Handle With Care

I've mentioned a few times now how many sick pigs we have had lately. They have been getting sick/hurt for numerous reasons varying from old age to having a hard time recovering from surgery. I want people to know all that goes into caring for a sick pig. It's much like caring for any other sick animal, but often they can be very wild, heavy, hard to handle, etc. You have to be careful to make sure you are helping and not causing more harm.

Meet Sylvia.It was noticed a couple of weeks ago that there were tears between both of her back hooves. She was walking on her tips and we could see the redness. Sylvia needed to be flipped in order for us to examine and care for her hooves. Mary was able to clean both spots and then wrapped up Sylvia's feet. This will keep her from getting an infection and help them heal. As days would go by the wraps would come off and we would rewrap them as needed. Sylvia has been healing well and should be able to be without wraps soon.

Other than wrapping pigs' feet we also do things such as taking temperatures, giving injections(subcutaneously and intramuscular), syringing fluid/medication into mouths, doctoring wounds from fights, giving fluids subcutaneously, and so much more! We never know what we will find day to day.

We spend a lot of time making sure that the pigs here are healthy and comfortable. If the pig is very wild then we have to be clever about how we help them. It can take a lot of manpower in order to help some of them, but we are always willing to do whatever it takes. This includes splitting up night checks for the very sick pigs and working more than 12 hours a day at times. We do all of this without complaining because we love all these pigs so much!