I would welcome any tips and advice on rearing a large litter please.  My bitch whelped 14 puppies on the 9th June, she is coping very well and the pups are thriving, and I will get them onto the puppy porridge as soon as I can;  As she is doing so well at the moment I don't want to interfere too much, but obviously will step in if required.  I was thinking when they are about 5 weeks old to split them as I thought it would be easier to feed and clean up etc.
Incidently, this is a litter using a 7 1/2 maiden dog, and one mating!!

When my girl had 11 last year i did help by bottle feeding when it was very hectic and they wanted to feed at the same time. she also got mastitus as she had loads of milk, but caught it in the early stages..congratulations on your litter by the way ....  Steph

Well done Stephanie.
We have 12 5 weel old at the mement and although it has been mega hard work (will probably get worse) it as been great fun. i did actually start  weaning onto Royal Canin Starter at 2 weeks to help mum out and they woofed it down. They are all big bouncy pups now. Splitting them up could be a good idea. The only way Ic could do that would be to put them outside  and not sure i would want to do that. But having just got up to clean the puppy room I can see the advantages.
Sue

Just to avoid confusion, the number in a litter is up to the bitch and nothing to do with the dog, providing he is fertile he produces enough seed to father a few thousand. It is the bitch who produces the eggs that govern the number of whelps and some bitches always produce a good number and some only every now and again.

Hi Star congrats on your big bouncy litter.  i had to put my pups out at 4 weeks as the smell gets terrible lol as you know... but it was summer and they had lots of warmth and heating if they needed it. I was talking to someone yesterday who let there bitch whelp in the garage and she is still there now.... really dont think i could do that! if i had done that with this litter they would have died as she didnt tear any of the sacs off the pups when they were born, and i do tend to keep a very close eye on a bitch due to whelp even if it means losing lots of sleep.. Steph

Hi Stephanie
They seemed more tired when they went to bed last night although having just gone in the puppy room to feed them, the mess is as bad as ever. What do you have?
Sue

Hi Sue, i have labs and looking forward to my next  litter as i will be keeping one of them.. Steph

Steph - what milk did you use? and did you just top them up after the feed?  I have started to put 7 to her and after 15 minutes subsitute the other 7, and then put them all back into the whelping box.  This seems to have helped the "bun fight".

hi there i used lactol as i found it very easy to mix...

sorry i forgot to say i didn't interfear too much, i did help with feeding everyday while they were very small as they all seamed to want to feed at the same time which only having 10 nipples lol was rather difficult. And they all wanted the back ones, so i roped my children into helping with bottle feeding which they really loved to do. But i agree its a good idea to seperate them when older to feed in shifts. I ended up with with all 11 big bouncy pups not one runt in the litter. And can i add that she did get fedup with them by the time they were 5 weeks but who can blame her??? But i have it easy at the moment as i have a litter of 8 so mom is very happy and content with them..

Jen,

I use Lamlac which is a lambs milk it costs half as much as puppy milks, my puppies love it, can't get enough! I get it from Norfolk Liquid Feeds in norwich but I'm sure it can be purchased from lots of outlets around the country.  It mixes with cold and warm water which is ideal, I found the Lactol and Skinners milk more difficult to mix.
Good luck!

I was told by my vet never to use lambs milk on puppies.. its worth seeking advice before trying it...

ohh and it does also say in THE BOOK OF THE BITCH,, that its not recommended... Steph     It doesnt always pay to buy a cheap alternative...

Raw goats milk is excellent for pups :)

Christine, Spain.

I was given powdered goats milk from my breeder when i got my pup, but when i got the book of the bitch it said that it isnt much different to cows milk what they suggested was canned evaporated milk.  so what do we use?

Hi, have never used any of the powdered formula milk sinced a friends Vet told us that on almost every hand fed puppy he had done a Post Mortem on, he found residues of powder in thelungs, which was a contributory factor to losing them.  So I use a Carnation Milk/Egg Yolk mixture, and have had excellent results wiht it.
bye
Gwen

Yes my friend told me that too, so have been reluctant to use anything.  Mum has coped with them all remarkably well, and they are now 2 weeks old.  I am going to start using the Pedigree Puppy Porridge now, so am hoping another week on we shall be on the way to weaning.
Thanks for the hints everyone.

A google search on difference between goat & cow milk will tell you exact differences between them. You need to research & make your own decisions on what you think is best, I think fresh goats milk is the best but as you can see from the replies, everyone has their own opinion :)

Christine, Spain.