looduskalender.ee

This sow has her farrrowing nest ready

 

 

Those wild boar sows that mated at the end of November or in early December give birth to their piglets at the end of March. The gestation period can last from 18 to 20 weeks.

 

In the web camera we will not see sows with teats as in Peep’s photo. They keep off the herd to get peace and to build a nest for giving birth (farrowing). The weight of large adult sows is just under a hundred kilos, and they are also more fertile – the average number of piglets is from five to eight, sometimes even more. A sow has five pairs of teats for feeding the piglets; there is much more milk in the first pairs than in the hind ones and the piglets fight for these teats – from the milk in the hindmost teats they may not get the belly full.

 

The piglets will not venture out from the farrowing nest during the first ten days, but at a few weeks of age the striped creatures already try to keep up with the sow. We have seen sows with piglets in the web camera in the last third of April, but this year an intense forest cutting takes place there, and probably the pregnant sows move further away to find a peaceful area for the birth of the piglets.