a rough start for our piglet and a ? about whey

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Rainey

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We picked up our piglet May 12 and she was only 5 weeks old instead of the 6 weeks she should have been. (We didn't know this until we met the person who had picked her up from the farm for us, not the seller) Since we started raising rabbits for meat we only get 1 where we used to raise 2 each year. So we had a small, just weaned and away from the litter for the first time piglet who promptly found an opening she could squeeze through and escaped from her pen within hours of getting here. We had given her milk and grain but she didn't show any interest.Thought we had closed any escape routes but she got out again the next day and ran across the road and the brook and through the woods. We finally found and caught her and put her in a pet carrier overnight and built her a smaller tighter pen. Also put in smaller feeders and finally got her started eating and drinking. She seems to be doing well now. But I wonder if it's ok to just give her whey and sometimes milk to drink, not any water. At first I just wanted to get some nourishment into her and she really does like it. She's also getting grain. Always before our pigs have gotten as much milk or whey as we had to spare but also water. Because she's so little, at this point we can give her all the whey she can drink. Does anyone know if that is a problem?
 

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I agree with Michael about offering water as well, just to be sure the pig has everything it needs. Water is so basic to good animal husbandry.

I never quite got to the point of raising a couple of wearer pigs, but I'll be following your experiences with interest. My maternal grandfather apparently used to buy two weaners every spring, raise them, and sell one to cover his costs (initial price plus feed) for both. That way the family had free pork for the winter, which was no small thing in the Depression Years. They also had a family cow so I imagine extra milk and whey went to the piggies. I wish I'd known Mom's parents . . . Mom said I'd have got on well with my grandfather.
 

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