What do you do?

When mama has seven dead piglets and goes
septic and dies? You bring the two lucky survivors in
by the wood stove and teach them to suck down
milk replacer. Any other day they wouldn't have
made it out of the barn, but I liked the looks of them
and figured they must be pretty robust if they are
still up and kicking after all of that so I decided to
keep them. It didn't help that the bleeding heart wife
got home just as I was headed to the hill with the
unfortunates. Just another day in paradise.

Sorry if the pic is turned. It looks right on my phone!

My wife would say try to save them!

Rick

Bacon seeds!

rotated

Hi "The same Thing"
I Had a nice looking stray cat turned up in the hog barns a few weeks ago. Seen it a few times run out the corner of my eye and hide. the last few days it's been sitting on the fence in the barns, with hogs watching it close, when I did last check. Tonight it didn't look right Kinda cold here for it and not much food to eat unless it caught it's own!. so kinda meowed fluent cat at it L.O.L. stupid thing came over after 4 or 5 goes, and it answering back!. It's tame as a house cat when it got to me. Gave it a ride in the tractor to the shop. The rest of the shop cats might hate me if it's still there in the morning, Last I saw as I turned the lights off it was demolishing a large portion of the peanut butter jar of fresh dried food I gave them, and there was 6 or 8 different annoyed hisses I could hear outside to!
Regards Robert

I like that Brendon! I might start using it myself!

my wife wouls save them,,,and they would live here till they weighrd 700 lbs and were at least 15 or 20 years old

Once I "introduced" a new cat to our barn cat clique, there was more than hissing, there was a cat fight and the "intruder" was "shown the door" never to be seen around there again, like he was "thrown out of a saloon" lol!

I have had both baby pigs and baby chickens in my mud/laundry room over the years for one reason or another.

you know it's right.got to at least give them a fighting chance.we've had a lot of them in the house over the years.you know women and that maternal instinct,they've got to save every runt and sick one!

I think about anyone on here involved with livestock would do the same.
Probably most of the others too.

We used to feed a lot of milk replacer it really helped on big litters, just stuck their nose in it and away they went. As long as they got colostrum they had a great chance of making it.

(quoted from post at 03:09:28 12/01/15) It didn't help that the bleeding heart wife
got home just as I was headed to the hill with the
unfortunates. Just another day in paradise.

Click to expand...

I can tell you what would happen here. We had an ewe that rejected one of her lambs at birth and even butted it away so roughly against the shed that the lamb's eye was swollen and I thought it had a fractured skull. I was ready to do the merciful thing but THE ADMIRAL scooped up the lamb and brought it in; and for two months we had a "pen" made of chickenwire set up in the basement beside the furnace and boiler.

Stupid thing survived. Wife milked the ewes that were nursing lambs and got enough to get the bummer fed. Then switched her over to milk replacement. The lamb is 2-1/2 years old and out in the pasture, but still spoiled and VERY human bonded. We take her to schools and churches as she tolerates getting mauled by toddlers.

What kills me is the bantam Cochin chicks we often get that have a hip problem so that the legs are stiff and out to the sides. I have been told it's from not turning the eggs often enough; though I suspect it's genetic (we get about 1:12 with this). Cute as little buttons, absolutely excited about being fed and handled, but nothing I've tried has corrected it. So I have to blow holes through my karma rather than let them perish slowly in a week.

But if you observe the wild Mother Nature doesn't have social programs or retirement systems for the creatures in her care, either.

(quoted from post at 08:44:05 12/01/15)

(quoted from post at 03:09:28 12/01/15) It didn't help that the bleeding heart wife
got home just as I was headed to the hill with the
unfortunates. Just another day in paradise.

Click to expand...

But if you observe the wild Mother Nature doesn't have social programs or retirement systems for the creatures in her care, either.

Click to expand...

Sometimes I get a city type turn up their nose at my fattening calves. I explain to them that in nature, they would scratch for a living and then be mauled when they get to old to run. In the feedlot they get an all you can eat buffet, and the lights go out quickly one day before they have to suffer any effects of old age, they just get a little fat, and left to their own devices, a lot of people do that to themselves.

Hi Gtractorfan
Well I got an update for you. This morning there was dried cat food all over the floor, and no sign of the newbie. Barns are a quarter mile away so went to do chores, Guess who turned up 30 seconds after I got there. it's still pretty hungry, so took him back to the shop, when i was done. Hopefully it will learn to keep his mouth shut, and decide to stay there in the warm with the food, That crew of miss fits adopted a stray that turned up last winter in a -35 oc storm, he's still here topping up the gene pool. I don't need the cat at the barn, and it can cause herd health status issues to. 1 barn cat a quater mile away is like one house cow, just as much work as a whole herd L.O.L If I have to I guess it will get fed down there until the Vet catches on it's there
Regards Robert

You should give them a chance. Problem now, they will be pets. Just don't name them. Stan

Larry,
According to Old Farmer's Almanac, pigs live about 8 years.
Same as a Whitetail deer.
Others here know better than I but that's what I read.

all of ours get names...Quarter pounder, T-Bone, Sirloin, chuck, burger king, etc.... That way the kids dont get too attached.