At first glance, the piglet near the bottom right with the face pressed up against the wall looks like his or her nose is out of joint, but it’s just the colors on its face. This photo was taken by my mom last Friday shortly after the piggies received their vaccination shots (they weren’t feeling too peppy, she said). The littlest one in front is the runt. My dad said the runt always runs up to him oinking when he goes in the farrowing house, and he scratches her back.
My dad weaned the piglets on Saturday and put the orphans and the other litter together. He weighed the biggest orphan, which is the biggest overall pig, and said he weighed 25 pounds! That’s a lot of milk replacer. The pig, which is a boar (male), is the “kingpin” pig, according to my dad, and bullies the other piggies. Interestingly, the second largest orphan is second in command. I suppose they had to be strong to survive.
My dad said he penned the sow in the barn after the weaning because it was the only place he thought he’d be able to hold her, since she’d try to get back to her babies. She lifted two gates right off their hinges in the barn and made her way out to the bull yard, which she certainly could have escaped from if my dad hadn’t found her. I talked to him on Tuesday, though, and he said she had settled down and was doing fine. Apparently it was mayhem whenever those 11 big piglets tried to nurse, so it had to happen.
Stone's Throw Farm 