Mama Pig Saved By 13 Piglets: Dying Mama Pig Finds Reason To Go On Living

A mama pig was saved by her own 13 piglets when she was on the brink of death. Emma showed up at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California, quite underweight, weak, and heavily pregnant. It would’ve been a miracle if Emma could give birth to six piglets. She didn’t appear to have the required energy and strength to endure a painful labor and give birth to multiple babies. What Emma wound up doing shocked farm owner, John Chester. Huffington Post reports that the mama pig delivered 17 piglets! Of the 17 born, 13 survived.

By the time she was done delivering that many piglets, Mama pig was exhausted, unable to do much for her new offspring. Her fever had escalated to 108.3 degrees and she stopped producing milk. Chester hated to do it, but he took Emma’s piglets away in order for her to recover — even if it meant a lot for he and his wife, Molly, to do a lot more than they bargained for.

“Bottle feeding 13 piglets three-to-four times a day was not an easy option. If Emma died, that was going to be our future.”

Chester and workers on his farm did everything they could to help the mama pig get better; they managed to get her fever down and tried feeding her. Emma refused to eat and if she continued, she was going to die. Chester got an idea after doing everything he could think of. He thought he’d try reuniting the piglets with Emma. The farmer thought Emma “might need a reason to live,” even if it “might kill her.”

It wasn’t long after the youngsters were brought back to their mom that she showed signs of improvement. This mama pig was basically saved by her piglets for giving her a reason to go on living. She began caring for them and nurturing them instantly.

Chester was glad he made the decision to give Emma’s piglets back to her.

“I like to think Emma was saved by us, but it’s so obvious that she was saved by her calling. In her case, it was to be a mom… Some might say that the very thing that could threaten to take us down in life can, at times, be the one thing that keeps us alive.”

The brave mama pig finally recovered from her emaciated state. She raised her piglets for two months until they were weaned and put in their own pastures. Emma has since gained the 200 pounds she needed to put back on. She’s said to be living a good life on the farm with an old rooster as her pal.

Luckily, all the mama pig really needed was to be saved by her own loving piglets.

[Photo Credit: OWN via Huffington Post]