Firstly Ebony, I left at midday on Saturday (the 5th) and still no babies. But Ebbie had been fidgety for a good 48 hours and I'd slept in the animal room just in case. She gave birth at 6:00 that night with my mother there to witness it. The first baby was an 82g overdeveloped baby, it looked like it had been overcooked and was born dead. This was a little lemon agouti, cream and white boar. The next two came in quick succession and were two live sows, one 102g and one 107g, both lemon agouti, cream and white, one has the same markings as Ebbie and the other is the same as Eddie. Finally a very large 120g boar was born, also dead. I'm so sad over this one he was absolutely gorgeous and would have been pick of the litter if he lived.
So Mum texted me pics but avoided telling me that the two girls were ill, a fact I discovered when I got home today (the 7th). Both are very shakey on their feet and look premature and runty, they've also both lost 20g since birth. The smaller one (Samsara Andromache) has rallied after a bit of calcium/divetelact/glucose and found her voice and feet but the bigger one (Samsara Audrey) is not doing so well. In part the issue is Ebony, I don't think I've ever seen such a hopeless mother. It's like she's got ADHD, she's sits with them for a few seconds and then wanders off often dragging little Andromache who's still attached to the teat with her. It's very cold tonight and Audrey's still not walking (though she's sitting up etc) so I've placed all three in a carry cage so Ebbie will at least keep the little ones warm.
As to Audrey I tried her on divetelact and she drank a bit but wasn't very interested so we switched to Vetafarm Critta Care which she likes very much. She's taken 4mL so far. She won't use a teat or spoon so we're working with a syringe. Because of the fear of aspiration I'm just holding the syringe about a cm off her mouth and letting the mash dribble off and she licks it up as fast as it comes. She's already getting stronger and starting to gnaw the syringe tip as she waits for the next little dribble.
So the girls are in a very "we'll see" territory. They'll stay in my room tonight so I can keep slowly getting food into Audrey and just in case Andy goes downhill.
Now onto my other HUGE news. Which is illustrated by photos taken by another member who is an AMAZING photographer Nicole Macintosh who's very kindly allowed me to post them here. Anyone who actually reads this blog (LOL) will know I really don't think much of Eddie, mainly because I keep accidentally wrecking his hair. So I dragged him to Gsoford Show mainly because I need the practice. La-La of course came to as did Sterling. So La-La's class is one of the very first and I take him up pretty much expecting a BOB as the only there dally there was heavily roaned. What I did not expect was to beat an amazing roan and a dutch and win best Marked with him.
Feeling very pleased with the day and happy I came I settled down for the long wait to the longhair classes. Sterling was entered as a pet and to my surprise won Best Pet, apparently he had amazing condition ? and here's me wishing he was another 300g heavier...
So we get to the end of the day and I fish Eddie out of his carrier and start getting him ready. At the last show I was told I need to stop combing the curl out, so this time I comb all the curl out and then mist him all over and give his coat a good scrunch (it's what I do with my hair and I get awesome curls that way LOl) and then let him airdry on the grooming stand for awhile, while people wonder if he'll jump off. Meanwhile next to me the most immaculate longhair is being unwrapped. Seriously every hair was unbroken and perfect and this pig was just gorgeous. I was so envious, I was and am still certain it'll take years before I can present an animal with that degree of excellence. Eddie hung out on the grooming stand through the ticked and coat type line ups without an issue though it certainly freaked people out, especially when I walked away and left him sitting there.
Eventually we get to his class and I was absolutely gobsmacked to be awarded BOB with him, like wha? can you not see all the missing ticking? Apparently though he has amazing density and his belly is the densest she's seen. Here's me thinking those tight curls were normal...
So he goes up against the BOB Sheltie and stuns me again when he wins Best in Group.
That's when I realize I now need to table two pigs for the Best in Show line up, whilst somehow stopping an increasingly fidgety longhair from simply walking off the table. So I'm standing there more concerned with keeping Eddie sitting still than paying attention to the judging when the judge points at Eddie and says....
BEST IN SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes that's right my Eddie, my rotten brat of a pig won Best in Show, at a big NSWCC show. I think I'm still in total shock. I just can't believe it, he didn't even place at the last NSWCC show he was at, but he got BIS at this show? It's just woooooooow.
My first ever BIS, and all I can keep thinking is those people who said his fur would matt if I used polar fleece wrappers, and that you never win anything till you've 'wrecked' a few longs.... But I won Best in Show with my first longhair!!! Though giving credit where credit is due he comes from fantastic lines and a lot of his success has to do with his breeder breeding the right pigs together. But still I am just soooo happy.
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