Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Mother Courage and Her Piglets





Returning from her prolonged honeymoon, happily pregnant, I was appalled to discover that Duchesse was hobblimg. In fact a zimmer frame would be inadequate.  Her demise appeared iminent.  Grimly the vet warned me that dosing her with antibiotic and "Bute" (a magic powder beloved of horse owners) might cause her litter to be deformed or worse. 
Humanity demanded that we risk it.  Two weeks of medication passed, the lameness was alleviated but not much! Pampered, fed grass nuts mixed with apple juice, she slowly grew in girth.  However still cripplingly lame!
On my grandsons birthday, an auspicious day, I went out to feed her and was alarmed not to be greeted by an enthusiastic demand for food but a chirruping sound from the stable.
Tucked neatly in a long row were seven perfectly formed piglets, already feeding enthusiastically. Up by her head was an eighth, pure white,the smallest runt ever to survive birth! Cold and still!  I picked her up and popped her in between her siblings and went back to bed to let nature take its course.
Four weeks on she is still tiny but feisty and clearly has a firm grasp on life, as have all seven of her sisters.
Second only to eating, their favourite activity is sunbathing!