Swineherding with Sasquatch

I was not prepared for this farrowing . . .

At breakfast a week ago I noticed this sow with a prolapse and went on a daring search and rescue search for her piglets.

As I was enjoying my Saturday morning coffee on the couch, Mini-Squatch IV alerted me to the fact that Chupi had escaped the loading paddock; these are the shenanigans that followed . . .

I found the farrowing! Piggle farrowed on May 6, 2026. She gave birth to 12, three didn't make it past the first few hours. But the remaining nine include the mysterious death of The White Weaner and epic survival of the The Runt.

Which makes The Runt 12 weeks old as of today.

I went looking for The Runt's farrowing, but found this first and is does tangentially relate to The Runt. Once this weaner died, I became worried that the piglets might be sick so I watched them closely thinking The Runt would be the first to succumb to Axiom I.

The deadliest time for a piglet is the first 72 hours. If they make it past that, they usually survive, unless they get stepped on and crushed. But by the time they start weaning at six weeks, they're usually in the clear. Which makes this girls death odd; she was healthy, growing, and gorgeous (she was the pure white one from Piggle's litter).

I think these guys are about ten weeks old. The size difference between The Runt and the rest of the litter is staggering.

I am actually astounded that this little guy has made it this long. The littles have wanted me to bottle feed it, the wife has suggested putting it out of its misery, while I decided to just let pigs be pigs.