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Did you know that as soon as piglets are born they start to suckle and hunt for the sows teats. The suckling instinct kicks in within minutes of being born. Initially the piglets will fight for the teats and there is alot of movement between teats and then within a day they settle down and always stick to the same teat.

Since the piglets arrived (and left, and arrived, and left again!) about a month ago we have been working on building a trust with them. Once it became apparent that they were too flighty to investigate the electric fence slowly but surely we had to take fast action before they decided to depart full time.

Since the piglets arrived (and left, and arrived, and left again!) about a month ago we have been working on building a trust with them. Once it became apparent that they were too flighty to investigate the electric fence slowly but surely we had to take fast action before they decided to depart full time.

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I am delighted to say that Cagney, my Saddleback sow has had nine healthy piglets. On Tuesday tea time I placed Cagney in the farrowing crate as she had milk when I squeezed her teats. I was able to do this on my own as Cagney is a very placid and gentle sow. It wasn’t long before she had her first piglet.

This isn't right. A pig suckling tiger cubs.

I am afraid that poor little Snuffles passed away on Saturday afternoon. I had been feeding him every hour during the day and went to bed at about 2.30am Sat morn and got up at 6am to feed him again and he was very weak. I would have stayed up all night but I had to go to a farmer’s market to sell my quail eggs so needed some sleep.

Here is Snuffles the hand reared Saddleback piglet that was injured when my Saddleback sow Lacy was farrowing. Snuffles and I are developing a relationship as I hand rear him. He climbs onto my lap as I give him his milk every few hours or so. I just hope that I can give him enough milk to help him grow strong.

One of the Saddleback piglets is injured, infact during farrowing the sow bit the piglet and punctured the piglet’s face and tongue making it difficult for the piglet to breathe and suckle. I have named the piglet Snuffles as he is breathing heavily. He was born on Monday and is nearly two days old.

Yesterday Lacy, my Saddleback sow farrowed 9 piglets. I would like to say that it was plain sailing but it wasn’t. Lacy is a lovely sow and is never aggressive towards humans. She will dominate Cagney, her sister when it comes to feeding time and will often take a bite at Cagney but apart from that Lacy is a very good pig to deal with, that is until it comes to farrowing.