Walk the Walk

Yesterday I had morning visitors come to help on the farm, readers and members of the Fellowship, they cleaned out the Rescue Piglets pen and we arranged the honey boxes into an even bigger and more challenging maze for the two piglets who are learning to walk. And K held the sleeping piglets propping their stiff heads up on her arms. This is an important part of their rehabilitation so I was pretty happy to have extra help with this. And it was wonderful to have helpers who knew everything there was to know about the farm after reading for so many years.

There are three stages to their rehabilitation. Firstly I move their legs and head around  and around and up and down when feeding them. Keeping their little legs working and their muscles loose. When I am not there they lie on their sides and cannot get up  for hours and this has been causing dangerous stiffness in their necks and terrible weakness in their legs. Their heads were becoming stuck in one position.

The second stage is the maze, this is built from the bee supers in such a way that they can keep walking forward with their heads facing forward but cannot fall over onto their sides. When they pop out the other end they come upon their bottle which gives them the incentive to walk the maze as fast as possible.

I will get a picture for you today I hope.

The third stage is becoming a favourite amongst my guests and yesterday mornings workers were no exception. You sit on the little piano stool in their little pen and hold them with their heads upright, in the proper piglike sleeping position and they snuggle in and go to sleep without falling over onto their sides. This way I think the muscles in their necks will relax back to normal. I hope so anyway.

This is Nick with them, although it was his day off he sat with them twice yesterday afternoon listening to pod casts on his phone.  He intended to read but the piglets thought otherwise. 

And it looks like it is working. After three long sessions of big grown-ups cuddling little piglets making sure their heads did not drop to the side the wee pigs are both walking with their heads up for short periods of time.  It has made a sharp difference.

Ironically these little survivors who got the most banged up by their mother have the most healthy digestive systems.  So if we can teach them to get up off their sides by themselves and then walk un-naided they will do ok I think.  I am feeling positive for the first time. Touch wood. 

Farmers aye!

Later yesterday, Pat (one of the Fellowship of the Farmy) arrived after a long journey down from the mountains to take over the job of Chief Cook and Bottle Washer for a while. We will all still take our turns as Kitchen Mama but Pat will set to work and get the kitchen and pantry and laundry areas back in order and take over the mornings milk processing and tomato preserving and crack the whip in the garden.  With so many extra hours needed for the recovering piglets  I am having a lot of trouble getting my produce into the freezer let alone make butter and cheese. Nick and I are both very happy she is here.

Have a lovely day.

celi