sows after giving birth

Question
My Female just gave birth to a beautiful batch of four babies on the 23rd of December.  Since then she has done a complete disposition change. I know that this can be normal, but there are times where she gets so wound up that she turned on one of the babies and in the process hurt it leg.  The baby seems to be ok.  My question is, is there a point where i worry enough that i take them away and raise them myself.  I am normally the one that can calm her down in any situation, but not anymore. She has actually lunged at me when i try to change water and food.  Does this constant worry on her part get passed down to the babies?  Will it make them nervous and scared.

Answer
It's not unusual for pregnant or nursing female pigs to take on a completely different personality. Sometimes, as in your case, a friendly pig turns unfriendly, other times a stand offish pig becomes affectionate. These pigs almost always revert back to their old selves.

Piglets inherit personality traits from both parents. They learn behaviors from their mother and litter mates. Early weaning deprives babies of nutrition and key developmental socialization. Piglets weaned early frequently (but not always) have trouble with aggression, towards people and other animals.

The best solution here is to let the babies stay with Mom while teaching them a different way to interact with people.

Mom pigs are instinctively very protective of their youngsters, and that's actually a good thing!  So the trick is to socialize the babies while Mom is not watching. Mom won't worry if the babies are just out of sight, but happy and fairly quite. But if a baby is startled or frightened and screams, Mom pig will flip out!

Set up a Creep Area right next to Mom's bed. This is a place with openings small enough for the babies but too big for Mom to get inside. Put a heat lamp or pad inside, and a few things to intrigue the babies. Stinky, smelly things are always interesting. Sit in the creep area, and wait for the babies to come inside, to you. Let them approach you, sniff you, and rub against you. Do not reach or grab for them. Teach them what the words "touch" and "belly rub" mean, by saying "touch piggy" or something as you gently touch them. Gradually work your way up to holding and lifting them.

After a few days the piglets should be happily playing with you in the Creep Area.

In a few weeks, when the piglets are older, Mom will be less protective and more tolerant. The piglets will be bigger, ready to explore farther, and begin testing foods. You'll be able to play with the piglets while Mom is there. And the piglets will be ready for simple trick and harness training.

It's easier to teach piglets tricks and harness training one on one. By teaching them very early that it's ok to be lifted and held, you can take them one at a time to another room for training sessions. The end result is a piglet that gets the right nourishment from Mom, socialization from littermates, and learns good behavior from you.