swelled up vulva, hard udders, and suddenly wanting to change the bedding aren’t all coincidences. Those are the sow letting you know things is getting tight. By the time milk is running down your arms, it’s too late to begin nighttime checks.
It’s all very straightforward after the sow goes into labor; there are distinct stage. First it’s all inside, which isn’t visible as much than felt by the sow for the first few hours. Next come the deliveries themselves: sometimes rapid-fire, other times staggered. The chart tells you when to pick up the phone (if intervals between active straining exceed 30 minutes).
Once the final piglet is born, the actual newborn-maintenance phase begin. That involves passage of the afterbirth, and then attention to drying them off, navel care, and ensuring every baby gets its first milk (colostrum) within the first couple of hours…small details whose success or failure determine if weak babies live. Milk production also has its timetable. Nursing and then weaning. For several early weeks it’s all about milk, with creep feed picking up later. Four to five weeks is typical for weaning; this allows for quicker recovery in the sow and getting her back into breedable condition earlier. That could of been a very tight re-breeding schedule.
Within a week of weaning most sows will exhibit heat, which means the date you plan to breed again is already penciled-in at the instant you remove the piglets. The breeding schedule at the bottom makes the 114-day rule practical. Now rather than counting on your fingers each time, you can look at a date and have some idea how long until the pen is full again. Being able to predict is what makes for a smooth operation versus one that’s perpetually feeling behind.
Numbers are numbers, but they’re only valuable in a reference as a way to think ahead. Once you’ve got an idea of what’s supposed to happen at week 12, and how the sow ought to be by week 15, you don’t have to react to issues; you can prevent them instead. That transition, that’s what keeps the farmer (and the sow) on time.