Eriathwens piggies

Today has been a tough one, it marks 1 year since we lost the beautiful floof that was Bramble. Tomorrow isn't going to be much better as it would have been her 4th birthday.
It seems to have come round very quickly, but it also feels much longer since we lost her. It's weird 😔
 
Thanks guys, i've managed not to mope too much, but it's just kind of highlighted her absence more than normal. She was such a big personality in the room and I miss her every day. I've not done anything for her birthday for the others like I did last year, I think it will help more if I accept she doesn't have a birthday now as she isn't here.

I have however, ordered the piggies Christmas dinner/veggie gifts, they're getting 4 bags of brussels sprout greens (their festive favourite!) purple and green kohlrabi, red oakleaf lettuce, Jerusalem artichokes and the round courgettes they like, so today was at least a little bit productive :)
 
Eriathwen said:
That's what I thought, I was originally going to just go pelletless but that would mean depriving them of a mealtime which wouldn't go down well and this seemed a good compromise.

These are the ones I'm currently using: Red Bag Grass Pellets - Unmolassed High Energy Spring Grass Nuts

With 14 piggies I figured buying in bulk would be the best thing, which ultimately means it's horse pellets, but being 100% grass with nothing added, what animals face is on the bag is irrelevant, they also do a 100% Timothy pellet but as I'm allergic I've avoided that one for now. From sight and smell if you have less pigs, they're identical to the grass pellets from Galens Garden which I've also used in the past and definitely recommend if your piggies will eat them. The trouble with swapping them to such a high dried grass content pellet is they're used to pellets with sugary binding ingredients such as molasses so switching can be difficult. A bit like getting a kid to give up chicken nuggets for a salad lol
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I know they are difficult to change, my two came from muesli and have never really liked pellets but they love grass so this might be a bit hit x
 
Bill & Ted said:
I know they are difficult to change, my two came from muesli and have never really liked pellets but they love grass so this might be a bit hit x
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They smell amazing, so hopefully they're a hit! They can be soaked to create a sort of mash with grated veggies too, I soaked them to start with and it makes the grass smell 10xs stronger and they dived into it very happily. Even Thistle has taken to them, and she was reluctant to eat pellets to begin with too, I think she also used to get muesli. As they're made from spring grass i'd imagine they're quite sweet tasting, although I dont plan on trying one to see lol
 
Eriathwen said:
Thanks guys, i've managed not to mope too much, but it's just kind of highlighted her absence more than normal. She was such a big personality in the room and I miss her every day. I've not done anything for her birthday for the others like I did last year, I think it will help more if I accept she doesn't have a birthday now as she isn't here.

I have however, ordered the piggies Christmas dinner/veggie gifts, they're getting 4 bags of brussels sprout greens (their festive favourite!) purple and green kohlrabi, red oakleaf lettuce, Jerusalem artichokes and the round courgettes they like, so today was at least a little bit productive :)
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Aw, sending you big hugs on this difficult day x
Their Christmas Dinner sounds fab! Go easy on the Jerusalem artichokes for a wind free Christmas! 😆
 
Poor Thistle, now that she has lost so much of her fat, it's become obvious how little muscle mass she has underneath. She's been to the vets today for her snuffly nose which luckily doesn't seem bad enough to warrant antibiotics yet, but we have some in case she goes downhill (her immune system obviously took a dip after hearing the herd rebonding and freaking out but seems to be sorting itself back out)
While she was there she was weighed, she seems to have stopped at 1140g as that's what she was last time I weighed her too. Problem is, now that all that flab has gone, it's clear just how little muscle mass was under it and she actually needs to GAIN weight now! But this time, healthy muscle, not fat.

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Aw, she’s such a beauty and looking really good now, hope she gets over her snuffles and gets down to the gym soon x
 
Thanks! I've just ordered her some probiotic pellets in case she's not absorbing nutrients properly, she certainly wouldnt be getting her edible poops with such a big belly in the way.. She's also got a whole heap of oat readigrass on the way so lots of healthy calories coming her way bless her! She's much more keen to move about and use those muscles so they should build up relatively quickly with any luck!
 
Eriathwen said:
Thanks! I've just ordered her some probiotic pellets in case she's not absorbing nutrients properly, she certainly wouldnt be getting her edible poops with such a big belly in the way.. She's also got a whole heap of oat readigrass on the way so lots of healthy calories coming her way bless her! She's much more keen to move about and use those muscles so they should build up relatively quickly with any luck!
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Hope so! She may ache a bit while she uses muscles she never knew she had.
 
I've started soaking their grass pellets, with wheat bran added to balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio better in an attempt to increase their intake of fluids..13 out of 14 got the idea. Daisy? She decided to swim in it lol Panda and Pumpkin sat behind her with a look of 'We tried to tell her not to' 😂

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They look like butter wouldn't melt but you just know they were secretly egging her on 😅
Leonard's doing well on the soaked grass pellets and bran. He has more energy and seems to be putting on a decent amount of muscle mass. He's been this weight before, before dropping again, but he hasn't looked this bulky for quite some time!

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Well today sucks a bit, everyone is ok, but I've been keeping an eye on Daisy, she's been far too rumbly lately..checked her over this morning and her nipples had started to crust. Of course she confirmed my suspicions this evening by starting to hump the others. Mainly poor Panda, who oddly enough was the main target of Mistys humping. Luckily Daisy is far lower in rank than Misty was so she's quite happy being told to bog off by the others 😂😂

I'm hoping I won't have to seperate her by the time my vets are able to see her and book her in for a spay. So fingers crossed 😅

Everyone else is doing well, Shelly is bulking up much like Leonard, both having such atrophied thigh muscles previously.
As you can see..she very much likes the new addition to their diet!

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Bill & Ted said:
Aw, they are lovely piggies, so full of character! Hope Daisy calms down and doesn’t need spaying x
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To my surprise, the telling off she got from the other pigs after mounting some of them seems to have snapped her out of it! I'm so relieved, the thought of having to spay her makes me so anxious. Will have to see how she acts when she next comes into season. I may take her for an ultrasound anyway by the end of the month just for peace of mind.

Thistles become congested again all of a sudden so I've started her on the antibiotics the vet gave us as a precaution. But she's otherwise doing well and putting on muscle mass. Her oat readigrass finally arrived so she has been very much enjoying that!

Leonard is doing fantastic, still not peeing perfectly painfree but I don't think that's going to be very achievable if the issue turns out to be his kidneys rather than his bladder which is what we're starting to suspect. He is continuing to put on good condition though and seems very happy which is all I can ask for :)

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Eriathwen said:
Shelly wishes to announce, todays grass pellets are just as tasty as yesterday's 😂 I'm really hoping that she hasn't stained herself green by this time next year!
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oh Shelly. The evidence is clear - you really are enjoying your grass pellets. It looks like you’ve saved a bob for later (on your snout)x
 
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