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.