Post by Christine on Dec 9, 2007 6:00:28 GMT -5
Hi All:
Last evening, I drove an hour south of my home, meeting up with the "pig lady". I met this person on Match.Com (an online dating service) of all places. We never hooked up for a date, but since she's "seriously horsey", we've talked a lot by phone and email.
Anyway, I picked up Winston who was sleeping in a cardboard box, and trucked him home without incident. My friend told me that he was eating well, was rejecting any sort of milk replacer, and was producing waste at a pretty good clip. She suggested that keeping him in a doggie crate might be messy, smelly, and not good for the animal.
So, after arriving home, and putting the box in the bathroom (just in case he decided to escape), I dragged the 12 foot by 6 foot doggie kennel into the heated garage, put down some rubber dairy mates, two bales of shavings and a bale of hay, and released Winston into his new home. He was shaking either from anxiety or cold, so I set up the doggie crate as a dog house, and filled it with hay, the old bathrobe that my friend included in the box, a couple of horse blankets from the animal lover across the street, and covered it with another blanket to keep the heat in. Air temperature in the garage was around 45 deg F, so I figured that he would do fine without heat. I set out a rubber pan of water, and a pan of pig food. I set up a radio playing classical music, and spent an hour of time with the little guy, trying to make him feel welcome. He let me scratch him behind the ears most of the time, and although he was leery of me, he ate, peed, and explored the pen. I put some doggie toys into the pen, and he actually played around with some of them while I was there.
This morning, I went down to check on the guy,and discovered that pigs are indeed very bright creatures. He had entered the dog house, had burrowed underneath the horse blankets, and was completely wrapped inside. His little nose was sticking out, and he was soundly sleeping inside his little house. Snug as a pig in a rug! I decided to let him sleep, so I turned out the light, and headed back upstairs.
Once he's comfortable around people, I hope to introduce him to the shelties, who I'm sure will have a ball with him. This morning though, I'm going to make him some oatmeal in warm milk. At least this is one pig that won't end up in a snake's belly.
As usual, it's slightly daunting thinking about the responsibility of keeping this guy healthy and alive, and facing another steep learning curve. Knowing that there are other pig lovers out there just a keyboard click away helps immeasurably.
Oink!
Kip
I promise I'll post pictures this morning.
Last evening, I drove an hour south of my home, meeting up with the "pig lady". I met this person on Match.Com (an online dating service) of all places. We never hooked up for a date, but since she's "seriously horsey", we've talked a lot by phone and email.
Anyway, I picked up Winston who was sleeping in a cardboard box, and trucked him home without incident. My friend told me that he was eating well, was rejecting any sort of milk replacer, and was producing waste at a pretty good clip. She suggested that keeping him in a doggie crate might be messy, smelly, and not good for the animal.
So, after arriving home, and putting the box in the bathroom (just in case he decided to escape), I dragged the 12 foot by 6 foot doggie kennel into the heated garage, put down some rubber dairy mates, two bales of shavings and a bale of hay, and released Winston into his new home. He was shaking either from anxiety or cold, so I set up the doggie crate as a dog house, and filled it with hay, the old bathrobe that my friend included in the box, a couple of horse blankets from the animal lover across the street, and covered it with another blanket to keep the heat in. Air temperature in the garage was around 45 deg F, so I figured that he would do fine without heat. I set out a rubber pan of water, and a pan of pig food. I set up a radio playing classical music, and spent an hour of time with the little guy, trying to make him feel welcome. He let me scratch him behind the ears most of the time, and although he was leery of me, he ate, peed, and explored the pen. I put some doggie toys into the pen, and he actually played around with some of them while I was there.
This morning, I went down to check on the guy,and discovered that pigs are indeed very bright creatures. He had entered the dog house, had burrowed underneath the horse blankets, and was completely wrapped inside. His little nose was sticking out, and he was soundly sleeping inside his little house. Snug as a pig in a rug! I decided to let him sleep, so I turned out the light, and headed back upstairs.
Once he's comfortable around people, I hope to introduce him to the shelties, who I'm sure will have a ball with him. This morning though, I'm going to make him some oatmeal in warm milk. At least this is one pig that won't end up in a snake's belly.
As usual, it's slightly daunting thinking about the responsibility of keeping this guy healthy and alive, and facing another steep learning curve. Knowing that there are other pig lovers out there just a keyboard click away helps immeasurably.
Oink!
Kip
I promise I'll post pictures this morning.
