About Sow's Farrowing!
I have this asked almost daily! So I thought this page might help!
How do I know if shes pregnant ?
How do I know when shes going into labor ?
I think she doesn't want her piglets HELP!?
Well here is a short guide that might help!
So you are having your first litter!
First off here's a few things you should know below!
How to tell if she is in heat ?
(Don't go farther if your grossed out!)
First off here is the easiest way,
First question I ask is, HAS she been living with a boar ?
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If your answer is YES then you should move your gilt away from your boar for several months and out of sight of him.
You know ? Space makes the heart grow fonder... Or something like that LOL!
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THEN move her fence to fence to him and wait, A gilt in heat should literally THROW herself at the fence to him when she is in heat.
MOST pigs cycle every 21 days sometimes give or take a few so that is when to watch.
Some gilts can barely be noticed in the vulva so it's not always reliable but here is some examples.
SOO SORRY in advance for the vulva pictures! but it's all in the name of learning!
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Note the gilt in heat has a purplely pinkish coloration and it is more swollen then the loose/soft and long vulva of the sow that is pregnant.
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NOTE : It takes a trained eye to know the difference between a sow in heat and a pregnant sow, Some sows have a silent heat and you can't even tell the difference in the vulva so one of the best ways is to actually watch for body language signs and watch the boar and sow or gilt interact together.
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DO NOT try to base if she is close to farrowing by the vulva because often there is no change near birthing! Alot of people think they are about to have a gilt or sow farrowing and it turns out she's actually in heat again!
If you are trying to decide if she is about to farrow you should always look at her udder!
(PICTURES BELOW)
Left, Gilt Not in heat. Middle Gilt in heat and right is a pregnant sow.
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This is jade bred 8/18/19, This is with her first litter as a GILT pig which means she had not yet became a mother before.
Pictured 9/24/19 So she was around a month bred at this point you can see her teats are starting to get larger and point downwards.
Jade 12/4/19, you can see her belly is bigger but she had not gotten in any milk yet as there was no distinct line separating the belly and the udder but her belly has a classic ^ Shape in the flanks and also her teats are pointed directly outwards. Above is the picture of her vulva at the time of this pregnancy.
Jade pictured at 12/6/19 - Starting to build a udder!
Jade has birthed 12/10/19 with 7 live piglets, Notice the tightness and slight shine to her udder because it has "Peaked" with milk!
This is another example of a sow's udder, a gilt will have small button like teats that don't stand erect for nursing and won't be big enough for a piglet to get into their mouth, while once further along a sow has teats atleast big enough for a piglet to get into their mouth to nurse and have a crease down the middle of the udder and usually have a bit of a buldge at the belly button and have hair thinning at the milk line.
Small button like teats on a gilt that is not pregnant!
Also most often a Gilt/Sow will have a almost bark like noise they make while in heat and the boars also will make a sound close to that, They don't ALWAYS make the sound but if you DO hear it then you should know that it is a sound that is only made when a gilt/sow is in heat and they are actively seeking one another.
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Mark down the date you seen the pigs mating or the barking type behavior as this is when you need to expect piglets. If you have left the boar in a while and never witnessed the breeding Mark down from the day he was in and the day he was taken out.
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First go 3 months 3 weeks 3 days (And 3 am LOLING!!) from the day he was first placed in, If then you did not have any piglets within that time limit then start the count down again from the very last day he was in with her and do another 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days, You should see some sort of signs that she is expecting.
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THE MAIN sign is udder development and belly development and usually the teats are erect more then before, I'll discuss this below!
About udder types!
Alot of sows have different udder types and sometimes it can make things a bit off to learn how they develop and how close it can make a sow!
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Most often you must at least go through one farrowing with a sow to see their true udder form and it is best to document the development so that you can go back and review your pictures from the last farrowing compared to the first! It helps you understand your sow's signs more by knowing what to look for!
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Maybe it's not the correct term's but is there terms for udder types even ?
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Well I've been farrowing out pigs a long time, so I'll start with what *I* call them!
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#1 - The Milk bar
#2- The Dinner Plate's
#3 The hog udder
#4 The Milk cow
Here is some of the examples of all of them!
#1 - The milk Bar (This one is most common)
#2 - The Dinner Plates (Easy to see from afar and it seems like they look huge for ages before she actually has them!)
#3 - The Hog Udder (This udder is directly under the belly rather then filling out to the edge and can be hard to tell on a pig with this type of udder, You usually have to pay close attention, It doesn't fill up till she's about ready to birth and you have to get on her level to see it)
#4 - The milk cow! She is soo packed full of milk her udder extend's between her back legs and looks large enough to feed a couple litters worth of piglet's in one GO!
