Kells farmer's joy as 12 piglets born to first time mum

A rare breed of pig is keeping a Meath farmer busy after she gave birth to 12 piglets in her very first litter.
'Claire the sow, even nested before giving birth to the piglets which 'popped' out over a four hour period on Maperath Farm, near Kells on Wednesday.
Claire is a 16-month old Oxford Sandy and Black rare traditional breed and one of only 350 registered breeding cells in the world.
Unfortunately, two piglets have been lost because the tired sow lay down on them but farmer Eoin Sharkey is keeping a close eye on the remaining thoroughbreds who are suckling every 20 minutes.
He said: 'It's not totally unusual but it's well above average that a pig will have 12 piglets on her first litter. I thought we'd be doing well with five to be honest so this amount is brilliant.
'A pig has two wombs so that is how they can carry so many piglets. We kept a good eye on her and made sure she was comfortable.
'We actually have cameras so that we could keep watch on Claire from the house, without having to disturb her.
'She was nesting a few days ago, putting straw into a circular shape for her bed. Then she got a bit frustrated and when she lay down, we knew she was in labour.
'Unfortunately as is nature's way, there are so many under her feet suckling all the time that she is tired and so lay down on two of them. So we're trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.
'The piglets will suckle every 20 minutes for the first few days and gradually reduce their feeding times until they are weaned off at seven weeks.'

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He explained that pigs normally have two litters a year, each pregnancy lasting three months, three weeks and three days.

When she is recovered, Eoin hopes to bring Claire to the Irish Pig Show and is including her in the mobile farm which he works on with AgriAware.
'I bring a mobile farm, with about eight different types of farm animals, to schools to educate pupils about the animals and their function on the farm.'
Maperath is a busy farm and as well as lambing, Eoin is also preparing to welcome 300 geese in April and 600 chicks later in the year.