Potbelly porker

[Harvest Mint]

I recently adopted a small female potbelly and she is pregnant by a Juliana. Well she had the babies the other night so as of this post they are two days old. There were 6. Four individuals that are black with various range of socks. There were two that were spotted but they were not fully formed and died. This is her second litter and I was told that her first litter came out the same way.

My curiosity in the situation is this. Why are the two stillborns from each litter spotted while the rest look like mom? Could there be some genetics related to color that would be lethal if homozygous? Would the mating of the two individuals not ever bear living spotted babies? I love learning about this kind of stuff and I would like to have a spotted baby.


Also while the farrowing was going on I noticed that mom has what looks like swine lice and I would like to treat her but I don't know when would be safe for the babies. I have read that I need to use ivermectin injectable and that I can mix it into some food for mom to eat. Do I need to do anything for the babies?

The lady I adopted momma pig from said that I can sell the babies at 4 weeks old and that seems a little young to me. Is that to young? Is it more closer to puppies and kittens like 8 weeks?


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[cassie]

Four weeks seems a little young to me. As for the lice, just dust her with a little louse powder. If you are afraid it may be toxic to the babies, call the manufacturer. There should be a number to reach customer service somewhere on the label.