Farrowing at the fair

The Swine Barn was abuzz Thursday with wide-eyed children and adults all trying to peek at the next piglet about to pop from a 600-pound sow.

Emily Wuergler and her sow, Aqua, were the center of attention as dozens of fairgoers crowded the sow’s pen at the Douglas County Fairgrounds to witness the birth of a litter of pigs. At 3 p.m., one baby was squealing in a tub nearby its mother. Two hours later, five more of the wiggling infants joined their brother in the bucket under a heat lamp. And by 6:30 p.m., a total of 14 piglets had been born— 11 of which survived— and Aqua was still producing.

Cries of “oh my goodness!” and “she’s having her babies now?!” erupted around the fence as Aqua pushed and Wuergler waited to catch each piglet with a blue towel. The teen was joined by three other 4-H’ers— Stormie Hoskins, 16, Dustin Kennon, 16, and Scott Goodman, 15. The four had created a birthing system. Wuergler handed each piglet to Hoskins or Kennon to clean before passing it to Goodman, who was stationed at the incubator. About every 20 minutes, another baby was added to the tub of piglets. The teens kept Aqua cool with a wet cloth and a fan, rubbing the sow’s belly to comfort her.

It hadn’t been easy for Aqua earlier in the afternoon, however.

The sow had produced only one baby in one hour. Emily’s father, Steve Wuergler, told the teen to wash her hands.

The 15-year-old complied, then took off her rings and applied lubricant to her arm. She crouched over Aqua and plunged her arm into the sow to dislodge the resistant piglet.

A minute later, the crowd applauded as Wuergler removed her arm, piglet in hand.

“It was too big for her to have on her own,” said Emily. “Usually it’s 15 minutes before they have the next baby. She was pushing really hard.”

Emily has aided in the birth of more than 20 litters of piglets in her day, and the Drain native said she wants to be a veterinarian. Her father said Emily has been helping deliver piglets since she was 9 years old. The girl decided to bring Aqua to the fair, along with 22 other pigs, so that kids could see a birth firsthand, said Steve.

The hog farmer said he no longer spends nights in the barn when his sows are farrowing; instead it’s his daughter that pulls the all-nighters. Emily has at times waited longer than 12 hours for a full litter to be born.

“Most of my sows like to have them at three in the morning,” she said.

Joy Perry, a Glendale 4-H leader, said she had been monitoring Aqua the past couple of days.

“This is better than any class you could ever take in school for sex education,” said Perry.

Jennifer Meyer had her son Jace, 2 on her shoulders so he could catch a glimpse of the squirming piglets in the bucket.

“They’re just little meisters!” said her other son, Jaden, 6, excitedly.

However, ten minutes later, as another piglet was making its debut, Jaden was less enthusiastic. He turned his head, pulling at his mom’s leg. He had seen enough of the miracle of life.

“This is unforgettable, something magical has happened at the fair,” said Meyer. “That was wicked cool.”

Kaoru Hirasawa was visiting from Roseburg’s sister city, Shobu, Japan.

He witnessed the farrowing with part of his face hiding behind a fan. When asked what he thought about the afternoon’s surprise birthday party, he pulled out his handheld translator to search for a word.

“Impressive,” was the best he could find.



• You can reach reporter Cara Pallone at 957-4208 or by e-mail at cpallone@nrtoday.com.

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