Do piglets get 'taken in' when mama is gone

[437]

If I have the choice should I smoke the sow first? Lots of little ones out and while we are in a holding pattern for spring turkey I got to thinkin. Do the piglets more or less get a death sentence when mama is gone or do they get taken in by another group? Can they fend for themselves? We have a serious pig quota to get on top of and I want to make sure I'm not missing the opportunity possibly obvious. Sometimes ya just want to shoot the big boar, but if I'm effectively killing piglets after the fact by putting mama down that will be my new approach.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Piglets will go to the first sow around or any other hog for that matter. They will eventually be taken in by a wet sow but if their aren't any I am convinced they survive pretty well after a few weeks (4 or 5) of age except for predators.

 

[437]

Hmmm ok well darn I was hoping there was a '.308 multiplier' effect there where it kept on killing. Oh well hammer down on all of 'em!

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Once piglets are 10-14 days old, they can eat and grow on solid food, though that isn't necessarily a preference. So loss of their mom and they can be protected and even nursed and Dan noted by another sow. No other sow and they can grow on their own in a group. I have hunted the remaining piglets after shooting all the sows.

Coyotes will go after piglets, but I doubt they get all of them.