farm life: pigs

over the last two weeks i've been paying close attention to miss avocado.

i have ruled out colic and figured out the reason her tummy is so tight is due to holding her weight forward in attempts to keep it off her back legs. her joints are inflamed and tender. i have been using essential oils in hopes of keeping the swelling down and minimizing pain. additionally i have been feeding them comfrey leaves. with  the help of a guy from the permies forum pointing me in the direction of bacterial infections, i spent a lot of time searching through possible causes. the one that fit her symptoms the best i could tell was rickets.

yesterday, julie clifford, a neighbor down the road stopped in the store. i recalled she mentioned raising pigs once and i chatted her up. she has been raising pigs for 4 years now and i asked if she would be willing to look at avocado with me. after looking at her, she suggested we see if the build up around her joints might be puss. we had a needle on hand from tending to a sick goat last year, so we gave it a go with miss avocado. no puss. julie highly recommended i call a vet since i haven't seen any improvements. i called a large animal vet she uses. leaving a message for the vet, i was grateful when he called me back shortly. explaining what avocado's condition was, he said it was a bacterial infection especially since it was affecting multiple joints. we discussed antibiotics that i could use since she is being raised for meat. the one he suggested was by prescription and i asked him if he could fill it for me. an hour later i drove down to springville to pick it up.

originally i was hoping to raise them antibiotic free, but considering the pain she has been in and with no improvements on the horizon i wanted to make sure she was comfortable and healthy. i can't even imagine the discomfort she would continue being in as she grew and put on weight. being in charge of these pigs welfare and being a steward over them, i'm quickly learning it is important to take care of them in every aspect.

with the help of chase, i was able to give her the antibiotic. have you ever heard the term 'screaming like a stuck pig'?? well that phrase has actual meaning to me now. it was a mini adventure and with the squirming of her and pulling the needle out mid-injection i learned 2 valuable lessons. 1) leave the needle, because i almost stuck chase in that moment. 2) giving shots to dogs is dramatically smoother than giving them to pigs....
gratefully neither chase or i ended up with a needle in us. miss avocado had to been given the shot twice. her injection site was bruised when i went back later yesterday evening to check on her. with a bucket of watermelons and asian pears i went to sit with both of them and try to make friends.

julie was telling me how important it is to handle them and love on them. you want your pigs familiar to your touch and interaction with you. miss avocado has been warming up to me over the last two weeks and enjoys a good ear scratch. however, einstein hasn't warmed up to me quite yet. with a fresh batch of straw for their pen, i sat down with them and hand feed them the asian pears. this is probably been one of my favorite moments yet with them.