Yesterday I mentioned that I was concerned that the piglets were not showing the usual amount of vigor. These ones were spending way too much time sleeping. They were way too quiet.
valbjerke said to me had I given the piglets iron. I sat back in my chair. No. I hadn’t. The only time I gave piglets iron was when I had all that trouble with Tahitis piglets. I don’t inject iron as a matter of course. But I never have had piglets this lethargic either.
I sat and watched the blinking curser beside the message and remembered that Molly was eating everything before she gave birth- her behaviour was not normal – she devoured everything – she must have been short of iron and her body was sending her looking. Her diet of deep greens, eggs and alfalfa and grains should have met this. It was the best I could do. She had a yard of soil. I was positive I had covered all the dietary bases – I am so careful of that. But there you are. Maybe the babies were born anaemic. 
I pushed the chair back from the table and went to work.
I got out the bottle of iron from my farm cupboard of all things and got out the needles, collected Alex, went to the barn, the piglets were sleeping as usual, I locked Molly out in the field and we loaded all the piglets into a tote and gave each one a shot before returning them to bed. They screamed and squawked and bit but they are so small they are really easy to manage.
After the procedure was over, I settled them all back in their sleeping creep and let their entirely unconcerned mother back in.
The change was dramatic. By lunchtime they were up and running around the pen. (check the insty below) Literally bouncing about. Drinking voraciously. All over the place. Noisy. These piglets had been anaemic. Poor wee things. Let’s hope this was enough to get them going. Lets hope they can catch up and start putting on some weight.
This is quite possibly why the one died on his first night – he was too tired to move.
Once again – The Fellowship to the rescue. And valbjerke: thank you for the reminder about iron. I am grateful. I will do that with them all from now on. Just in case.
And thank you to the Fellowship of the Farmy for being such clever and open hearted, that people who know stuff feel safe and comfortable in sharing it.
And we all get to learn. Lesson learned.
Now fingers crossed.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
59 responses to “The learning Curve”
They look quite lively (and cute) in the video 🙂
they will start to put on weight now I hope.. the sun is out which is making a big difference..
That should warm them up!
Yay!!! Feisty little critters they are now! Behavior explained for Molly and the piglets. Throw them a clod or two for good measure. Well done. I learn so much here.
They always have soil in there – do you remember the hole they dug in the concrete? that is filled with soil and weeds each day – and they dig in it and eat it like crazy, but there you are – these guys needed more – it might have been the rain leaching her earlier feed. hopefully they do better now.
Wow ! What a huge relief ! Good to hear the iron worked so promptly.
We are all invested in your farm :-).
I bet you had a grin from ear to ear when you saw those wee piggies up and about!
Christine
Nobody is perfect! Thanks to a fellowship friend the answer was found…and piglets are all ok. I would imagine that being a keeper of animals is a definite learning curve, just like life. If we were so clever as to know all the answers we would not be called Ann,Beth, or any other Christian name you could think of. We would be called God….and that we definitely ain't…lots of love
Wow! I learn so much here. That is great news that the babies are doing better.
I’m so glad it worked. I had a quick read about pigs and iron requirements; it says sow’s milk is quite deficient in iron, so it’s not necessarily a feeding issue, simply that it’s not available to the piglets in her milk. I reckon she was just super-feeing because she knew she was close to giving birth and wanted to build up her strength.
You got onto it quick… I love how The Fellowship shares knowledge. Community, collective intelligence is a beautiful thing ♡.
Oh WOW. Maybe that´s what was up with our 2015 piglets. I had thought they were sick or tired from travel stress – they slept for nearly two weeks on arrival, but then revived. Two of my neighbours who got piglets from the same source each mysteriously lost one or more; only ours were out on pasture able to root and we didn´t lose any – maybe related. This year´s piglets are so lively, rowdy and active that it´s night and day to our last piglet experience, and maybe this is how they´re supposed to be. In my pig ignorance, I didn´t know that my 2015 piglets weren´t normal. That may have been a close squeak.
I think once they are eating real food there is less chance of succumbing. They get iron from the soil too.
Well I never, I have certainly learnt something today! It’s great to see them running around now. Have a fab, and less worrying day.
Excellent … 🙂 Laura
Never blame yourself for an unexplained death. It’s a game with no winners. It is common for there to be losses in large litters. I am glad, though, that the iron perked them up! And you have gained even more trust in Molly, who will guide you in her dietary needs in the future. When Molly eats the barn, she needs more iron. Simple enough!
Those piglets are mighty cute!
All good learning too! c
You can see the energy beaming off of their wee bodies now. So strange. And, yes, SO beautiful that the fellowship works as it does.
Amazing! So glad they are responding so quickly. I read his comment on iron yesterday and thought about it all day. I’m hoping they keep their levels up and continue their growth!