The Four Little Pigs

The first litter of pigs was born the night before last. When I did the evening chores I figured she would have them that night. She was building a nest, had milk, and was a little grumpy. She didn't have a great litter. Only four survived birth, four were dead. But for a first time mother she is doing a great job with the ones she has. So far she has been very careful and attentive with them. All together we have 3 gilts, but I don't think one of them is bred. The other one (in the picture) is probably about a week off of farrowing. I let the boar and gilts live together as one big family, so I don't actually know the breeding date for any of them. We are beginning to feel the less meddling we do in our livestocks affairs the better. If we give them the things they need to be successful at what they want to do naturally, they will generally rise to the occasion. I spent a few hours watching the new momma pig farrow and she didn't have any live ones while I was there. The four that made it were born after I went to bed, so obviously she was able to handle that without any help from me either. We try to intervene only when there is a problem.