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Advice about pregnancy in older pig

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minnietapia

New Born Pup
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Hello, I'm writing to ask advice about my 3 yo pig who is 3 weeks pregnant. I know the high risk for dystocia given her age (it was unintentional of course). I'm inquiring about advice for best course of action, particularly once she goes into labor. Does anyone have experience dealing with pregnancy/labor in an older pig? Thank you.
 
minnietapia said:
Hello, I'm writing to ask advice about my 3 yo pig who is 3 weeks pregnant. I know the high risk for dystocia given her age (it was unintentional of course). I'm inquiring about advice for best course of action, particularly once she goes into labor. Does anyone have experience dealing with pregnancy/labor in an older pig? Thank you.
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Hi

By far the best measure to minimise any risks is a normal good diet, which already contains most of the really small extra amounts for the last three weeks or so. The healthier and fitter your mother is, the greater the overall survival chances of any pups. Please don't fall into the trap of throwing the kitchen sink at her.
What you are aiming for are healthy pups at an ideal birthing weight in order to reduce the risk of large babies getting stuck; what you do not want is large pups that can get stuck during birth - especially with sows coming towards the end of the normal pup bearing age at 3 years old. Unfortunately, there is no menopause for guinea pigs, which means that from then on in the risk of miscarriage, dead-born babies or birthing complications rises more sharply and more births go wrong than not in older sows. The risk of embryos not developing fully and a higher number of single large pups that can spell trouble at birth is also markedly higher the older a sow gets.

In our over 15 years experience on this forum we have noticed that a normal mainly hay based diet with a modicum of veg and a little more fresh herbs in the latest stages but only with 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day will ensure that your babies should be in the ideal weight range of 70-100g. Don't overfeed on veg and pellets especially in the last 3 weeks - by then it all goes straight into the pups' growth rate and not the mother. Any extras are more in the way of protecting her own bodily reserves. We have frankly not seen much of a difference in outcomes between known pregnancies and surprise babies in good general care but very much a difference between well cared for piggies and those from less than ideal background.
Please make sure that you know which vet you can take your girl to in an emergency and that you have at least enough to pay for euthanasia if you cannot afford an expensive caesarian section operation in case things go wrong, seeing that you are located in the USA and not in the UK.

Please take the time to read our comprehensive very practical step-by-step information pack; it also included our detailed diet advice: Pregnancy, Mother & Baby Care Guides
 
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