I won’t go into this story in detail. – it is too sad. But I rescued these two tiny hours old piglets from the abattoir yesterday. 
Their mother was brought in for slaughter at full term. She was brought to the slaughter house yards after-hours and delivered two piglets in the night in an outside concrete pen.
The owner of the sow was called and he said he was not coming back for her and to proceed with her slaughter.
The babies had a number of hours with their mother but kept slipping under the gates and one was rescued by a worker as it wobbled into a pen of cows.
This one was particularly filthy with manure.
On a normal rescue newborns have a 50/50 chance of surviving being hand raised. These spent a cold wet night in a slaughter house yard, and are now horribly at risk of illness.
So here I have two wee piglets in the laundry next to the heater. Already they have diarrhea but surprisingly both have taken to the bottle and are drinking their goats milk really well.
They jump up when they hear me come in every two hours and twice were at the door yelling before I even got there. Which as you can imagine has Boo-Nanny rushing back and forth trying to hurry me up.
They fill up fast from their supermarket goats milk then snuggle back down to sleep. But the runny poo is very worrying. Expected though.
One is getting stronger I think and the other one definitely weaker.
I have medication for the diarrhea but they are so young they have not even had a chance to decide to live yet. We will see.
John told me I was ‘insane’ for taking them. ( I threw breakfast pumpkins to the animals yesterday then drove at speed, at 6 in the morning, the 45 mins to the locker to pick them up.) Then later he said, well at least they will die warm.
While I drove to collect them my mother in law drove in the opposite direction to buy the milk. I will buy more today after the vet. But everything must be paced in between the two hour feeds.
The abattoir staff were incredibly grateful for me taking them. They had tried to keep the piglets in with the sow. But the whole thing was a disaster. They were so relieved at the rescue and horrified to have these tiny wee life forces born in the slaughter house waiting room. But the owner of this sow is damned in my opinion. Damned straight to hell.
I am unapologetic in my fury. He knew she was vastly pregnant – it is pretty hard to miss that udder.
So in between two hourly feeds I brought in all the hay myself. All 86 heavy bales. Fury is best put to work. My arms ache from the weight of these bales and I have stacked them loosely so I can keep a watch for any heating up.
Also the tree men came yesterday so now the big dead tree outside my bedroom window is gone and I am not quite sure what to do with all this light.
My tired sad self does not feel like so much light.
Feeding went well in the night. But I fear John’s prediction may well come true.
I feed these babies again in one hour so I had better get busy with the other farm animals.
I am being very careful with hand washing too. And Boo is not to visit with the babies until they recover. I have no idea what bacteria these wee animals brought back after their birth into the slaughter house gutters. But they were covered in it. They are clean and dry now though and warm and well fed and burrow deep into my dressing gown after their feeds like normal little orphans.
Love celi
Weather fine and clear! Of course. It would be, now that all the hay is under cover and the orphans are inside. They had a wet night.
C
The Kitchen's Garden 
80 responses to “A SAD TALE”
Poor little things. People can be completely heartless.
To each other and to animals / sad people
Sad tale for sure… Sure hope the babies make it. Take care of yourself Celi so that you don’t get sick as well.
Is it the tree house tree that was taken down? That was a wonderful tree, and such fun to watch through the changing seasons
a year or two ago.
No, though the tree house tree is dying – this one put the house in more imminent danger.
You are an angel for rescuing these two wee babies. Some people are simply heartless, but that farmer will get what he deserves one day😠
One would hope- I love you little angry face!
That farmer can go straight to hell and if I saw him I would snout him hard in the ankles. What an ass. I’m sorry but he is. I send prayers out for these little guys and know they are in great hands with you. Sending you bunches of hogs and snout kisses. XOXO – Bacon
Yes. Tell mum the good thing is they had 12 hours of colostrum/ it is a start anyway
OH how! How can people be so mean???? Thank you dear kind friend!
Yes!i was shocked when I heard his answer-
Insane or not, someone had to step up. All life is valuable. These two will know warmth and kindness no matter what. And the Universe shall take note. Thanks, Ci. For being there. (Sending warmth and encouraging energy from the Realm. Take care)
I completely agree with all you & the others above have said, philosophermouse. The Universe will bless you, Celi, & the Matriarch. And I hope John is deeply grateful for your kind heart & strong arms.
Yes please – send lots of healing energy towards these wee scraps
Such a sad tale indeed!! Poor babies… that is a bad man, not waiting for them to be born and taken care of… no heart at all.
Luckily you are there. As John said at least they are warm, dry and fed.
Take care C
Yes. And they are eating – they took to the bottle really fast. I was surprised!
what can one say.a) you have enough to do b) John is right, you are completely bonkers c) I’ll think of something in a minute but getting down to it ‘Woman you are a bloody marvel” What a brave fantastic thing to do..and the Matriach of course for going and getting the milk…. Those piglets may well die but at least will have known that for their short life somebody did care enough to try to help them to live. I truly believe you are an Angel!….Thank you for all the care that you give to your own animals and also to those who are less fortunate…If they do die, and I pray that they will not…then it will be because that is what God wanted. I hate abbatoirs..killing houses…..but the man whose sow it was should be ashamed of calling himself a human being..nasty uncaring piece of poo At least it got the bales in ….lots of love BG
This little abattoir is where I take my animals and they keep the yards really clean with water for the animals as they wait. The deed has to be done somewhere – the workers themselves were horrified. There is an irony there.
You’re amazing. Trusting these littles will thrive in yourcare
I do hope so – but the change of milk always causes problems
You are amazing, Celi. I have rescued song birds under the tutelage of a licensed rehabilitator, and it is difficult work timing the feeds every 45 minutes from sun up to sundown. I feel your pain. But also your determination. It is one thing for a wild animal baby to die to natural predation, but for a domestic animal to die from neglect is heartbreaking.
Do you treat with probiotics? I do that sometimes with babies that have runny stool. Good luck.
Hmm – should I add a little yoghurt? They are so tenuous at the moment
So heart wrenching. Bless you, and the wee pigs too.
Thank you for all you do Miss “C”! We need more farmers that truly care about their animals!
There are plenty like me too – I think his is why this was such a shock
Poor babies. It is indeed a bleak picture of the treatment too many of the animals we eat are given.
I’m so glad you are there. And that they knew to call you.
You do have a gift for the impossible rescue. I continue to be amazed about Wai. I hope they turn the corner and thrive. 🙂
Wai is indeed amazing
How heartbreaking. So glad they called you. The love and warmth from you and from your farm will give them strength. They sound like they have it in them to live if their bodies can do it. I’m hoping for the best outcome. I’m always grateful for your incredible kindness to all living things. And I love your sense of justice and fairness. Such a sad life that mother pig must have had. Keep us updated. I’ll be thinking about them and hoping all day!!!
I am awaiting a call from the vet- I will
Know more then
Good for you, whatever the outcome! You have done more than your bit; now it is for the fates to decide. It is also heartening to know that there is that spark of human kindness even in an abattoir.
There are many really decent young men who work there. Really good people who work hard.
WTF?! Sorry I don’t know the farmers situation but I am sure something better could have been done. The poor mother and babies. At least people at the abbatoir contacted you to try to save the little ones. Good luck with them!