[Gpdd] CARE Cindy B's question.

[Penny Charlesworth]

Cindy,

I can sympathise with you about taking a pigture of a black pig. I took a lot of pigtures last weekend for Jaime's scrapbook and Shadow, my black Texel boar, looks like a blob too. Even his eyes don't show up very well. I tried sitting him next to a white friend for contrast but I am not impressed with the result!

I have had 18 babes born here at Piggyfriends to rescued sows who came in pregnant and I can assure you that moving mum and babes will cause no problem to any of them. Babes can safely be picked up from day one with no worry about mum rejecting them as can happen with some other animals. The sooner you handle them the tamer they will become. So go ahead and change their bedding as often as you feel is necessary. The babes will be running around on their first day so you can change one end of their towels when they are at the other end of their home.

Our Rodentologists, who only treat piggies, often have mums and babes in their hospital and they move them around too.

It is not ideal for Diva to be pregnant at so young an age but three of my mums were little more than babes themselves and coped admirably with the birth and care of their little ones. It is always amazing to watch them come into the world and then, after only a few hours, set off on their own to explore their pen and start picking up food.

Have a hotline to the vet ready in case of any emergency with the birth itself but hopefully all will go well.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.