Winter Weather

As the cool air is refreshing it is hard on a lot of our pigs, especially the very young and the very old. Most of you have at least heard about Boris from me. He has graced this blog in pictures and was the star of the Christmas card I made (pictures coming soon). He is 15 years old.

This morning he was found laying in his shelter with only his nose covered by his blankets. Boris is known at Ironwood for shredding his blankets and covering himself with them. So to not have his blankets on him was not normal. Boris is also notorious for jumping and yellingin the morning as he is a very hungry boy! He just layed in his shelter and wouldn't move. He was breathing, but was very cold and uninterested in any form of food. His temperature was 95 degrees.

He is currently in my house so I can keep an eye on him and so that he will be warm tonight. I'm keeping him hydrated and he has eaten a few bites of different foods. I'll be checking on him and providing blankets as needed.

Now, Boris is not the first pig we've had this kind of issue with this year. We've had to move some pigs around and put heat lamps on a few as well. When it rained we even had to use tarps on and under pigs to keep them dry. Some of them don't try to protect themselves in their old age, so we try for them.

Just a Normal Day

Today I woke up early with the pugs to get the special foods ready. First we went outside and I enjoyed the amazing sky. After all the foods were made I then headed out to AL(assisted living) to feed. As I'm in the barn I hear a loud crashing noise on the side of the barn. Startled, I run outside to find two pigs fighting and they had crashed into the side of the barn breaking a water pipe, so now water was squirting all over. After I broke up the fight I informed my boss of the broken pipe. I then went about feeding as normal.

I had fed all of the pigs in AL and was heading out of the barn when I noticed Howie flailing around with his mouth open. He was having a seizure. He is on phenobarb and hasn't had a seizure in quite a while that we know about.

Howie was heading for a cactus so I stood over him, one leg on each side, and held him a bit to keep him from harm. He flailed a little more and finally came out of it. He stood a little dazed so I stayed over him and comforted him. After he was stable I fed him and gave him his med. He then layed down so I covered him with a blanket to keep him warm. I checked on him periodically during the rest of feeding and he seemed to be resting.

Just a normal day.

Day 1 of Recovery

Winnie and Vivian are doing just great today! Both are eating well and up and about. Peaches is doing well too. Walking around and eating well. Ellie is the only one who isn't having a good recovery. Today she would barely get up, didn't eat anything, has been throwing up and has very dark urine. She had some fluids and is in bed now. Tomorrow she may need IV fluids and may even need to be taken to the vet. We will be checking on her through the night. Please send good thoughts for Ellie! I will update tomorrow on how she is doing.

Also, we have 4 new pigs. One is a boar, he is restless and adorable. The other 3 are super sweet. There is a larger female and then 2 little ones. From what I know the two little ones are from Pennsylvania. The larger female is a love bug.

We had an adoption tour today and the two new little ones may be getting adopted, hoorah! If not them then it will probably be one of the Peoria pigs, George.

Pictures soon!





***UPDATE ON ELLIE!
Ellie took some time but has recovered well! She is back to eating well and running around with her pal Peaches. Thanks to all who sent kind words!

Spay Day!

Four of our girls were spayed today. Sisters Winnie and Vivian and my ladies Ellie and Peaches, hooray!!
The pictures show Ellie and Peaches. I wanted to also show how good Ellie looks.

Ellie lost a lot of blood during the surgery but is doing just fine and getting rest. They all did well and none of them had any tumors or anything. Normally when we take pigs in for spays they have tumors or something going on with their uterus, so this was a new record for us.

Please spay and neuter your pets :)

My Buddy and Me

We at Ironwood all have our favorite pigs. Yes we love each and every pig here, but there are those ones that just steal your heart and you have to stop to show them love every time you see them. Frank has become one of those pigs for me. He lives in the North field. He is a big boy so he looks intimidating but he is very sweet. Every time I go into North I call his name and he comes over for some attention.

