10/03/2024
I was puzzled to see piglets of 10 suckling from another sow who is not their maternal mother. She has adopted these piglets as her own and shown them greater love by breast feeding. The brown colored pig laying down is currently pregnant, but she has decided to demonstrate the love she has for her unborn babies by breast feeding another piglets.
This scene is a new phenomenon in my experience as a pig farmer. Normally, piglets can cross feed from different lactating sows. But for a pregnant sow to breast feed? WOW!
I could have controlled this by blocking the piglets to access the pregnant sow. I allowed this to happen in order to observe its impact.
1. What the suckling piglets will gain/loss?
2. How will it affect the unborn piglets?
3. Psychological impact on the nursing sow.
Experimenting a new phenomenon to form a basis for future decisions.