One Piglet Lost to An Umbilical Hernia

I found a dead piglet this afternoon.  I had noticed yesterday that there was a piglet showing signs of a small hernia near the umbilicus.  Ruby was nosing him to see if he would move, but he was already gone.

I did a little more research into why naval hernias occur and this is what I found.

Of many congenital abnormalities, ruptures at the umbilicus or the inguinal canal are most common. They are considered to be developmental defects yet have a very low heritability. Umbilical hernias can sometimes be traced back to a particular boar in which case he should be culled. Environmental factors can increase the incidence of umbilical hernias and if there is a problem (more than 2% of pigs) consider the following:

• Are prostaglandins used to synchronise farrowings. If so check that piglets are not being pulled away from the sow at farrowing and the cord stretched abnormally.
• Is navel bleeding occurring on the farm? Are naval clips being used to prevent bleeding? If so make sure they are not placed close up to the skin otherwise the tissues will be damaged and weakened.
• Identify the precise time when the ruptures appear. Do these coincide with a change of housing.
• In veranda type housing where the pigs pass through a small hole to the dunging area sudden severe abdominal pressure may cause ruptures.
• Are stocking densities high and increase abdominal pressure?
• In cold weather do the pigs huddle thereby increasing abdominal pressure.
• Check records to see if the boar and the sow are related.
• If the rupture is large and the pig is on a concrete floor or slats it should be moved to a soft bedded area so that the overlying skin does not become sore and ulcerated.
• Examine navels at births and two days later to see if there are any abnormalities.

Inguinal ruptures are not as important a problem unless they become very large.

                                                                         - from www.thepigsite.com

In consideration of the above information, there are two things that come to mind.  The first is that I had some trouble with the umbilical cord bleeding on a few piglets.  I'm not sure what determines how the umbilicus breaks, but when I cut them I make sure to leave about two inches of the cord so that the bleeding stops quickly.  I only cut umbilical cords if they are super long and causing trouble...like the piglet is tripping on it or getting tangled with others.  I wonder if the cord would naturally tear off at the skin level if ripped away with force instead of being cut.  That might be why I had a few very short cords and some bleeding.

The second factor that might be a factor is the cold.  I'm not sure what they consider "cold" but our piglets are living without a heat lamp at night and that would be pretty chilly for any piglet as they prefer upwards of 90 degrees.  This piglet could have died in the night.

The hernia had completely ruptured though...I don't know if that might have happened with a crush injury, something that could easily have happened.  Ruby is such a great momma but she is so big and those babies are so little.

So far, the final fifteen seem to be doing well.  I still think that I will need to pull at least four of them and bottle feed just to give the others a better chance with nursing.  Having twelve teats and fifteen babies means somebody is always missing out.  I'd rather drop it down to have a few extra teats.  I will watch the babies for a few more days and decide who looks like they need the most help...and then supplement them with bottles.  They will continue to live with momma and their siblings, but I will feed them in addition to them having access to nurse if they want.