We are preparing to farrow (the term for pigs giving birth) 6 sows (adult female pigs) this week. You will get to see a range of breeds and litter sizes as we watch this week play out.
The gestation length for a sow is 114 days, commonly remembered as 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days.
This is a Yorkshire, which is a white, erect-eared maternal breed. Her name is Jena.
The next sow is a Berkshire, a breed known for especially tender and juicy meat. Berkshires are black with white legs/feet and a small amount of white on the face. Her name is Bob.
Both of these sows went into the farrowing crates today. A farrowing crate is a specially designed area that provides a safe place for piglets to get out of mom’s way when she lays down. We rarely have squished piglets with farrowing crates.
The area where Landry is standing is a “safe zone” so that when the sow lays down, the piglets can’t get trapped between her and the wall. You have to think about a 500+ pound sow with a litter of 3 pound piglets running around. It can get deadly very easily.
I will post as the piglets begin to be born and as we continue to load more sows this week.
It’s baby time!!
Dr Vet Sonya 