[Gpdd] HEALTH Piggies catching colds

[Penny Charlesworth]

I intended to reply to Debbie's post about piggies catching our colds when I first read it but you know how it is, the older you get, the less hours that there are in the day and things get missed.

I was reminded of this today as Cadbury has developed a snuffly nose and my husband has had a streaming cold for the last two weeks. Although he never handles the piggies, merely being a fetching and carrying slave - hay bales, sacks of feed, taking the rubbish to the tip etc. - the cold germs are still in the air. I can't very well make him live in the summer house until his cold has gone.

The Piggyfriends' Rodentologists agree that piggies can, most certainly, catch our colds and if one of them has a cold they only see the most urgent patients, wearing a mask at the time, cancelling routine checkups until they are well again. 

Cadbury enjoyed his dose of decongestant and I am watching him like the proverbial hawk. He is eating up well and, hopefully, will soon be OK again. The piggy first aid box is at his disposal and, unlike my husband, he has no choice as to whether or not he takes his medicine.

Debbie also wrote about wet veggies. I always wash any shop bought veggies  ( you never know who has handled them ) but dry them before feeding as I don't want the pigpens to get wet floors. The piggies invariably snatch a veg chunk from the bowl and drag it off across the pen. If their grass or forage is wet when I cut it, I lay it out on a large towel to soak up some of the moisture before feeding it to the herd.

If I lived in a warm country, I might not bother drying the veggies.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.