Hilda - possibly pregnant?

[Orlaith]

We're allowing Xander and Hilda to have one litter but we've only recently started letting them together. However, they were alone together (their other mum was distracted by cleaning out their cages when I wasn't around to help her) over Christmas so there's a possibility that she's already 5 weeks gone.

She has gained ~75g in just over two weeks and she definitely looks like she's developing pouches on her sides. However, they're not firm, although just by touch they feel very defined (sort of separate from the rest of her). She's very placid and doesn't mind us touching her and feeling her belly (but then she's a very docile piggy anyway).

I know it's a bit early to tell, so I thought that maybe I could make a thread and post regular pictures so that I could track her progress - I figure that's easier than looking at her in person (it's hard to see the changes when you see her every day).

So, here are some piccies!

[celia]

I dont know if she is because she just looks the same shape as my himi sow who is deffo's not pregnant lol

[kimberley]

I have never had a himi but when Periwinkle was preggers she looked just like that at 5 weeks. And felt like your description too. If they had time to be together then she very might possibly be pregnant.

[Orlaith]

Yeah, see the thing is she could be pregnant, but she also might just be a little fattie! Xander's still trying his hardest and I thought he'd have lost interest if he'd been successful, but then they aren't together all the time maybe that's why he keeps trying.

So that's why I made the thread - she'd definitely been getting bigger but I can't tell if it's babies or love handles, so I figured that keeping a weekly diary of pigtures would tell me within a few weeks if she's up the duff or not!

[Dawn - Admin]

She could be but like I always say only time will tell God luck with her, feed her well and I am sure she will produce some gorgeous babies

[Orlaith]

Okay, it's been a week since the last pictures and the jury is still out. We weighed Hilda on Saturday with a digital scales and she weighed 1075g (whether that's the same as last Tuesday's measurement or not I'm not sure - there could be scale-to-scale variance). We reweighed her on the digital scale today and she's 1106g, which is a gain of 31g since Saturday. Hmmm.

And the pics don't really show much either. I think it'll be next week before we know for sure.

[snoobin]

Mmm. I'm not too sure. She has the same sort of shape as my Sows who are just very well fed hahaha. Like you say, time will tell. Just keep Xander in with her untill your are sure. Good Luck x

[waterscavies]

She's about 6 weeks pregnant if she got caught at Xmas? Its possible she may be having twins or a singleton which wouldn't affect her shape much but will put on weight. Its the last 2-3 weeks of pregnancy that you would notice and feel the changes. Next week, when you pick her up, pick her up with one hand under her belly and see if the babies 'spread' onto either side.

Will show you a photo to let you see what I mean... (this one is when I put Daisy down after spreading her back legs gently to get the shape at 8 weeks pregnant... She had 4 babies.


Hope it gives you a better idea.
Sasha

[Orlaith]

Cool, thanks! I'm really thinking now that she's just well fed, as Jemma said We'll get there eventually though!

[Dawn - Admin]

Dont let her get too fat though or she could ahve problems during the pregnancy. Toxemia can be caused by a pig being too fat.

[Orlaith]

We're building her a bigger cage so hopefully that'll help her to trim down a little bit when she has more space to run around (although she's lazy, so it might make no difference). Do you think we should ration her dry food or anything? She gets a big bowl of veg twice a day and unlimited hay so I doubt it would do her any harm.

[xxlunaxx]

Gosh its so hard to tell Orlaith. Annabelle and Lola both look that shape too. they are such pear shaped little ladies. No wonder they have boyfriends(Charlie and Chip...he he)and the other two dont. I think the boars must like the love handles

Id say your Hilda will surprise you anyway. Perhaps she isnt 6weeks pregnant but maybe they have sealed the deal at some other stage and you didnt see! who knows It would be so lovely though if ye had little babies very soon. Id say ye are pulling your hair out at this stage with the not knowing part!!!

[waterscavies]

Big bowl of veg twice a day is too much. I normally give them their dry pellets in the evenings and a handful of veg per pig in the mornings with unlimited hay.

Too much veg can cause them to put on weight, get diarrhea so you need to be watchful of the amount of veggies you provide them. If you are able to confirm that she is in pig, then you can increase the veggie rations in the last 2 weeks of her pregnancy

Sasha

[Orlaith]

Okay, cool, thanks for that! I'll cut down on her veg too and see if that helps her get a little slimmer

[putty]

She could be. Buttons only had one baby and she didn't show at all. I had her out the night she gave birth and had no idea, and I have pics of her from when I got her through to a few days before she had Putty. I have looked at them again, and I can't tell at all. The only thing that I did notice was that she was eating a lot more at the end (which I originally had attributed to her growing since she isn't very old herself). Good luck! What a beautiful sow!

[Orlaith]

Thanks! I do think she's really pretty, but I'm biased