Delivering and drying off new born piglets is the best part about working with pigs. However, the work of getting piglets off
to a good start starts long before the day they are born. In fact, it starts 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days before their birth.
The day a sow is bred she is placed in a group with other sows with a similar due date. Her group will stay together in the pregnancy barn and will move together to the farrowing (labor) barn when it is time. The sow in this picture below is 4 weeks along! You can't tell she is pregnant by looking at her yet, but overtime she will grow!
While the group is in the gestation (pregnancy) barn, the animal caretakers will watch them every day. They are fed a diet formulated specially for pregnant sows, to help them and their piglets to grow. The amount of food they are given each day increases as they get further along in their pregnancy. If a sow doesn’t get up to eat, or doesn’t look like she is feeling well, the caretakers will follow the protocol written by their Veterinarian to care for her.
During her pregnancy a sow will be monitored by a Veterinarian about every 4 weeks. When I walk through pregnancy barns, I make sure all the sows are properly gaining weight. I also check for sows that may be sick. All sick sows will have a sick animal card that outlines what the caregivers have done to help the sow get better. I make sure the correct medications have been given at the correct times. If needed, I will collect samples to send into a lab to help find out the cause of sickness in our pregnant animals.
At 4 weeks along, sows are confirmed to be pregnant via ultrasound. The ultrasound probe is placed on the abdomen just in front of a sows back leg. On ultrasound, piglets look like tiny little blobs of white inside black circles fluid. A whole litter looks like a cluster of black circles.
While they are pregnant, most sows are given routine vaccines. These vaccines will help protect the sow and her piglets from diseases that are commonly found in the United States. The goal in some cases is for the sow to produce an immune response, and for her to pass that immunity (protection from disease) to her piglets through her milk.
Sows that are further along in their pregnancy have a noticeable pregnancy bump. As they reach the end of pregnancy, their mammary glands (teats) will also start to enlarge. Some sows even drip milk. When a sow nears the end of her pregnancy, she is transferred to the labor barn (farrowing barn). Here she will deliver the piglets that have been developing for 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days!