Big Litters in the Irish

[Frances McKimm]

How many of you have also had real big litters of pups, and how you have managed them and how many survived in the end! How the poor 'mum' (4paws) coped and how you helped her.
How many by natural birth and how many operations - planned or unplanned;

[Laura Kolbach]

still hoping that this won't come out in my Danka :-)))

[Alenka Pokorn]

Oh Laura, with your luck, probably she will set the world record - perhaps 25....

[Laura Kolbach]

thanks Alenka, maybe better to organize another mum in advance?
but: maybe everybody wants a pup from the Guinness-record litter? :-)))

[Frances McKimm]

Prepare already 3 extra idiots willing to pass their nights giving bottles!
Gosh this is a rather tiring lot;
Come and give me a hand Laura - for your training;

[Laura Kolbach]

on my way, will arrive about lunch - not human but puppy :-)))

[Jelena Kreitmayer]

Idiot #2 here . Laura took the spot #1
:-D

[Frances McKimm]

I'm waiting for the 2 of you!!!!

[Myra Thomas-Rhodes]

Nightwing had a litter of 16 and everyone survived, but Tarka had a litter of 17 ( 1 mating) and could not hold on to them long enough, so all but 8 died. These puppies literally just fell out of her six days early. No contractions or obvious signs of labour, just started to have them! Interesting too, something I have never seen before or since in any of my pregnant girls, her legs were quite puffy, like what I believe pregnant women can have.

[Carmel Stringfellow]

Hi Frances,
your picture and Camilla's comments have scared me a bit. I have a granddaughter of one of Camilla's pups from the litter of 20. I have AI'd her to Silvagem First Edition and on scan we saw 8 pups but the vet was sure there were at least 2 more tucked under her ribs. She is 5weeks and 2days and is enormous. Can't seem to tempt her with anything to eat and she is just lying around. Her tummy is really tight but there isn't any discharge etc. Her mother whelped 11 from a 5 minute mating....I am hoping that she will 'come to the party' and help her daughter out. Any advice on how to tempt Truly to eat would be very welcome.
Carmel

[ursula wilby]

I had one litter of 16 that I split up between two mothers, the "real" one and her mother that happened to have a false pregnancy at the time.
The (for me) worst part was that I hardly knew the litter as individuals at all.
All time was spent feeding, cleaning and talking to buyers etc.

It is nothing I would ever want to do again.

The litters I have had with more than 14 puppies have all arrived a few days earlier and they have been very easy and fast whelpings, (stands to reason I suppose).

[Frances McKimm]

Well my Dream had a C section which was already planned; but she was at the end of her term, as we did a progesterone test;
It was planned as last time she had a litter about 15months ago, she had 18pups, naturally and it took too long and about 8 were born dead, had suffocated at the end, and 2 were not finished, so we kept 8 from the 18;
Dream has done her duty to the Irish Setter population so no more pups for her, would be too dangerous also;

[Silvia Lindner-Rae]

Our Elinor of Ferryset had a litter of 19 - 3 puppies of themn stillborn, the rest alive and kicking, her second litter were 14 and her daughter had 13, 11 of them alive. I managed the first two litter s on my own with the help of only my husband but I did not see my bed for 2 weeks solid. I usually bottlefed them all half rations and them put them to their mum, when they were slightly bigger, I had two groups, one was mama fed, the other group bottlefed and the next feeding round reversed. All the puppies thrived and did and still do well!