Lately Frank has been getting into fights. One morning we found him with his ear torn. A couple days ago I found him after yet another fight with the same ear torn even worse. Frank knew he needed medical attention and followed me into the sick bay pen. We cleaned up his ear and applied antibiotic cream. He is now on antibiotics and has been staying in the pen for a few days as he heals. I visit him every night with a treat and give him extra attention.

White Beauty

Penelope comes from a very loving home here in Arizona. Unfortunately, her family had to move and could no longer keep her with them. They decided to have Ironwood be her new home. They love and miss her very much. The whole family comes to visit her often. She runs to them like a puppy when they arrive.

She is one of the sweetest pigs I've met. Penelope loves to sunbathe and get lots of attention and belly rubs, and she gets plenty of all of those things here!

When she was integrated into one of the fields she claimed her shelter quickly and is in it every night. She loves to cuddle up in her blankets and wait to be called for breakfast.

Oh Wilbur

Wilbur lives at the Annex, which is not far from Ironwood and holds some of Mary's pigs. He has been staying with us recently so that Mary can take him in for surgery for his cancer sores. Wilbur has already had surgery for some sores back in 2007 but he has many more now and some are quite severe and painful. We've been applying a cream mix daily to soothe them but you can still see his pain.

This morning he went in for surgery. All sores were cut off and the skin was cauterized. The pictures shown of him are after he returned from surgery so that is why they look so harsh. He will be returning to the Annex soon but I will try to get healing pictures before he does. He is a VERY sweet and gentle boy who is deaf and mostly blind. I hope his pain is decreased soon.

Serendipity

Serendipity is our newest pig. She comes from Bullhead City. She was initially found as a stray wandering by the river. A woman had noticed her once while she was out walking her dogs. When out on another walk at least a week later the woman noticed that the pig was still hanging out by the river. Realizing the pig couldn't survive on her own and didn't have a home this nice woman took her in. Soon after a man stated that he would like to adopt her and take care of her. However, it was found the the pig was left in the garage while the man was gone for long periods of time and was not having the life she deserves. The woman took the pig back, naming her Serendipity.

The woman notified Ironwood and Mary gladly took Serendipity. She is now living in our pens while she acclimates. She is very shy and cannot see well, if much at all. She doesn't seem to have any health issues at this time other than needing to lose a little weight. The future is looking good for Serendipity.

Feeling the Heat

Ellie and Peaches will not be getting spayed tomorrow as previously planned. Ellie is in heat so it is a no go. They will be scheduled for the next round.

The upside to this? Ellie is absolutely hilarious when she is in heat. She playfully chases everyone and appears between your knees to knibble. She chased one worker to the visitor center and waited at the bottom of the stairs for her to come out. I've laughed so much today just because of Ellie. So Ellie, thank you for being you.

Sally is another one of our gals that is currently in heat. She was found getting up on her back feet to push dogloos around. Producutive girl.

She's Come a Long Way

Ellie, as you know, came to us with Peaches. They've both been attacked by dogs numerous times and Ellie came to us with fresh wounds. It has been quite the process but Ellie has done enormously well and looks great!
















I've grown close to both her and Peaches. I make sure to see them daily and give them belly rubs. I call Ellie "Ellie Belly". They are a couple of great gals. They are scheduled to be spayed on Monday, so long as Ellie is not in heat. After healing from that we will try to integrate them into one of the fields.

Pigs in Blankets!

That's right, pigs at Ironwood are currently cuddled up in blankets. We received a shipment of around 1,000 blankets this morning from Las Vegas. Now, as we didn't pay for the blankets, we paid to get them here. They are large comforters that appear to be from a hotel. The temperatures have been dropping so we are definitely lucky to have recieved these when we did!

After feeding was done we spent a couple hours placing them in the many shelters in our fields. Some pigs immediately went in to warm up while some others let up cover them up and tuck them in. They are all very grateful! A big thank you to all who also donated blankets! It's really great to see animals who have had rough lives be able to sleep comfortably and warm. As you can see, my boy Boris really likes to get tangled up in his blankets.

