2003 - Hall Herd
Mt Juliet, TN
It took many hands, many long trips, (and the patience of a saint not to kill the people involved) to undertake the large Helping Hoof project done for Steve and Rhonda Hall’s pigs. Shepherd’s Green , assisted by The Tennessee Potbellied Pig Association started this project in late July, 2003, after receiving a call from Rhonda Hall asking for help placing a litter of 8 unwanted piglets that were born in June. In addition to the 8 piglets, they had 2 adult boars, 2 adult females (one of which was pregnant) and no desire to take on the responsibility for any of the lives in their hands. The only education and advice they had been given on keeping pigs was learned from the salespeople at the farm supply whose expertise, if any, lay with feeder hogs. As a result 3 of their 4 adult pigs were obese, none had ever been properly wormed or had proper hoof care. And, of course, there were the unwanted pregnancies which they tried to prevent by fencing the boars away from the ladies with fence that wouldn’t hold a chickadee, much less a 300 pound boar with romance on his mind. So the first objective was to educate them on pot belly pig care. The PBP Association provided them with care and feeding instructions specific to pot belly pigs, showed them how to worm them and taught them about hoof care. The next step was to start getting all of their pigs spayed and neutered. Shepherd’s Green Sanctuary provided spay and neuter funding and transportation. The first group that was taken for neutering were 4 male piglets and 1 adult boar. Typical for inbred litters 50% had birth defects, cryptorchidism and hernias. Next, the largest boar was taken for neutering. He was very obese weighing in at over 300 pounds of rolling fat. The day was very hot to trailer him . Thanks to our pot belly pig vet in Nashville, Dr Dixon, all went well. All the males were neutered.
During this same time, the sow Gracie who had given birth became very ill. She had become lethargic and was not eating. While loading the big boar we saw how ill she was and decided she needed to be taken in as well. The owners refused to pay for her charges. We took her anyway. Upon examination she was found to be critically anemic. She was put on red cell builder and B-Complex and given a proper high quality feed. After a week she appeared no better and was taken to the sanctuary where she could be treated more easily by the sanctuary vets and given the medical care needed. The next exam showed her blood count was up but still she was not eating or acting right. The vet suspected an ulcer so she was treated for that condition and after several weeks was doing very well. The owners demanded we return her to them. We had no legal claim on her so had no choice but to comply. Three weeks later she died after they failed to give her the medications sent home with her.
Sweet Gracie-gone but not forgotten!
In the meantime, the other sow Bumba had given birth to 10 piglets
losing all but two immediately from malnutrition during her pregnancy and the inbreeding of the litter. Despite a signed
agreement that we would spay the female piglets as soon as they were old enough, the owners sold or gav
e
2 of them away and we were unable to locate them. . Attempts to get Bumba in for spaying were likewise fruitless. Two
other females were spayed and placed safely into approved homes and all the males were likewise plac
ed.
The remaining two piglets from the second litter fared little better , one survived and was adopted to a good home, the
other died.
In the summer of 2004, the Tennessee Pot Bellied Pig Association got an email from the owners saying they had moved and taken two of the remaining 3 pigs with them. They had left the obese old boy locked in an outhouse without any water or food. It was 95 degrees the day the email came in. Kim went over and took him water and food. The next evening I went and picked him up. He is a lifetime resident here now, with a buddy, a house, lots of grazing and plenty of water.
Jack here at the sanctuary.