Pinky Jane's Pregnancy: March 2015

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Ear Notching Done....

We had another very busy day ... The Freshman class helped out with our ear notching and of course Mikayla was here to help Mr. Allen identify us.

Here is how the whole ear notching thing works: All pigs in the same litter should have the same ear notch in the right ear. This is determined by the number of births a mother has. In our case it will be 2 because this was our mom's 2nd litter.
The pig’s left ear is used to show individual identification for each pig in the litter.

Why do we ear notch....
* A permanent ID system 
    * Individual identity for all animals 
    *Inexpensive means of identification 
    *Enables producers to keep an accurate set of records

Ear Notching Tool is used to make the notches in the piglets ear.
Ear notches are read with the litter number (right ear) first followed by the individual identification number (left ear) read second. The standard earn notch system will consist of a standard set of numbers and notches located in specific areas are the ear of each individual pig.

Standard notches in the pig’s right ear are the 1 notch located on the bottom of the ear near the pig’s head. Meanwhile the 3 notch is located on the side of the ear close to the tip. The 9 is located on the outer half of the top of the ear while the 27 notch is located closest to the head on the top of the ear. The largest notch number is the 81 notch which is located at the tip of the ear. Any combination of the standard notches can occur with no more than two notches of any one number. For example 3 +3 = 6 and you never see 3 + 3 + 3 = 9. This does not exist and neither does 81 + 81. There is only one tip on an ear, so there can only be one 81 notch. The right ear has a maximum number of 161 (81 + 27 + 27 + 9 + 9 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 161).
Standard notches on the pig’s left ear are the 1 notch located on the bottom of the ear near the pig’s head. Meanwhile the 3 notch is located on the side of the ear close to the tip. The 9 is located on the outer half of the top of the ear. The maximum number of the left ear is 26 (9 + 9 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 26). It is highly unlikely you would have 26 pigs born in a litter.

Now that the notching is done it is easy for all of our FFA friends to tell us apart especially since Scooby, Sophie, Filly & Olivia all look the same! We know who is who but most of the kids can't seem to get our names correct.

This is Little Miss Sophie ...

<3 Pinky's Littles

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Watch Us Grow...

We are all growing up so fast. We are so excited to share with you we have all made the transition to pan feeding. None of us are on the bottle any longer ... Mikayla was happy about that. Mikayla and Mr. Allen plan to continue to feed us milk replacer and milk pellets until 21-28 days old. Then they will start transitioning us to big pig starter. Some of us are excited about that, but Roco really likes his milk so he isn't so sure about this new idea!

We just wanted to share everyone's weights with you at 2 weeks old so you can see how great we are doing!

Scooby - 6lb 2oz / Sophie - 7lb / Filly - 5lb 15oz / Roco - 6lb 14oz / Boomer - 7lb 2oz

Bubbles - 5lb 15oz / Olivia - 7lb 15oz / Miki - 6lb 6oz

<3 Pinky's Littles

Friday, March 13, 2015

A New Look ....

We are already 2 weeks old and have had quite the life experience. If you don't already know we lost our mom 'Pinky' earlier this week. But, please don't worry about us we are all doing fine and growing at a rapid pace thanks to Mikayla and the FFA team. Today was a crazy day... Mr. Allen's classes were able to dock all our tails.

Tail docking is performed to prevent tail biting and cannibalism among pigs. Tail docking should be performed as early as possible, but by 14 days of age. Mr. Allen decided today was the day for the tail docking to take place. Below is some great information on the process.

It didn't really hurt but we are all very glad that is over. Everyone is looking so darn nice... It is like getting a new hair cut! The next big event for us is ear notching. We heard Mr. Allen say that would be next week sometime. We will share that information with all of you once it happens.

<3 Pinky's Littles

Monday, March 9, 2015

One Week Old!!!

Everyone is already a week old. We have all had a very active week, as you know everyone got shots and their teeth clipped but they also had to adjust to numerous other life changes. I know I have had everyone very worried but I'm recovering nicely now and my piglets are coming along like champs.

Piglet	2/26/15 at Birth	3/7/15
Scooby Doo	3lb 2.8oz	4lb 12oz
Sophie	3lb 2.8oz	4lb 15oz
Filly	3lb 1oz	4lb 14oz
Roco	3lb 1.7oz	3lb 9oz
Boomer	3lb 1.4oz	4lb 8oz
Bubbles	2lb 1.4oz	4lb 8oz
Olivia	4lb 1.2oz	5lb 10oz
Miki	2lb 10oz	4lb 15oz

When I became ill I stopped producing milk for my piglets. Mikayla and her team jumped into gear to ensure everyone was being fed and as you can see they are all thriving! They started bottle feeding every 3-4 hours and then started moving to pan / trough feeding by the end of the week. Everyone but Roco really took to the trough feeding, he has become Mikayla's baby she bottle feeds him special every time.

Mik and Miki

Feeding time in the shop. Yesterday we started them on milk pellets food along with their milk. So far everyone really likes having the pellets to munch on.

Some important information to remember if you should ever have to bottle feed your piglets.
Ideally the piglet should be fed a proprietary sows milk replacer. An alternative is to use a goats (kid) milk replacer.

