Thank goodness for big old dog crates, they have so many uses, right now they are holding a three week old piglet, who now has the name of Beaker, you see while he is better in the sense of not being so hunched over, he is still struggling to go #2, he is just a touch down overall this morning, and while he did eat a little, he is not as fast as normal, got stepped on by Miss Piggy and he once again dug himself into the bedding within min of being up, while the rest of the litter had breakfast and played but then he started shivering in his bedding and that was the end of that..
I caught him and he is now set up in the house with infloor heating, lots of fresh hay bedding, and he will have a number of soft warm meals prepared for him, and I will be able to track his poo’s, I hope to have him back out an with the litter in 24 to 48 hours, faster is better as I don’t want Miss Piggy to lose the milk on his teat, because then he will need to be in for at least a full week till properly weaned and back to the litter he goes.
He is a very unhappy tike at the moment but I know that its the best thing we could have done for him was to bring him in and be able to give him full time care/watch, he is sure a grunty guy and as you can imagine the Black Goddess (who adores baby anything) is trying hard to make friends and guarding his crate from the rest of the hounds.
Just another Day on the Farm 
aw poor thing…good thing he has a good step mom 🙂
He is quite active and full of himself, so that is a very good sign, I just need him to have a couple good movements and all will be well..
Hope the heat mat helps his guts to relax and everything works out in the end…
The heat will be great for his tummy but also so that he can focus on healing, and not need to worry about keeping himself warm, the other piglets are fine in this way, so its not the pen/bedding or the barn, he was just him and it was the moment I knew he needed to come in.
Its a hard choice, in some ways taking him away from mom and her milk is a bad thing as its a stress, coming into the house, stress but at the same time, you hit that point that you have to make the call that the postives for coming in, outway’s the stress of the move.. Here is hoping that I made the right one..
Can pigs eat linseeds? Or maybe some psylium? I’m sure you must have the latter growing somewhere. That stuff is everywhere.
Hi Marie
Its safer to cook him a mash with sweet potato, carrot, turnip or potato or a mix of, then add in some active cultured yogurt, (which is easier on his system then milk would be) and chop up a hard boiled egg with ground shell into it.. its a very safe, well rounded meal, its warm, mushy and he will eat it, plus it allows me to get extra fluids into him while eating..
I should explain that if he was older, he would be more interested or willing to try different things, but because he is still so young, and while he is eatin, he is off his feed just a bit so I want to make a dish that I know that he will be pighappy for..
According to this, Marie may have a good point and it IS everywhere – I never even realised what I’ve been waging war with until now – won’t be just pulling willy-nilly anymore (from now on, this is going into the harvest basket: )
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Plantago+ovata
You sure you can’t try just a teeny-tiny bit of seed mixed in with his favourites? (It sounds like it might be just the ticket for what ails him)
I would be willing to add it in a day or two but not right now, I want to cool his system, add in fluid and use things that I know will provide fiber to coat, what I am pretty sure is a very minor wood chip blockage, I don’t want to push it though, I want to coat it around and let him work it out naturally..
Exactly… From the description, psyllium is all mucilage….
Thanks for the tip Marie!
(See link below: )