Piglets

One morning there was colostrum and mucus and Ribs was very restless.

If you look very closely you can see the piglets feet emerging from the birth canal. 

Rubbing a piglet dry and encouraging it to breathe.

Pulling a piglet,

K's turn to pull.

Because Ribs was bred accidentally and was intended to be a market hog, she was bred during her first cycle and was not big enough to be a mother yet, her delivery was very difficult.  We carefully read the chapter on birth and talked to some people with experience, we did the best we could with the information we had at the time.  When the afterbirth was delivered we thought she was done.  However, a pig has a two horned uterus and there were still piglets and another afterbirth inside her.  We realized this too late, and even with a vet consult and prescribed oxytocin and antibiotics we were unable to save the other piglets or Ribs.