I did not post early this morning because I wanted to make sure that Molly and Tahiti were on the road to recovery. All yesterday afternoon we struggled with the two gilts. Vomiting and diarrhea. Bad. The Vet thinks they either ate something poisonous, carried in with the weeds or the straw or the hay, or it was the worms. We have had trouble with the roundworm here before. But this felt gastric to me. A sick pig is terrible to see. They die very fast.
But worked faster, by this time it was the last few minutes of the doctors day. They were given all the necessary medicines and Hugo and I cleared out the entire pen of everything, (they were on deep bedding) put in old hay from my own clean fields and every two hours I fed them small amounts of warm electrolyte, gave their bellies a good massage after drinking, little nibbles of dry bread and aspirin twice, by early this morning they were drinking well their food has been shifted around and they are sleeping tucked up together in their mound of warm hay. When pigs are really sick they separate, seeing them cuddled together is always a good sign.
And there is no bad smell anymore. Smell was my first indication of things going wrong. My pigs usually smell sweet.
Last night I closed all the barn doors at night, for the first time since last winter. Just now, I opened them up, a few minutes ago, (it is 7.03am) and everyone was still asleep until I let the morning light in. All four ears pricked up from deep in the straw, meeting light and sound. Good.
I will let the power of the light both wake and warm them. Then we will have a good look at them.
On another subject, and to my surprise, Pania led all her new friends – the turkeys and Geraldine – into the barn at milking time last night and they slept in there all night, on a gate in the lower levels (as befits their status in the barn). I hope they do that again as this is their eventual destination for the winter months.
I hope you have a lovely day. The animals and I have enjoyed our late start after a busy night but now it is time to get moving and have a good look at everyone in the light of day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
42 responses to “The Power of Light”
Fingers tightly crossed. Poor pigs and poor sleep-deprived Celie! I hope all is well by now.
love,
ViV xox
I’m not a big pray-er. More of a talking to the forces that be kinda person. A meditator. But I’m gonna do some piggy-prayers just in case. I’m sure the Universe will listen.
Me too!
Keep us posted. I’ll be revisiting tomorrow morning my time to find out how they’re doing. Right now, it’s time for me to hit my own pile of hay…
That sounds very stressful. I hope they are on the mend and whatever the cause is out of their
system.
Much improved this morning – they had porridge for breakfast – and I am about to eat mine with a coffee.
We made Shelia and Poppy gingerbread pigs along with our Thanksgiving gingerbread pumpkins and squirrels, they got gobbled up before I got a picture!
With all the pigs we have had, I have never seen one vomit. You are so right that pigs get sick quickly and it can roll downhill, with no brakes at all. Hoping you all have a good day!
I have never seen one vomit either – it is quite awful, but she had the presence of mind to dig a hole in the straw and vomit into it. Probably good that they did vomit I think.
All well so far. And no other pigs affected at all (touch wood) interesting that Sheila and Poppy spent the whole day yesterday far out in the fields – far away from the little ones pen.
Don’t forget the Rescue Remedy 🙂
yup they are having it!! thank you!
That IS interesting! They sense so much.
Poor pigs – they are lucky to have such good care 😉
It sounds as if you have things well in hand. Glad you were able to get them to the vet in time. And I hope you can discover what made them sick so it doesn’t happen again. Hopefully you will catch up on some sleep once you know everyone is doing fine again. Thanks for the update. Have a wonderful, uneventful day.
just as you thought things were lovely and quiet…along comes trouble.
How you cope and remain so cool, calm and collective is beyond my understanding , but you are wonderful! Love and cuddles to Molly and Tahiti and may they make a speedy recovery xxxxxx
Very surprised — and relieved — to see your post this morning. I hope they stay the course and continue to improve. It’s never a good sign when an animal is discharging from both ends. When mine do, we’re off to the vet immediately. It’s not entirely because I think the situation is urgent. Much like your gilts, my pets have an inner clock and they exhibit the worst symptoms around 5:00 pm Friday afternoon. My vet closes at 6:00. Glad that you were able to get medical help in time.
I hope the pigs continue to do well.
Hope the two little girls recover fully very soon. Laura
What a nightmare! Not one but two very sick pigs. Just the day before you were talking about the little things of life, no drama, just a plain day. Life on the farm turns on a dime for sure. This is so worrisome too when you don’t know what they ate or where they got it! Your deft thinking saved the day.
Hope they fully recover soon and you won’t have to deal with any sick animals for the remainder of winter! Maybe you can squeeze a little power nap in today. 🙂
Glad to hear your gilts are on the mend. I had no idea they needed such TLC when they were sick. Glad you knew what to do. Hope you have a good day.
Poor little plonkers-not surprised that they dug a hole- smart & clean little guys. Glad their better. My chicken through up once, scared me, I no that’s weird too.
Have a nice calm day 🙂
Robin