It is very important to remember to warm the milk to body temperature for the first few days and feed using a human baby bottle and teat.

After a few days, the piglet should quickly learn to drink for a small bowl, which may be easier. To teach the piglet, at feeding time, place the milk in the bowl and dip the pigs nose into it. After doing this a few times the piglet will get the idea and learn to drink from the feeder.

The piglet will probably need to be fed approximately every 3 - 4 hours for the first several days, then 3 - 4 times a day until weaning.

At birth the piglet will probably drink 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk each feed. This will gradually increase each day as the piglet grows. Introduce the piglet to solid food from 7 - 10 days. A specialist piglet starter creep is ideal.

The piglet can be weaned off the milk at around 5½ - 6 kg (12-14 lbs) in weight, usually this is around 28 days of age. If you get in a jam and need more information on raising your piglets check out www.thepigsite.com

I know I have had everyone very worried and I'm really sorry about that. I tried my hardest to stay in the crate for the little's but when they reached a week old, Mikayla and Mr. Allen decided they needed to get me out of the crate so they could focus on my health.

I first experienced the number one cause of sickness in sows after farrowing, infection. This is caused by not delivering the entire placenta or a remaining piglet. My vet and caregivers started treating me very aggressively with antibiotics. They monitored my temperature daily and kept me hydrated. Unfortunately, I haven't felt much like eating!

Normal temperature 38.6ºC to 39.5ºC (101.5 to 102.5ºF)

Respiratory rate at 20ºC (70ºF) 25-30 per minute.

I didn't just stop there, I then experienced the number two cause of illness in sows after farrowing, constipation. This can cause a lot of discomfort, Mr. Allen & Mikayla very quickly jumped into action to make me comfortable. They started me on electrolytes, I really enjoy the lime Gatorade. When I didn't show improvement they gave me 500ml of mineral oil, this wasn't my favorite thing on the planet but it made my belly feel better. They started feeding my puree pumpkin and applesauce.

Now I'm just really tired and weak. My team will continue to give me electrolytes and get me up to eat. I want to say thank you for all your well wishes and support.

<3 Pinky Jane

Friday, March 6, 2015

Baby Shots

This week has been very busy for me and the piglets. The piglets each had a couple of necessary procedures that ensures that all of them stay healthy and safe.

Mr. Allen's Agriculture Science classes learned how most piglets are born anemic, which means that we don't have much iron in our body. This results in having low red blood cell counts. Red blood cells are extremely important in the body, as they are the vehicle that carries oxygen and nutrients to cells in the body and metabolic wastes and Carbon Dioxide away. It is very easy to treat the babies for this condition by simply giving them a small shot of iron in the muscle so they can slowly absorb it and start manufacturing more of the very important red blood cells. This procedure went very well today, and I was so proud of all my babies being so brave receiving their shots.

Here is one of the gang getting an shot of Iron:

The other procedure that happened was clipping the needle teeth on all of the babies. The needle teeth (8 of them), also known as wolf teeth are located on the the top and bottom of the mouth. These teeth have the ability to eventually grow out and end up being dangerous to other animals and people.

Here is a picture of what the needle teeth could possibly look like over time if left alone:

These teeth also are extremely sharp when the babies are born. This can cause several problems early on, as the piglets can really cause damage to my underline and teats as they nurse. My babies may also grow to the point where they will want to play around with each other, or even compete for milk and if they still have these sharp teeth, they will start to cause damage to each other.

The damage to my teats could end up causing infection, where we could encounter problems with the mammary system. Also, many of us sows will learn to lay on our bellies to keep from getting bitten more, which could lead to malnutrition or starvation for my babies.

Later in life, the babies could also encounter problems with doing simple things like eating normally if they were to still have their needle teeth.

The procedure:

This was a really quick, easy, and painless procedure for each piglet to go through. One of the students would hold a piglet and place their finger in the babies mouth to expose the teeth. Another student would use a pair of clippers and remove the tips of the teeth. Because the nerve endings have not fully developed yet in the teeth, the pain level is very low. Once all 8 teeth were clipped, the baby would receive a mark on their back to signal that they had received the shots and had their teeth clipped, and then they were placed back by me. At this point, they would go straight back to nursing like nothing had ever even happened.

Again, I want to thank all of the well wishes from all of my visitors and fans. I was told that our stream has been accessed over 30,000 times already and I have over 400 followers! That is just simply amazing!! I feel very honored that I have been able to be part of something so positive and that we have been able to educate so many people.

I know you are all worried about me. This delivery hasn't gone as smoothly as my first litter. My team has taken super care to me and every member has jumped into action to help me and my piglets. I don't want you to worry. I'm doing fine right now. I asked Mikayla to put together some information to share with you, she said she would have it posted in the next couple of days.

<3 Pinky Jane

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Meet The Crew!

I know I kept you all waiting a very long time! But I'm so excited to finally introduce you to my new little crew. I started delivering at 10p on February 26, 2015. I'm so relieved my little ones are all very healthy. I look forward to everyone's visit, so I can show them off.