Pumpkin

Every year Ironwood gets donations of leftover pumpkins. This year we didn't get quite as many as last year, but definitely enough to go around! Pigs love to eat the guts, seeds and the rind. We take the pumpkins out to various fields and break them to pieces for all to enjoy. Once the first pumpkin hits the ground all the pigs come running because they know the goodness that lies ahead.

Viejo and Harriet are of my favorite pigs here. Both of them had a good time with the pumpkins.

Healing

Ellie has been healing very well! Her stitches are about ready to come out and her wounds are healing without infection. Lately all we have been doing for her is cleaning up her wounds and applying hydrocortisone and some antibiotic ointment as well as cleaning out her open ear canal. She usually falls over for a belly rub when we clean her up, it just feels so good!

We have tried putting her back with her pal Peaches with no success. Peaches is too aggressive right now and can upset Ellie's wounds. They both still need to be spayed so that is not helping. They will each be spayed but in the meantime they are still staying in separate pens. Both get lots of love and attention :)

Dinosaurs

Viejo is easily one of our older pigs. Just from looking at him you can see that he has put in his years. He lives in East field with his family. The pigs in East come from the Annex. The Annex is located near Ironwood but is much smaller.

One night years ago a man dropped his pig off over the fence at the Annex without telling anyone. This pig was not neutered and was able to impregnate approximately 25 female pigs. Those females, the males that were there and the pigs that came as a product of that man's pig are now all residing in East.

Viejo is incredibly sweet and adorable. He's lost weight over the last few months and a couple of weeks ago we noticed him acting a little off and looking a bit red. We've been keeping him in a large pen in the East field so we can monitor him. He also now gets a special food in the mornings topped with a shake for added nutrition. He sure loves his breakfast!

The shakes are not only a good way for us to add nutrition to a pig's diet but they are also good for pigs who are having a hard time eating. The other pig that currently receives a shake has a bone infection in his jaw. As you can imagine it is very painful for him to chew so he gets soft food with a shake which is much easier for him to eat.

Oh Baby

Baby came to Ironwood about 3 years ago. She was under the care of a woman in Arizona when she became ill. The veterinarian that she saw wasn't of much help. Her mom then contacted Mary here at Ironwood seeking advice. Baby was able to see the vet that was helping at Ironwood at the time. Baby was taken care of as best as possible and also ended up being spayed. At the time Baby's mom thought that she would be moving out of state so Baby was moved to Ironwood.

Baby was very overweight to the extent where she ended up walking on her sutures from her surgery and tore them open. Baby had to be stapled and cleaned up. Baby did eventually lose weight but her health never seemed so great. She then developed some pretty harsh cancer sores which you can see are covering her side. She loves her wallow and the sores get very dirty and painful. We clean them daily and cover her with swat but they are still bad.

Lately she's seemed to be going downhill. Tressie, another worker here, and I tried to bathe her yesterday but she can hardly walk. She is very lame and walking is painful. We couldn't get her far and didn't want to make her walk any further. We gave her a mini sponge bath and let her go back to her pen.

As her quality of life has seemed to decrease so much lately and everything just seems too much for her it was decided that it would be best to "put her down".Today Mary was preparing to do so but Baby would not have anything to do with it. She screamed and tossed her head when she tried to apply the mask. Baby was not ready! When a pig is in their last days they normally do not put up this much of a fight. Mary withdrew.

Our plan is to keep her as comfortable as possible, as we were, and watch her. It's always preferred that an animal passes on their own but when they're suffering we can't let them lay in pain. I will update on Baby as more happens. For now, she lays with her blanket and gets extra treats.

Pigs and Pugs

People have been asking how the pugs are doing since the move to Ironwood. If they like the pigs and such. I have to say, the pugs are doing well! They love going to see the pigs. It's become a routine now. I take them to see Doris in Sunset field then they run around the exercise yard.

Doris normally does not like dogs. She has her moments with the pugs, but I think seeing them as often as she does has made her possibly like them a little. Doris has kind of a pug face, and Lady can sound like a pig, so I feel it's a good match. Every time we get to the field I call for Doris and she comes to say hello.

