Thursday, January 13, 2011

Guess the Piglets!

The waiting is killing me.  I have four pregnant Guinea hog sows, all supposedly due to farrow within the month, and no reliable due dates on any of them.  Clearly it's time for a game of "Guess the Piglets"!

Tell me in the comments to this post which sow you think will farrow first and what on what date.  Anyone who is correct will be allowed to name one of the piglets!

Here are the contestants (all photos taken today):

Circe:  She was supposed to be due on December 31, but she seems to have gotten pregnant on the following cycle, not the one when I saw her bred.  Which would mean that her new due date should be about 3 weeks later, or sometime around January 21.  This will be her first litter.  She is fat and uncomfortable, and has some udder development.  She declined to get up for her photo shoot, opting instead for the "I'm so uncomfortable, look at my belly" angle.



Thyme:  One of the new sows.  We have no expected due date for her, but with the amount of udder development she has (almost dragging on the ground), she's clearly due fairly soon.  Her previous litter was born 7/28/10, and she was with the boar the entire time since then, so it would make sense that she would be due sometime this month.



Rosemary:  One of the new sows.  We have no expected due date for her.  Her udder development is almost as far along as Thyme's, so she's also likely to be due fairly soon.  Her previous litter was born 7/11/10, and she was with the boar the entire time since then, so it would make sense that she would be due sometime this month.



Cerridwen:  She is supposed to be due about February 1, but now that the date is nearly here she doesn't look far enough along to be due that soon.  She's the only one of the sows who is not fat and sluggish, but is instead quite active.  She has a little bit of a belly, but not really any noticeable udder development.  Maybe she's due on the next cycle, 3 weeks later?


Let's hear yours guesses!

13 comments:

Molly said...

Oh! I love it when you have guessing contests!!! Poor Circe .... I know just how she feels :(

I hope that she goes very soon so she can get her life back together. I'm going to guess that she is first and that she has them on the 18th. I can't wait to see some cute piglet pictures.

Rachel said...

Circe looks the furthest along. Can you get any milk from her teats. Only drops and you have a few days but if you get a stream you have less than 24 hours. She still may hold out for a week yet.

Thyme and rosemary have at least 10 days to 2 weeks, IMO. They still have no milk in their udder.

Cerridwen may have 3 weeks or so. Her udder is not developing yet but that usually only happens about 2 to 3 weeks prior to farrowing. Her teats are long but there doesn't appear to be any other udder development going on. 3 weeks would still put her in the beginning of Feb.

JenB said...

I was going to guess Rosemary, but Rachel (above) makes a lot of sense. Without checking the udders, I am just going to go with Rosemary. Just because.

Nancy Chase said...

Rachel: No, I've been checking them just about every day, but none of the sows have any hint of milk yet.

Heidi Hart said...

I can sympathize with you on Circe, I have a Ewe who looks just like that. She's been at it for 24 hours now, no hard labor, just settling in.
She was bred when I got her so I have no idea on time.
Heidi Hart

Elizabeth Green said...

I don't know anything about birthing no piglets! But, I will throw my guess to Circe on Jan.20. At least I hope it's that soon for her, she looks miserable.

Angie Frazee said...

I know how they feel.. I think Circe will have her batch January 22nd. THe rest, I don't know.

C. Michele said...

Rosemary will have hers first. Jan 22.

Kathy Wie said...

I haven't a clue but I'll take some random guesses.

Circe... January 19th at 1:18 pm
Thyme... January 23th at 10:17 am
Rosemary... January 25th at 7:22 am
Cerridwen... February 3rd at 3:14 pm

Heather O. said...

My random guesses at [mostly] "inconvenient" times, as usual w/ babies!

Circe Jan 20 10pm
Thyme Jan 27 6am
Rosemary Jan 30 8am
Cerridwen Feb 13 8pm

Love you, love your farm! heather o., Madison, WI

Brooke Laws said...

Circe will go 1st and Im guessing 10 piggies......
Rosemary next
Then Thyme
I think Cerridwen will be last...
Lol I dont know, I just know Circe looks so misserable....
It will be so cool if you have lil piggies on my Bday! Im excited

Regina @VestPocketFamilyFarm said...

Circe: January 20
Thyme: January 24
Rosemary: January 25
Cerridwen: February 10

There, my totally uninformed guesses.

Angie Frazee said...

in 24 hours Cerridwan will be having babies