After the initial birth I thought things would progress as usual, but this was Pixies first birth and she is very happy to be with humans and didn't seem to like to see her babies, which is most unusual for us. I cleared out her birthing bed and laid a new fresh bed, she was very narky with the new borns and I thought things would go quiet when she had recovered. I think the whole experience of new birth had completely thrown her and made her vary anxious....Typical that I wasn't there at the start, seeings as I have been there nearly constantly up till then......Anyway things were quite worrying to say the least for a few hours and I had to keep the piglets away from her face or she would go to bite them, I was stuck and couldn't do anything. By that time mum, dad, auntie lou arrived to see the new very cute new borns and got roped in on the whole experience. I rang the vet to see what needed to be done, ie do we take the decision to hand rear if she is that traumatised from it or what do we do. The vet prescribed an oxytocin or something that sounds like that!! to inject her with which would hopefully increase the mum hormones and milk to help the proceedings, I injected her (didn't like that bit!) twice but neither time it seemed to make any difference. He then (by now it was getting dark and we had been going for 5 hours or so) suggested beer, so we gave her a can of john smiths beer to try that,but still no different. All the while we were getting the babies to feed and get the much need colostrum from the mum in case the worst came to the worst and we were hand rearing. In the end I rang Steven to see if they had finished, Steven said " You rang" I said "Yes, I am having a nightmare, the pigs have given birth and its not going to plan, when are you coming home?" He said he would ring when he was leaving in a rather mater of fact way.... Then Pete rang 15 mins later and I told him what I had said to Steve and Steve hadn't even told him!!!!! Kids eh!....Finally after 7 hours of struggling Pete came home to help....By this time the vet said the only way to try to keep them on the mum is to build a farrowing stall, restricting her so much so she couldn't turn around whilst feeding and we would obviously let her out to stretch her legs, but this was an emergency and we had to do what was best for the little ones. so in the dark and cold we and Dad, built a farrowing stall from what ever we had here. To cut a very long story short, we were at a point of being happy to leave them for the night at around 10.30pm from 12 noon! The day was horrendous and hoping for a better outcome in a day or two so we can dismantle the farrow stall and Pixie can feed like usual, but until she is happy with them by her face we have to do what we need to do. She is happy for them to feed, she just doesn't want to see them....weird eh... I think she is just traumatised by the first birth. What this space I guess, anyway I have to get back down there so entries might be sporadic ...just as and when we can get a minute!
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