This post features images of a wounded piglet, please proceed with caution.
Sometimes in animal husbandry, accidents happen. With the modern domestication of certain breeds, various instincts can be lost. Many of the modern “factory pig breeds” have very little of their maternal instinct left. Fortunately, all of our pigs are currently at least half “Large Black,” which is a breed that can still forage and raise their offspring rather well. Still, when a first time mother has her first set of piglets, sometimes the little ones get stepped on. Such was the case for Bo-Bo shortly before we left for Wisconsin.
WHAT HAPPENED
This is a photo that was taken the morning of the accident. While Red-pepper was helping me do chores, she noticed that one of our new little piglets had been wounded. You can tell from the look on her face that this was not a happy morning.
Because of the tiny size of the piglet and the large size of the wound, we knew that it would best if we did something. The cut was over an inch across and then made a ninety degree turn and continued on for more than an inch. Since a whole flap of skin was dangling, I decided that it would be best if we stitched it up.
First we cleaned the wound, as dirt and mud had crept inside of it. Once we believed that all possible foreign objects, no matter how tiny, were removed, we covered it in a protective healing ointment. Then we went to where I keep my fishing supplies and also to where @mama-pepper keeps her sewing machine.
Using fishing line and a needle, I began to stich up the wound while Red-Pepper held onto Bo-Bo, trying to keep him calm. The photo shows the stiches before we trimmed the fishing line. By looking at the stiches, I realized that I could have put in one more, but the job that we did was still better than nothing.
We left those stiches in for over a week, but we had to remove them before leaving. We did not want to leave tight stiches in a growing piglet for almost two weeks while we travelled. More than likely, this would have caused some new problems as the skin tried to grow bigger while having the fishing line restraining it. Obvioulsy we were eager to see how Bo-Bo was doing when we got back home.
BO-BO UPDATE VIDEO
Thankfully, Bo-Bo healed up wonderfully. There was still some swelling prior to us leaving, but all of that had gone away. The scar is mostly only visible in the spot where I could have added one more stitch, but it is definitely better than if we had not done anything.
Bo-Bo is healed, full of energy, and strong! He is also a little afraid, but he hasn’t had much for interaction with people over the past two weeks. He definitely has a lot of fun with his siblings though. Also, now Red-Pepper knows a little more about the healing process, and has even helped put stiches in a wound. Let’s hope that she never needs that information in the future, but just in case she does, she’s got it.
If you want to check out the video from the morning of the accident, here you go.
We were so happy that all nine piglets are still alive and well, and so blessed that Bo-Bo is fully recovered!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-bo-bo-doing-better
Until next time…
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