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.