WheeksforWeeks
New Born Pup
Hello, first post here. This is in regards to my newest pig, Faye. We found Faye on Gumtree, she was well into her pregnancy and her other cagemates were picking on her so the owners decided to sell her. I have been keeping piggies for twelve years and have bought in plenty of pregnant pigs so I thought I knew what I was getting myself into.
When we picked her up, she seemed in good condition, obviously a couple bites from the other herd members, though definitely well under way in her pregnancy. We bought her home and put her in quarantine apart from my other pigs to keep an eye on her. I did notice that she was quite big. I knew my other pigs were small despite being 2 years old, but Faye was the same size as the rest of them. If you didn’t know, female pigs can’t give birth if they are over a year old.
About a day after we bought Faye home, I noticed she had stopped using her back legs. I was concerned, but after a quick check on these forums (Thanks, guys!) it’s supposedly normal. I knew Urine Scalds were a possibility so every hour I would check in on her and move her around to stop her lying in her own feces. After all of this though, her fur started to stain and patches would fall out. This was mainly around her back legs. Two days ago, one day before she gave birth, I gave her her first bath (No shampoos or anything, just warm water). She took it like a champ and almost seemed relieved. The redness and irritation died down and we all got a good nights rest.
Woke up the next morning, it was back and it was angry. Gave her another bath, this time rubbing her back legs in Coconut Oil after the bath to help as a barrier. Later that afternoon, she started going into labour. This was by far the hardest labour I’ve seen in a pig. She sat for about an hour in intense labour, squeaking in pain with no sign of babies. I had almost given up hope at that point, thinking she was over a year old and that her pelvis had fused. After what seemed like forever, the first baby came. It was a stillborn, but I was relieved that at least Mum should be okay. Next baby was alive as it came out, but died a couple minutes later as Faye was focusing too much on the feet and left the sack on the head. I was trying to interfere as little as possible but when the last baby came I took it away and removed the sack myself.
A couple minutes later the last placenta passed and Faye started to clean up so I knew she was done. She happily took the baby back (A little tricolour boy, very small but very feisty, named him “Inky”) and they were fine for the rest of the night.
Today I was watching Mum and Baby (She’s so good, he’s very well fed and groomed) and I noticed a lot of scratching and hair loss from Faye, this time around her neck. A quick search and the flaky skin and shedding fur made me recognise it as mites. She doesn’t like it being touched, and will scratch it if you go near it. Just looking for advice. Her Urine Scald is still kicking (The Coconut oil has seemed to do it some good though) so she will still need baths for that, but I am aware that bathing makes Mites worse, and I do treat my pigs with Ivermectin but I can’t give her any of that since she is still nursing bubba. Any guidance would be appreciated. She doesnt seem to be in pain but just irritated. I am unaware with how to post pictures but if someone could inform me then I will gladly do so.
When we picked her up, she seemed in good condition, obviously a couple bites from the other herd members, though definitely well under way in her pregnancy. We bought her home and put her in quarantine apart from my other pigs to keep an eye on her. I did notice that she was quite big. I knew my other pigs were small despite being 2 years old, but Faye was the same size as the rest of them. If you didn’t know, female pigs can’t give birth if they are over a year old.
About a day after we bought Faye home, I noticed she had stopped using her back legs. I was concerned, but after a quick check on these forums (Thanks, guys!) it’s supposedly normal. I knew Urine Scalds were a possibility so every hour I would check in on her and move her around to stop her lying in her own feces. After all of this though, her fur started to stain and patches would fall out. This was mainly around her back legs. Two days ago, one day before she gave birth, I gave her her first bath (No shampoos or anything, just warm water). She took it like a champ and almost seemed relieved. The redness and irritation died down and we all got a good nights rest.
Woke up the next morning, it was back and it was angry. Gave her another bath, this time rubbing her back legs in Coconut Oil after the bath to help as a barrier. Later that afternoon, she started going into labour. This was by far the hardest labour I’ve seen in a pig. She sat for about an hour in intense labour, squeaking in pain with no sign of babies. I had almost given up hope at that point, thinking she was over a year old and that her pelvis had fused. After what seemed like forever, the first baby came. It was a stillborn, but I was relieved that at least Mum should be okay. Next baby was alive as it came out, but died a couple minutes later as Faye was focusing too much on the feet and left the sack on the head. I was trying to interfere as little as possible but when the last baby came I took it away and removed the sack myself.
A couple minutes later the last placenta passed and Faye started to clean up so I knew she was done. She happily took the baby back (A little tricolour boy, very small but very feisty, named him “Inky”) and they were fine for the rest of the night.
Today I was watching Mum and Baby (She’s so good, he’s very well fed and groomed) and I noticed a lot of scratching and hair loss from Faye, this time around her neck. A quick search and the flaky skin and shedding fur made me recognise it as mites. She doesn’t like it being touched, and will scratch it if you go near it. Just looking for advice. Her Urine Scald is still kicking (The Coconut oil has seemed to do it some good though) so she will still need baths for that, but I am aware that bathing makes Mites worse, and I do treat my pigs with Ivermectin but I can’t give her any of that since she is still nursing bubba. Any guidance would be appreciated. She doesnt seem to be in pain but just irritated. I am unaware with how to post pictures but if someone could inform me then I will gladly do so.
