New litter brings joy to Baylham House

ONE of the rarest breeds at Baylham House Farm isn't quite so rare today . . . after supermum Prudence gave birth to a litter of 14 piglets.

The middle white sow gave birth to the largest litter the farm has ever seen just days after it reopened after being closed because of the bluetongue outbreak at the end of last month.

Earlier this year Prudence hit the headlines as she worked hard to keep her youngsters cool during one of the summer's rare warm spells.

Now she's back in the headlines with her big brood which will be delighting visitors to the farm during the autumn.

Neil Storer from Baylham House said: “This is the biggest litter we've ever had on the farm and Prudence and the piglets are doing very well.

“A couple of the piglets are slightly smaller than the rest so we are giving them supplemental feeds, but all seems very well.”

Prudence is three and a half years old and pigs can continue to raise families until they are about eight.

Mr Storer said: “They have about two and a half litters a year. Once the piglets are weaned we introduce her to a boar again - they are happy about that kind of life.”

Prudence kept the family very busy with the arrival of her litter on Sunday - she started giving birth at 6pm and carried on until 11.30pm.

Mr Storer said: “This is a wonderful event. Having had two cows slaughtered because of bluetongue, it is wonderful to see new life arriving on the farm. Those lost cows are now behind us and we have to move on.”

And the farm is looking forward to another happy event. There has been a gap in its exhibits after Debbie, the Highland Cow, had to be put down after testing positive for bluetongue.

Now her daughter Fiona is due to arrive back at the farm - where she was born - with her own daughter on Friday.

And Mr Storer said it was good to see visitors back at the farm.

“We have been very pleased to be open again and I think the animals have liked being able to see people again,” he said.