New pig a week ago.
Three weeks ago Saturday, I traveled down to the Snohomish Valley to check out a Berkshire gilt. I'd decided to invest in a new gilt and I wanted her to be a heritage breed, but not a Large Black Hog. In other words, I wanted to try to do some heritage cross-breeding. The farm that I was visiting seemed legit from the e-mails I'd exchanged with the farmer, and he had a good reason to be getting rid of a full-grown gilt. The price was right, so I figured it was worth a look. I rented a trailer and headed on down.
Things were okay at the visit. The farm was a little ramshackle, but the pigs seemed to be in good health. I did a thorough check of the gilt I was interested in, and she looked fine. I agreed to buy her....and then we spent a good deal of time trying to load her into the trailer. Unfortunately, this farmer didn't have a good system for loading pigs--you need a narrow chute that is tall enough and strong enough that you can push a pig from behind. It didn't help that he had to catch up some younger pigs for a different buyer just minutes before I came. After about an an hour and a half, with the gilt exhausted and approaching dangerous heat levels, I said that it wasn't going to work out and I was ready to leave. He said he's deliver her for me for free the next week, and I figured that would be just as good. I agreed, but a part of me thought that perhaps I should have just cut my losses and backed out of the deal.
A week later the farmer arrives with the pig, and we get her easily loaded into a barn stall that I use for loading and unloading. She was understandably stressed, but otherwise looked fine. Money exchanged, deal done. I observed her overnight to make sure there were no emergent signs of disease, and led her out into the main pasture area the next day. She had been getting a diet of bagels, soaked whole barley, and commercial feed, and she didn't seem to have much interest in my feed. She was super excited for some of the barley that I had grown last year, so I used that as my lure to get her into the pasture. I figured I would gradually introduce her to the other pigs (the boar is in a separate area right now) to make sure everyone got adjusted slowly. She was very nervous of the other pigs at first, and I had to use feed as a lure to get her to go close. After a few days, I let them meet each other and was surprised to find the voracity at which the old pigs tried to run off the new pig. Anytime she got close, they would nip at her butt until she ran away. I was a little surprised, but figured this behavior would go away after they worked out their oinking order. Unfortunately, a week later, it hadn't, and to make matters worse, she was limping.
I took a look at one of her front hoofs, and noticed a horizontal crack. She was moving around okay, and I figured I would keep an eye on it and go from there. By yesterday, things had gotten worse. The hoof had broken off below the crack, and I noticed more of her hooves were cracked. This morning, she barely wanted to stand at all. Here's how her feet look at the moment:
Things were okay at the visit. The farm was a little ramshackle, but the pigs seemed to be in good health. I did a thorough check of the gilt I was interested in, and she looked fine. I agreed to buy her....and then we spent a good deal of time trying to load her into the trailer. Unfortunately, this farmer didn't have a good system for loading pigs--you need a narrow chute that is tall enough and strong enough that you can push a pig from behind. It didn't help that he had to catch up some younger pigs for a different buyer just minutes before I came. After about an an hour and a half, with the gilt exhausted and approaching dangerous heat levels, I said that it wasn't going to work out and I was ready to leave. He said he's deliver her for me for free the next week, and I figured that would be just as good. I agreed, but a part of me thought that perhaps I should have just cut my losses and backed out of the deal.
A week later the farmer arrives with the pig, and we get her easily loaded into a barn stall that I use for loading and unloading. She was understandably stressed, but otherwise looked fine. Money exchanged, deal done. I observed her overnight to make sure there were no emergent signs of disease, and led her out into the main pasture area the next day. She had been getting a diet of bagels, soaked whole barley, and commercial feed, and she didn't seem to have much interest in my feed. She was super excited for some of the barley that I had grown last year, so I used that as my lure to get her into the pasture. I figured I would gradually introduce her to the other pigs (the boar is in a separate area right now) to make sure everyone got adjusted slowly. She was very nervous of the other pigs at first, and I had to use feed as a lure to get her to go close. After a few days, I let them meet each other and was surprised to find the voracity at which the old pigs tried to run off the new pig. Anytime she got close, they would nip at her butt until she ran away. I was a little surprised, but figured this behavior would go away after they worked out their oinking order. Unfortunately, a week later, it hadn't, and to make matters worse, she was limping.
I took a look at one of her front hoofs, and noticed a horizontal crack. She was moving around okay, and I figured I would keep an eye on it and go from there. By yesterday, things had gotten worse. The hoof had broken off below the crack, and I noticed more of her hooves were cracked. This morning, she barely wanted to stand at all. Here's how her feet look at the moment:
Broken hoof on front foot with another break on the other claw.
Damage?
Possible horizontal crack on dew claw?
Her other front hoof was underneath her, but it also had developed a crack. She's likely to have broken hooves on both front feet. Right now, nothing looks infected, and I have her in a contained area away from the other pigs where she doesn't have to move much. I don't know if she will recover, and I don't know what caused these problems. She seemed fine when I got her, but I didn't examine her feet. I know biotin deficiency can cause these problems, but it's pretty rare. If there's little chance of recovery, I'd prefer to end her suffering now, but she is still eating and drinking and doesn't look to be in pain as long as she's laying down.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Any advice would be appreciated!
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