Weaning Question

[Logiebear]

1 group of mini pigs is now 3 weeks old, 2 of which are reserved already!

My question is, do you literally just take the boys out and seperate them? How does the mothers milk dry up? Do they just not need mothers milk any more now?

Thanks in advance

Suzanne x

 

[Layla - NSGPR]

HI Suzanne,

Yes you do literally separate them from mum at 3 weeks. They should be able to manage without milk then. I had read somewhere about problems with mum's milk drying up though, as usually the babies would gradually wean. It said about some getting painful breasts and possibility of infection. But most of the litters I have had there have been girls to leave with mum to naturally wean.

I did have had 2 litters with only boy babies and took them out at 3 weeks and mums had no problems. And the boys definitely thrived well.

I have had a couple of litters now where I have left a baby boy with mum till 4 weeks as they were very small and not at all mature.

Hope that helps a bit.

Layla x

 

[Logiebear]

It si just that they are all still suckling on mummy, very often too. She has to rest herself on their backs now as they are so big she can't feed and touch the floor. They are all good weights too. So I should just seperate them, thanks x

 

[nutmeg]

They should be ok, if they are eating dry food, hay and veggies ok. I have left in a couple of days longer sometimes, but that was just because they were so small and not getting frisky. I hate it when there is just one little boy, so try and bond immediately with a big fella. xx

 

[sophiew (EAGPR)]

They should be eating and drinking independently, as well as still suckling from mum. Have you seen them use a bottle? Are they eating veg, hay, dry food?

I always weigh them when I wean them and just keep an eye on it. By 3 weeks most are about the 300g mark and fine to come out. If I ever have any really runty ones and they're not rumbly yet I might leave them a little longer.

Sophie
x

 

[Tracyxx]

I have sometimes left a tiny boy with his mum for up to four weeks, that will probably cause some controversy here but I feel you know your own pigs best. It's horrible seperating boys from mums - they do cry and look for them, but you do literally just seperate them, and that's that.