The pugs enjoy going on walks here in the desert as well. They each have had their share of cactus in the paw and Lady tried to eat a tarantula. There is quite a bit for them to learn out here but they are doing well. It will only get better from here :)

Ellie and Pokey Updates!

I believe when I last posted on Pokey he still had his catheter in. It actually came out on its own, which we were all okay with. However, this meant we wouldn't be able to flush it out anymore and know if more goop needed to come out. He is still on antibiotics and we watch and wipe his eye daily. It has been looking good. Dr. Page looked at him Monday and agreed that he looked good.

While he looks good now we need to continuously watch his eye to make sure everything stays okay. There may still be a fair amount of infection going on behind his eye and elsewhere. We will continue antibiotics and take it from there.




Ellie is another story. Dr. Page saw her on Monday and requested that we bring her in today so that she can fix her up. Ellie went downhill quickly after her arrival here. Her attached ear started looking awful and wherever she had sutures her skin was coming off and infection was everywhere. You could hear the fluid and mush when she would shake her head and holes were forming.

After seeing Dr. Page today Ellie looks so much better! It may not seem that way but having it this way will help her heal very quickly. All of the skin that was coming off was taken off completely. Her right ear actually still had bloodflow and she can still hear out of it, so Dr. Page attached it more to the side of her head. Before it was barely attached and infection was spreading. You can see that there was a large amount of damage where her left ear was. She is being kept in a separate pen now with carpets on the ground to keep dirt from the raw areas. I'm sure she misses her pal Peaches. She is still playful and friendly. Ellie is a real trooper!!

Feeding Time!

Everyone seems to know that pigs are very intelligent. They are also very prone to sticking to their schedule. They are quick to learn a routine and are able to follow it daily. The first fields we head out to feed in the mornings are Sunset and Peoria. As we make our way the pigs anxiously run and bark to meet us at the gate. I love this. The pigs in the other fields are antsy as well but they don't seem as antsy as Sunset and Peoria for some reason.

We have troughs and bowls in every field. Some pigs will eat out of both while others prefer one or the other.

I did not work today and was able to get some pictures and video of feeding time. The picture to the left is in Main. I can feed in this field but don't know too many of the pigs here yet. We carry buckets full of grain and dump about 3 cups into each trough. Bowls generally get 1 cup each unless it is a bowl in a feeding pen, then it is individualized.

The picture to the right shows the pigs in Main that eat in pens. Pigs eat in pens for different reasons. The usual reasons are that they are either too shy and won't get enough grain if they eat in the field or they are too pushy in the field. Each pen has a shade screen over it and a water and food bowl. After the field is fed someone is in charge of staying back and letting all of the pigs out. Once feeding is completely done for the morning 2 people do a walk around of all of the fields to ensure that all pigs have been let out and none are stuck.

The picture shown here to the left shows some of the pigs in Northwest. These lovelies are waiting for their medications. The pigs that receive medications will usually be waiting at the fence. Some may sit, get on their hind legs or just push at you until they get their med. The video here shows a couple receiving their meds, George is the big guy.

It's the Ironwood Roller Coaster

The ups and downs with the pigs here are more wild than any roller coaster I've been on. Ellie is one of the girls who came to us from the dog/cat rescue. As I mentioned before she was mauled by dogs days before she came to us. She lost one ear and the other was stitched on as best as possible.

The first couple of days she looked like she was healing well. No signs of infections and all sutures were fine. Today she is a mess. All areas that had been sutured are opening, skin is hanging, she is red and puffy and is constantly shaking her head. When she shakes her head you can hear fluid move around, definitely not good.

She is rubbing her head on anything she can. We just noticed that she also has sutures in her back, right leg. We hadn't noticed before as there weren't any signs of problems back there, but today they are red and the skin is opening. I'm thinking that her ear should not have been attached and may need to come off. She will be seen on Monday by Dr. Page. Until then we are giving her antibiotics and some benadryl to calm her down to keep her from rubbing so much.

