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Delilah, the Berkshire gilt, moved into the completed maternity ward today. She's due to farrow from Monday onwards and as the temperature has dropped well below zero of a night, we decided it was best for her and the piglets to come in.

The creep in the corner has a heat lamp above it and will have a wooden floor to keep the piglets off the concret. It stops the sow rolling on the piglets and gives them somewhere warm and dry to sleep.

We've also put a 500w work light in on one of the rafters, so that there's plenty of light in case of emergencies. The creep can be accessed from outside the pen (to the right). There's also a shallow but long trough along the front of the pen, to prevent the piglets drowning as can happen with big outside troughs.

When she's farrowed, she and the piglets will stay in for a week or two depending on her condition and theirs before going out to the insulated pig hut until they're weaned.

Looks fab!! What a great idea for a roofrack too.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the piglets too

sounds great. good luck Delilah

Excellent. Look forward to seeing the pix of the piglets. Hope she farrows (?) easily - is this her first lot?

PurpleDragon wrote:Excellent. Look forward to seeing the pix of the piglets. Hope she farrows (?) easily - is this her first lot?

Yes, her first lot (and the Other Half's!!!).

And mutter, mutter, I completely forgot to measure the trailer to see if that top would fit. I'll add it to the to-do list - then promptly forget it again.

Great stuff.

Keep us updated witht he progress stonehead i will keep checking this thread for updates.

I would love to be able to keep pigs.

ooooh, please post pics when the babies are here!

I love baby piglets..

The maternity ward looks nice too!

How's Delilah coming, Stoney? Any sign of impending piglets yet? Or are you up to your elbows in feminine pig-parts?

Funny you should ask. I just came in to write an update.

Delilah is vast, but still hasn't bagged up (that's when their belly drops and can be seen hanging between their back legs), which happens only a day or two before the piglets are due. She's also not producing milk yet, but her udders are bigger and her nipples leak clear fluid when squeezed.

I suspect she's just making the most of having a pen and huge straw nest to herself, getting back rubs with a curry comb, and several apples a day. She's a very happy pig at the moment!

Don't forget that while piglets generally take 116 days from conception to birth (plus or minus a couple of days), it's impossible to know the exact date of conception. We know the boar serviced her on her first day in with him, but that doesn't mean she conceived.

So all we can do is work on 116 days from that date, and then wait and see...

Well, she is just a typical female then. I always grin when folk say their babies are early or late. As if they conceived on the exact 14th day of their cycle. There or thereabouts maybe... I don't think I've ever heard of anyone gettng their baby on the day it is 'due'.

Good for Delilah - she should get all the rest and apples she needs / wants before the brood arrives.

My daughter was born on her due date but yes I agree it's pants and having just had a 'late' baby really unfair the amount of pressure you get from the midwifes etc. makes you feel like somethings wrong with you

Okay - I'll rewrite that then

"I only know ONE person who had her baby on her due date ... "



I hate the way they try to force-induce you if you go by your 'due date'. My old hospital did say, however, they would 'et you' go up to 7 days before they tried this. Lucky for me my No1Child was only 6 days 'late'.

I was apparently born on my due date - my mum could have won a sparkling new silver cross pram if she had entered a competition... she didn't ((

PurpleDragon wrote:Okay - I'll rewrite that then

"I only know ONE person who had her baby on her due date ... "



I hate the way they try to force-induce you if you go by your 'due date'. My old hospital did say, however, they would 'et you' go up to 7 days before they tried this. Lucky for me my No1Child was only 6 days 'late'.

me too. when I saw the midwife on my due date she started talking about induction! I was told I could go 10 days over and though they don't like it could go more but would need to go to hospital everday to be monitored. In the end he was a week late