15/07/2026
I said my Monday and Tuesday would be full of alpacas, pigs and horses. Well it was. But with far more thrown in than expected. Lots of laughs and tears.
Firstly, Monday saw the vets visit the pigs. A young, strong vet turns up from.... maybe I won't name the practice. 🤣 We get straight down to the haybarn to look at the weaners. Three of us staring at the pigs: me, the vet and who I assume is a trainee vet (both very young, looking strong and energetic!). I ask if either like working with pigs and the silence in their delay to answer me was deafening. 🤣
I get it. Pigs are great, I absolutely love them. Until they need injections💉Then they are your worst nightmare. They are strong. They are faster than you think and their mouth is right level with your knee caps, with a jaw that could crush like an anvil.
I had a plan for the little pigs, although in the heat, it was still hard going to send them into the pen, corner them, pin them against the side and jab them. They are very wriggly 20 - 25kg of pure muscle and blind determination to get away!
Then we moved on to the big pigs. 350+kgs of power and single mindedness. When you go to do anything with a pig of this size, you understand the term pig-headed!
Our pigs are well behaved, as far as pigs go. I called Annie and Duke Junior through from one field, into another, then into a holding pen which is great for sheep and alpacas, but not so good for pigs that you want to inject. The vets scratched their heads.
I asked if they had a slap injector with them. This is a needle on the end of a long tube. The idea is that you slap the needle into the pig and the long tube allows for the pig to surge away from you whilst you press the plunger to give them the dose of whatever you are giving, and move with them. Then you can just pull the tube and the needle will come away from the pig. They didn't have one, so I went to look for mine. The vet hadn't used one before. I had only seen a vet using one, but on trying it out myself, I realised that I hadn't paid enough attention to how the vet did it. So, I had not used one either. The vet decided he would go with his own idea.
Pigs have incredibly thick skin, so bent needles are common. The vet decided that he would tackle this like it was a cow and rather than go for behind the ear, he would go for under the tail. I was doubtful this would work, but threw feed on the floor to distract Duke Junior and Annie. Before anyone realised, the job was done! The boar barely noticed, so engrossed in his feed. I said I would recommend this vet to anyone with pigs in the future! Genius! Forget about horse whisperer, I'd just discovered the Pig Whisperer! 👏🤛🙌
So, on to Annie. A much bigger pig than Duke. Older, wiser, more worldly and far more opinionated. She knew exactly what was about to happen and kept walking away. The vet decided we needed to get Annie behind a gate, but I know Annie, and I know Annie knows what going behind a gate means. 🫣
I take Annie in to the field, around and behind the gate, but she knows what is coming and as the gate closes on her, she reverses and the vet can't hold 350+kg of bulldozer on full throttle reverse. We tried a couple of times with the same outcome.
The vet then decides he can run faster than a pig, so if the pig is slowed down by someone with the board at the front, then he can just go with her and inject under the tail.
I decided that a better idea would be to take Annie up to the yard and put her in a small stable. I ran up to the yard to get everything ready. As I went, I noticed Annie heading to her wallow and suggested that that maybe his best opportunity in the field. On returning to the field, the vet had managed to get about 10ml of the 15ml we needed her to have, in, via a couple of attempts, the first being in the wallow. He was prepared to give the last lot another go by running with her. Rather red faced and sticky, he finally got the last bit in.
We need to do this again in 2 weeks. He suggested I have a technician administer next time, to save me money! 🤣 Not because he didnt want to face the challenge again. 🤣Good luck trying to convince them they want to do any pigs, nevermind Annie! Although next time, as I know we are injecting the big ones, I will pop then in a stable to make it a little, not a lot, easier. 😬😆
Poor vets! They really drew the short straw with this visit. I can picture the older, more experienced vets, ones that have been in the practice a long time so know what animals we have, sat in the office giggling as the two vets drove away, heading towards Mynydd-y-garreg! 🤣
It definitely reminded me of James Herriot and I reckon these two were thinking 'it shouldn't happen to a vet!'
I was going to tell you about Tuesday, but this is enough for one night. So, part 2 of my weekend will come tomorrow. 😉
