Watching a sow feeding her piglets is mesmerising. It’s a show of sound and movement, of chaos and rhythm. And it shows that, in this case, milk is life.
When a sow wants to feed her piglets she calls them with a low, repetitious grunt. If she’s near other sows they’ll all start grunting too. In the wild this collective grunting makes sure that all piglets in the area can get a feed, even if it’s not from their own mum.
The sow doesn’t let her milk flow till she’s relaxed, and you’ll see a change in the piglets’ behaviour – suddenly they’ll stop bashing her boobs and just settle in for the feed.
These piglets are just a couple of days old and are still getting the hang of who goes where in the drinking line-up. In another couple of days they’ll have their own teats, a bit like having a coffee mug with your name on it.
Our piglets spend their first week in a straw-filled stable, with access to a heat lamp to snuggle under. Tasmanian nights are pretty chilly, and we believe this is the most humane way to bring them in to the world.
Generally the biggest and strongest piglets get the sow’s front teats which produce the most milk, and the smaller ones get the back teats. That’s why the runt is always the runt (except occasionally when they’ve got a touch of Small Piglet Syndrome and they defy nature and take over a front teat).
We let our piglets feed from their mothers for six weeks, and then we wean them. That’s about twice the time of pigs reared in intensive systems, and it ensures their immune systems are well-developed. And milk’s free, too.
When a sow wants to feed her piglets she calls them with a low, repetitious grunt. If she’s near other sows they’ll all start grunting too. In the wild this collective grunting makes sure that all piglets in the area can get a feed, even if it’s not from their own mum.
The sow doesn’t let her milk flow till she’s relaxed, and you’ll see a change in the piglets’ behaviour – suddenly they’ll stop bashing her boobs and just settle in for the feed.
These piglets are just a couple of days old and are still getting the hang of who goes where in the drinking line-up. In another couple of days they’ll have their own teats, a bit like having a coffee mug with your name on it.
Our piglets spend their first week in a straw-filled stable, with access to a heat lamp to snuggle under. Tasmanian nights are pretty chilly, and we believe this is the most humane way to bring them in to the world.
Generally the biggest and strongest piglets get the sow’s front teats which produce the most milk, and the smaller ones get the back teats. That’s why the runt is always the runt (except occasionally when they’ve got a touch of Small Piglet Syndrome and they defy nature and take over a front teat).
We let our piglets feed from their mothers for six weeks, and then we wean them. That’s about twice the time of pigs reared in intensive systems, and it ensures their immune systems are well-developed. And milk’s free, too.
Excellent post very informative love the photo and video. Having grown up on farms, trying to wean the little ones after three weeks just seem wrong and not something we ever considered. By giving them the six weeks as you do gives them the best start they could get. And I have seen firsthand the quality of life you provide all of your animals. There is a lot I wish to learn from you guys when I get my little patch.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon :) And we'll be happy to share what we're learning too.
ReplyDeleteBewdiful! But you must stop this...with all this cuteness I'm finding it increasingly difficult to eat your wonderful porc!
ReplyDeleteThe photo of that little piglet is just gorgeous, it will grow up to make someone some beautiful pork one day (sigh!) Not knowing anything much about pigs - the info was excellent. As a map tragic do people realise Mt Gnomon is actually a mountain, as well as the name of your farm.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anonymous...that reminds me about the blog we're going to write about the mountain.
ReplyDelete"Gnomon" is a dreadful word to have to spell out over the phone, but we love explaining that it means the triangular part of a sundial, which is just what the mountain looks like.
I've been going to visit the Penguin historical group to find out some history of Mount Gnomon and its naming.
The animals look so healthy and their hair beautiful and glossy. Babies look cute to ensure their survival. Killing is never nice or easy but after you having done it there is a huge wave of respect and gratefulness for an animal. Having that respect makes one want to provide them the best possible life in return for that sacrifice. It has become a more real and natural exchange for me. My husband and I have many discussions about cost versus quality but "Food Inc" really pushed him over the edge. Now the whole family has watched it and are getting real too.
ReplyDeleteSo cute I showed my two year old and she keeps say "again mum, again" :)
ReplyDelete