The pups are indeed more active outside of the whelping box. It is more work as it is more real estate to clean but the benefits are so worth it for them.
I can lay in the pen with them and they come and kiss my face, my nose - it is totally delicious.
We have 1 boy that will be smaller than the rest. His bones are thinner and he gains at a slower but consistent rate. This is how you tell if they will be smaller. If they are not gaining daily, then you have to explore why but after all these years, it is easy to tell who will be smaller and is meant to be smaller. For instance one of our kids is 5'2" and another 6'1". This happens in the same family and is interesting how they each uniquely pull in the genes that make them who they are.
Maybe by Friday we will try them on starter mousse. We shall see. We have a lot on our plate this week so we shall see. We already have 1 consistently using the pad. That one is a genius. It's not the black and white one. LOL
The pups survived the night. We shall see how their weight gains are at the 8pm weigh in.
Be sure to check out the videos and don't forget about the shorts.