New Piglets – All Blue

We raise pigs for 4-H shows.  My husband loves the pigs more so than any of the other animals we raise.  This is a new litter born Sunday afternoon.  Our sow Mamou delivered 8 healthy piglets, 3 gilts (girls) and 5 boars (boys).

A little about pigs: The sow’s average weight is 400 pounds, depending on age and nutrition status.  The piglets are born weighing 2-3 pounds each.  They look sweet and cuddly, but are born with 8 razor sharp teeth, also known as “needle teeth”.  We clip those teeth to prevent injury to the sow’s udder.  We also give iron injections to the piglets within the first 48 hours of birth, to prevent something called anemia (which is a low red blood cell level and can kill the piglets).  The piglets have difficulty maintaining a stable body temperature at birth, so we provide a heat lamp, warm hay, and confinement in the barn for the first 2-3 weeks of life.