To top things off, both Ellie and Peaches are in heat as they were never spayed. Aye!

Please keep Ellie in your thoughts. Having this much infection going on in her head is not okay. She is still very sweet and friendly despite all that she has been through and is going through. I will update with the next steps we will take after Dr. Page sees her.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I've had a few people ask me what we do with our loved pigs once they pass away. Well, we bury them. We have a few cemeteries here and will keep adding as necessary. Jerri, one of the workers, has been helping with digging new graves and buried our Chester. Each pig will have a temporary stake placed until a nicer one is made.

Welcome Home

The reasons pigs come to Ironwood vary. Some were abused, some neglected, some were even strays and other times we take pigs off the hands of breeders. Ellie and Peaches came to us from a dog/cat rescue. Ellie and Peaches had lived at this rescue for a couple of years but have been attacked by the dogs numerous times. Ellie was attacked very badly last week. She lost one ear and the other was still attached enough to remain with some stitches.

Both of these girls are still very happy and friendly. Ellie went straight for the hay on her first night.

The girls seem to be doing well so far and love getting attention. When I was visiting with them yesterday the babies came over to say hello. Peaches was more than happy to say hello back to them.

I think that Ellie and Peaches are going to be very happy here. Ellie seems to be healing well from her recent attack. These two are currently kept together in a large pen next to the babies as they get acclimated to their new home.

Not Without a Fight

This morning at 7:15am Chester was put to rest.

He will be greatly missed not only by his pig family but his human family as well. Take it easy pal.

Time Will Tell

Today has been a sad day. It was actually a really nice, calm, cool weathered day until 12:45pm.

Around 12:30 we tended to Chester's cheek. I posted earlier about his abscess and the current gauze inserted in his cheek. We were able to pull the rest out and flush it out a little. He has quite an infection going on in there. I must add, Chester is very wild. He is hard to handle for medical issues and charges and jumps a lot. We didn't work on him long today as he was very jumpy and upset and we don't like to stress out any of the pigs.

Today he must have jumped too much. About fifteen minutes afer we dealt with his cheek he let out an horrific scream. I ran to his pen and saw him thrashing about. When I reached him I saw him on his elbows dragging himself around in a panic. His back half had given out, appearing paralyzed. I called for Ben, Mary and whoever else could come quick. Chester calmed down enough for Mary to inject some dexamethasone, a steroid.

The only thing we can figure is that he injured his back at some point while jumping. At this time his temperature is dropping and it looks like he may be going into shock. We will be watching him throughout the night. He may not make it through this. As I also said in my previous post, Chester is one of the first pigs that I met here. I will update tomorrow with the outcome.

Something positive did happen late this afternoon. Two pigs were brought in that need a safe home. Peaches and Ellie. They had been living at a dog/cat rescue in small pens. Both have been attacked by dogs in the past and one had been attacked a couple of days ago and almost didn't make it. Now, both are here, safe and happy. They are very sweet and friendly. I will post pictures of them soon.

Pig Fights

If you've ever seen a dog fight then you have an idea as to wha a pig fight can be like. So far I feel that pig fights are easier to break up. However, if no one is around to break up the fight the pigs can get injured pretty badly, just as in a dog fight.

This morning as I was feeding East field I noticed that Scoundrel's left ear was torn and bloody. Scoundrel is probably the smallest pig in East. He's pretty skiddish and shy with people and loves to eat. His ear was still bleeding a bit so the fight must have happened early this morning.

Tim, another worker, and I got Scoundrel cornered in his feeding pen so that we could clean and tend to his ear. It had been ripped straight through and half of the backside was torn off. We were able to clean it, put on antibiotic ointment and top it off with some swat. Swat is a fly ointment used to keep flies off of wounds. It just so happens the kind we used was bright pink, so that is what you see in the pictures. Scoundrel is now also on antibiotics and will need to be monitored to ensure his ear heals well.