Piglets Galore! Part 3

So I was really dreading Friday(March 12th). Scott had to be in Fairfax all day and I had gilts unexpectedly having their litters. They were calling for torrential downpours and flooding starting Friday and ending Sunday. Saturday was supposed to be the worst. I had so much to prepare for before it started to rain. That I was okay with. It was not knowing what I was going to be faced with when I went out to check Abbie and the quick decisions I may need to make.

I did my usual prayer that morning...strength, wisdom, etc. Polite at first but quickly went to something like this...

"Okay, God, here's the deal. I'm in this situation. I'm by myself. Could you take over the reins for me....please?"

It was dreary out that morning. No rain yet. I grabbed their feed and headed out to the woods. I didn't see any hogs out and about. They were probably still in their shelter. I decided to check down by the fallen trees first and see if Abbie was down there. No, she wasn't there. I went back up to the shelter and peeked around the corner. This shelter holds the nine hogs very tightly. They cram in, find their spot and stay put for the evening. So I peeked in and saw a tiny piglet walking on top the backs of the hogs. My heart sank because I didn't know what to think. Abbie was in there, too. Did she have the whole litter in there? Did she just start? I was too afraid to reach in and grab the piglet because I didn't want to startle the sleeping hogs. Pouring their feed and letting them get up naturally may be a better idea. Out they came, including Abbie. I could hear the new piglet so I knew it was okay. When I looked in there she was walking around. There was another piglet but it had been laid on. Abbie was happy eating her breakfast and didn't seem to be phased that she had a piglet in the shelter. Since there were only two, I couldn't be certain that Abbie was finished farrowing. I also couldn't risk leaving the piglet in there with all of the big Berkshires. I picked up the newborn and took her over to Mary Lou. There was still some afterbirth so I rubbed that on the piglet and put her with Mary Lou's litter. She blended right in.

On to the other chores. I finished feeding and watering everyone else and decided to go into town to get more tarps. With all of these piglets being born, I needed to make sure all huts had the extra security of having tarps so rain wouldn't seep in. Even with the four wheeler it still took a long time to complete tasks. Extra straw needed to be taken out. Even though it had just started raining, the already saturated ground turned into mud very quickly. I got stuck several times in some very tight spots. Every so often I would check on Abbie to see if there were any changes. She's still walking around.

By late afternoon I was exhausted. Luckily sports practices were canceled and even more luckily there was a window of about two hours with no rain. I was going to make a pot of coffee just to get myself through the evening, but something made me decide to check on Abbie. I walked down to the fallen trees and could hear small oinks. At first I thought it was Mary Lou's pigs but it seemed to be getting closer and closer. Out in the woods(far from the fallen trees) was a newborn piglet, running around with Hamlet the Boar walking nearby. I'd like to think Hamlet was protecting the little guy. I gathered him up and took him up to the house. Emma, Jake and Sam love to take care of newborns in the house so they were excited when I called them.

Another trek in the woods led me to another piglet. This one was by the nest at the fallen trees. My thinking was she had the last two there and then abandoned them. Back up to the house to hand over this piglet to Emma, Jake and Sam. I searched again to see if I could find any more. I didn't see evidence of any more piglets.

The plan was to put the two piglets I found with Mary Lou but I was concerned that the big litter size would be too much for her. It would bring the size up to eleven piglets. I really didn't want to push it but of course I wouldn't have a choice if that was my only option. It was starting to get darker outside. One more round of checking expected moms and huts was needed. Wow! #2 is having her litter! Perfect!! She is a huge, well-seasoned sow that can handle a big litter. I did notice a small stillborn with "stuff" still around it. I know this sounds gross, but it was the perfect opportunity to get #2's scent on Abbie's piglets. I took the stillborn and placed it in the laundry basket with the others. Later on, we placed the two abandoned piglets in #2's hut. Again, blended right in.

Scott was home by this time. He took over and closed up the farm. While in Fairfax, he had stopped in Whole Foods to pick up dinner. Obviously there was no time to cook. One last check on all of the piglets and then in for a shower. At 8:00 the kids were watching a movie so I just decided to watch a DVD in bed. I think that night was the most exhausted I had ever been. It was a "good" exhausted. Scott served me dinner in bed. After that he brought in carrot cake. A perfect ending to a day that worked out well. I think I'll call it a night.