CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 155: POSTPARTUM CARE OF SOWS

When these government officers went back, they went to find Pei Shu’er again.

In exchange for a day’s work with Pei Shu’er, they got a big wooden bucket filled with soft tofu pudding.

Some others followed suit and got a bucket of tofu or a bucket of fermented tofu, and even two people exchanged for a large wooden bucket of rice boiled with potatoes.

Because these items do not need to be brought to the military camp by Pei Shu’er and Yinxing, they are not as expensive as those sold in the military camp.

When they arrived at the military camp, another ten people also learned the trick.

Everyone expressed that they would also do the same next time.

These people discussed beforehand what to exchange for, which included side dishes, snacks, and even main courses.

Relying on Deserted Mountain, they no longer had to worry about going hungry.

Moreover, now that they have fermented tofu, the next time they work, they only need to exchange for potatoes and white rice.

So these two large buckets of potato rice, everyone naturally shared and ate, and the next time others went, they shared what others had.

These people happily went back to sleep, but the people in the third house were not so peaceful.

That night, Pei Shu’er had already bathed and was about to sleep.

Just then, Honghua rushed over urgently and knocked on Pei Shu’er’s door.

"Young Madam, something’s wrong, those two sows are about to give birth!"

Pei Shu’er put on a set of dark clothes, opened the door quickly, and followed Honghua to the pigsty.

Fortunately, she had raised the two sows very sturdily, so there was no worry about them being exhausted during birth.

When the amniotic fluid flowed out, Pei Shu’er assisted the sow with the delivery.

Only the first sow had such good nutrition during pregnancy that the piglets were a bit large, and the first piglet was delayed in being born.

Pei Shu’er asked Yinxing and Hongye to hold the sow down, and she reached in to pull out the little piglet.

Then she cleaned the wild piglet’s mouth and nose, pinched the umbilical cord, and tied it with string.

She also extracted the milk teeth in the process without any bleeding.

After that, she docked the tail.

The remaining piglets were born much faster.

The sow continued birthing while Pei Shu’er handled these piglets.

When it was nearly over, the mother wild boar grew weak again, and Pei Shu’er assisted in the birth.

Yinxing and Hongye watched with wide eyes.

Their Young Madam was so... fierce.

But she was really just a girl not even sixteen years old.

They never thought she could assist in such a way.

After the mother wild boar finished giving birth, she fell into a deep sleep.

This sow gave birth to 11 piglets, and Pei Shu’er placed these piglets next to the sow to nurse.

After finishing here, Pei Shu’er went to check on the other sow.

Honghua said this sow was also about to give birth, but it still needed some time.

She found this sow restless, with milk leaking from its teats, indicating it would probably give birth in about three hours.

Three hours later, several women came to see, and indeed found that the sow’s amniotic fluid had broken and it was about to give birth.

This sow gave birth faster than the previous one, but two piglets were born dead.

Honghua sighed, "Young Madam, what should we do now."

This wild boar was not easy to acquire, and the piglets were already fully formed, without shrivel turning brown, indicating they died during birth.

It’s a pity.

However, there’s nothing that can be done about it. Nowadays, which family doesn’t have dead piglets? Losing only two wild boars out of two litters is actually a very high survival rate.

Pei Shu’er remained silent, crouched down observing the two piglets.

She discovered the piglet’s umbilical cords were still pulsating, so she rhythmically squeezed the umbilical blood towards the piglet’s abdomen and patted a few times until the piglet squealed and revived.

Hongye and Yinxing both breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Pei Shu’er with admiration in their eyes.

They thought for sure the piglet was dead, but did not anticipate the Young Madam could save it, truly remarkable.

Pei Shu’er said, "Feed these piglets until they are full, then place them in the greenhouse."

The greenhouse had been built a few days ago, made from rammed earth.

It’s similar to an incubator structure, with the temperature kept around 33 degrees, drying the water off the piglets’ bodies and helping them to regain strength.

Recently, Pei Shu’er had been avidly studying "Postpartum Care of Sows" and had quite a knack for sow care, operating according to the book.

After the sows gave birth, Pei Shu’er controlled the temperature of the pigsty to around 22°, with suitable humidity, plenty of sunlight, and the pigsty cleaned and disinfected before childbirth.

The sow’s nutrition was also excellent; Pei Shu’er fed them pig feed that supplemented protein and energy, even instructing others to ensure the feed was cooked.

Also, not to feed too much, to prevent harming the sow’s stomach.

Once the piglets were dried, they gradually regained energy and started to move around the pigsty.

Pei Shu’er then left them be, awaiting the seventh day to castrate the pigs.

This way the piglets would just grow meat and not go into heat, and the pork wouldn’t have a gamy taste.

When she castrated, her hand was steady with no blood, and the piglet hardly had time to squeal before it was done.

Once castrated, the pigs went back to nursing energetically from the mother wild boar, who had even gained some weight postpartum, with nutritious, thick milk, making the piglets grow quickly.

Others watched Pei Shu’er’s actions curiously, not understanding her intention.

Pei Shu’er smiled and said, "This way the pigs will focus only on gaining weight; managing them during the mating period isn’t as troublesome, and those few sows and boars don’t need castrating, just leave them to produce piglets."

In this litter of piglets, Pei Shu’er also kept eight young sows without castrating them, and left two young boars.

This way they could quickly expand the piglet population, ensuring they wouldn’t worry about meat shortage in the future.

Furthermore, they could trade pork with people at the military camp.

Once they could venture a bit farther, she could explore outside, see if there are suitable markets for exchanging goods.

After the pigs were castrated, the Deserted Mountain bricks were also piled high.

Previously, Pei Shu’er took some time to inspect, and instructed everyone on how to build the wall, and they did a good job.

Then she handed the matter fully over to Tang Peiyi, with Tang Tuo learning alongside him.

Tang Tuo started with learning how to build walls; the people in the fourth house were honest, and very down-to-earth, even though his father was the supervisor, he didn’t slack off but worked diligently.

Working even harder than those on the Deserted Mountain.

Tang Tuo laid bricks for several days and was the best at it on the Deserted Mountain.

Then he occasionally guided everyone on how to build neatly and cohesively with the terrain.

As for Tang Peixiao, he stayed by the brick kiln learning his craft, not afraid of hardship, often seeking advice from experienced brick makers.

Along with him, the eldest son Tang Xiao also joined in the brick-making work.