Getting ready

Our pregnant sow has been moved to a new birthing enclosure, her own being a tad muddy for little piglets to roam around in. Her due date is this weekend but it looks like the piglets might be early.

This week preparations have been underway, cleaning the pen with new straw placed, beams removed to make more space and a gate added for piglets to creep feed, allowing them to eat when they wish and keeping the sow out (that's the intention) with electric fencing put round the top of the pen after she jumped the wooden side in eagerness to get her to her tea last evening. Now a heat lamp has been installed in case the temperature drops so the piglets can keep warm, that's if she doesn't wreck it in the meantime, being very inquisitive she had to see what was going on, having the electric cable in her mouth before we could get hold of it, thankfully it was not plugged in at the time.

This evening getting her priorities right of eating first she is now making a nest by gathering mouthfuls of straw and pawing at the ground making the straw into a mound. Frequent checks throughout the evening and just before bed were hoping she will hang on till tomorrow morning as this is will be her first litter. If  birthing is tonight were hoping her mothering instincts will kick in if we are not around and all will be well.