In the events of the untimely death of a lactating sow, any farmer would be devastated and most, especially first-time pig farmers would be left confused and not knowing what to do. After farrowing down of a sow, we all count on the mother to naturally breastfeed the litter first with colostrum and then with her highly nutritious milk until they’re strong enough and ready to be weaned, hence very few farmers plan to be responsible for feeding orphaned piglets.
Three weeks ago a friend of mine, a fellow young farmer lost her sow just a couple of days after farrowing down after she was stung by bees to death. Fortunately, the mother was grazing away from the piglets when it happened and so they survived. But now my grieving friend was thrown into a panic, not sure what to do. He called a “doctor” who told him to feed the piglets with cow milk and porridge and that’s what he was doing before I called on him.
The piglets were okay, running about squealing playfully as they searched for their mother cuddling with each other like they always do when it’s cold. But they were feeding, which was fine. But then I inquired how the feed, especially the milk was prepared and he said he just poured them the fresh milk which he bought about two liters each morning from a neighboring farmer on a bowl and they’ll drink.
“You don’t warm the milk?” I asked surprised.
He shook his head. That was wrong, I told him. Not unless he wanted to be faced with another serious problem — the piglets experiencing diarrhea. Fresh milk comes with its own problems and directly feeding it to those vulnerable animals could be fatal.
“Just warm the milk and give it to them when it’s look-warm,” I advised him as he gravely nodded again. “It’s safer that way.”
“And is the porridge okay?”he asked.
“I doubt man,” I said thoughtfully. “If I were you I’ll just stick to a milk diet at this stage and later on introduce pellets and other dry feed.”
“Okay,” he said. “You know the doctor didn’t tell me much.”
I wasn’t really sure about the idea of providing a week old piglets with maize flour porridge which their digestive system might not be ready for yet. But since the cow’s milk wouldn’t be providing much of the nutrients, he thought mixing the floor with soya and omena like the one prepared for toddlers would suffice.
It’s advisable to just keep orphaned piglets on milk for at least three weeks and then gradually introduce pellets, or put pellets in their milk. Goat milk is better since is more nutritious than cow milk. Feed them at least four times a day, and don’t overfeed them.
Another thing I reminded him to avail to the litter was clean drinking water which he did, and also he moved the piglets from their pen and into his kitchen where it’s much warmer where they slept during the night. And as I’m writing to you the piglets are a month old and flourishing.
Orphaned piglets shouldn’t give you sleepless nights because they can be managed. As long as they’re feeding properly they’d be alright. Just make sure they’re fed on right feed, provided with clean drinking water at all times, and are kept warm.