Post by catherine on May 16, 2010 5:02:26 GMT -5
Well, as some of you may remember, Melissa's sow delivered 11 babies, but didn't seem to make any milk...perhaps not even colostrum. She found the babies dying one by one, and the survivors were trying to drink out of mud puddles. Her poor DH was about beside himself as they both work and he couldn't stand watching them die when they couldn't be there to help them. Melissa yodeled for help and the kids and I ran and collected the 5 remaining babies and have been bottle feeding them since.
Our Jersey, Elsie, just calved a handsome little bull, so we had plenty of fresh cow colostrum on hand, and then segued them over onto pure cow's milk. The babies seemed to be doing fine. Recently we've begun adding in beaten egg yolks, and some oatmeal fortified with iron, in an attempt to help them go longer between feeds, and to provide some extra protein, fat and roughage. They've been going out on grass and dirt daily. There was one little girl who seemed to have a sore leg and limped. Then she looked fuzzy, apparently indicating a fever, and finally went down in a shivering huddle, but she never lost her appetite. We kept her in under their lamp, and gave her dirt in their box. She's recovered fully.
Well, NOW the little boy is down. He was the biggest and strongest of the lot. We'd been taking the babies down to the pig paddock and they'd been playing with the three older litters, and hanging out with the older pigs, but hadn't been "taken home to dinner and adopted" by any of our three Momma pigs like we'd hoped. We were leaving them with the herd during the warm part of the afternoons for the last few days, and bringing them inside as the evenings cooled down, so they could have some good feeds and sleep warm under their heat lamp. Then my son and I came down with a bad cold or the flu...fever, sinus pressure, sore throat, lung crud. We both tried to stay away from the piggies, and in fact have scarcely left our beds in the last few days, but this is a small house. The little boar seemed to become lethargic, like we were, and apparently became increasingly disinterested in food, like we were. My daughter and DH were trying to keep up with everything else about the house and farm going alone, and didn't quite know what to do. In my sick haze, I suggested that they keep fluids going into him, and collapsed into sleep again. I finally recovered enough today to realize that I'm better and he's worse. After seeing and hearing him struggle for breathe, I suspect that whatever he has has gone into pneumonia, so I gave him a shot of penicillin this morning. I've held this little guy on an incline in my lap all day, as he seemed to breathe much easier with me holding him. I really thought that a day of penicillin working in him would see him feeling much better this evening. But if anything, he's gone down hill. I've been squirting milk into his mouth, and he's still peeing small amounts, but he can't hold his head up now and he's drooling out most of what I squirt into his mouth, swallowing very little. The penicillin bottle says to dose every 24 hours (OMG...is that print small or what?!?), so he's not due another shot until morning. His breathing is a struggle, his eyes were crusted shut (I soaked them open), and he's not moving on his own much at all any more. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do for this poor little guy at 5 am on a Sunday morning? Mind you, after a good sleep, he may still make a turn around, but the longer this goes, the more concerned I am.
Our Jersey, Elsie, just calved a handsome little bull, so we had plenty of fresh cow colostrum on hand, and then segued them over onto pure cow's milk. The babies seemed to be doing fine. Recently we've begun adding in beaten egg yolks, and some oatmeal fortified with iron, in an attempt to help them go longer between feeds, and to provide some extra protein, fat and roughage. They've been going out on grass and dirt daily. There was one little girl who seemed to have a sore leg and limped. Then she looked fuzzy, apparently indicating a fever, and finally went down in a shivering huddle, but she never lost her appetite. We kept her in under their lamp, and gave her dirt in their box. She's recovered fully.
Well, NOW the little boy is down. He was the biggest and strongest of the lot. We'd been taking the babies down to the pig paddock and they'd been playing with the three older litters, and hanging out with the older pigs, but hadn't been "taken home to dinner and adopted" by any of our three Momma pigs like we'd hoped. We were leaving them with the herd during the warm part of the afternoons for the last few days, and bringing them inside as the evenings cooled down, so they could have some good feeds and sleep warm under their heat lamp. Then my son and I came down with a bad cold or the flu...fever, sinus pressure, sore throat, lung crud. We both tried to stay away from the piggies, and in fact have scarcely left our beds in the last few days, but this is a small house. The little boar seemed to become lethargic, like we were, and apparently became increasingly disinterested in food, like we were. My daughter and DH were trying to keep up with everything else about the house and farm going alone, and didn't quite know what to do. In my sick haze, I suggested that they keep fluids going into him, and collapsed into sleep again. I finally recovered enough today to realize that I'm better and he's worse. After seeing and hearing him struggle for breathe, I suspect that whatever he has has gone into pneumonia, so I gave him a shot of penicillin this morning. I've held this little guy on an incline in my lap all day, as he seemed to breathe much easier with me holding him. I really thought that a day of penicillin working in him would see him feeling much better this evening. But if anything, he's gone down hill. I've been squirting milk into his mouth, and he's still peeing small amounts, but he can't hold his head up now and he's drooling out most of what I squirt into his mouth, swallowing very little. The penicillin bottle says to dose every 24 hours (OMG...is that print small or what?!?), so he's not due another shot until morning. His breathing is a struggle, his eyes were crusted shut (I soaked them open), and he's not moving on his own much at all any more. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do for this poor little guy at 5 am on a Sunday morning? Mind you, after a good sleep, he may still make a turn around, but the longer this goes, the more concerned I am.
I've got no clue. I don't know if this guy has/had pneumonia, navel ill, or what, and I have no idea what either of those issues would have to do with paralysis. He was a fine, big, completely normal boar piglet until he suddenly went down. Ideas?
(hint hint) HA
