Story of the lost newborn piglet . . . I was very excited when I found Elsbeth with a new litter of piglets. Wow, five tiny colorful cuties! They were all lined up nursing and seemed content. They are a bit premie being born 4-5 days early. I took my son to school and several hours later, I was admiring the piglets again and heard a squeaky noise behind Elsbeth. I was very surprised to find piglet number six somewhat squished behind his great big mom. Apparently he had crawled behind his mom instead of to the milk bar where he was meant to go. He had been there for hours and was very cold and still partially in his birth sack and had his head and neck bent to the side. I quickly got him nestled in with his siblings and under a heat light but he was too cold and bent from being cramped up and didnt have interest in nursing. I wrapped him a towel and took him inside for some preemie intensive TLC. As I warmed his bottle of Nigerian goat colosturm with a touch of corn syrup, I tried to blow dry him to warm him up. He immediately seemed to wake up and I couldnt keep him in the stream of blow dryer warmth; he kept escaping from his towel and wandering off. After a taste from the bottle, he was really active and excited and drank a belly full. I warmed him a bit more and took him back to join his family. Now, a day later, he is the explorer of the litter and is often the only one trotting around the pen. This little spotted fellow just stole my heart with his spunk and personality but he also worries me because life is much safer for him if he spends more time in the piglet heap. Notice how tiny he is compared to his mama Elsbeth. I keep saying prayers that they survive these first critical days when they are so tiny and fragile. Have a great day! I will be in the barn a lot these next few days. :)
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 20:51:26 +0000
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