Changes

I've still no idea whether Feather will make it. I had the idea that there might be kidney issues, so I figured the best bet now would be to flush his system. So I'm cutting down on the syringe fed food a bit in favour of water. He is still getting Critta Care but right now it seems a shortage of water in his system is going to kill him faster then starvation and I can only treat one thing at a time. There seems to have been some improvement since I started pumping him with water. He's showing less pain when he pees and a lot less blood. He seems a bit more energetic as well. He happily munched some parsely for me, though not much. One thing that really woke him up though was Lavinia. Before someone freaks they weren't allowed out of our hands but I had Lavinia out for her last treatment of Ivomec and was carrying both her and Feather to the table and wow did Feather get excited. Lots of sniffing and activity and much more activity looking for her after I took her away. I think if I'm struggling with him and food I might pop Nia (Lavinia) in a cage nearby and let him chat to her. I might be able to sneak the syringe in while he's busy.

In other news Nia's completely clear of her running lice so she's been introduced to the girls cage. Ebbie's been chasing her around for the past hour, but there's no sign of true aggression. Ebbie's just a strong believer in young sows having manners. But with three girls together it will make it that much easier to introduce Ayanna in once I'm sure she's pregnant. I've always had more success introducing a girl into a larger group rather then to just one another.

Ayanna's been with Sterling for ten days now and he's been driving her bonkers. Ebbie always stood up to him but Ayanna just shrinks away. I was hoping once she settled in she'd get a bit more attitude but oh well. I'm going to start giving her breaks from Sterling. Sterling never minds hanging out on a lap pad while I'm on the computer so I'll just let him spend more time with me. But I guess this does mean that he's likely to catch Ayanna the first time she comes on heat, he mounts her even when she's not. Which reminds me I need to stick some apple cider vinegar in the water to make sure Sterling doesn't give the poor girl a UTI.

Oh and I also picked up something interesting today. A loose leaf tea for expectant mothers made of raspberry leaves, rosehips, peppermint, ginger and a few other herbs. I'm thinking I'll make it up and keep it in the fridge and syringe it to Ayanna cold as her due date gets closer. As a youngish girl I'm not expecting too many issues, but it certainly can't hurt.

Nia who will be my other breeding girl already weighs in at 350g at just 6 weeks old. Once she hits 550g which will be about 3-4 months she'll go in with Laertes. Blacks are notorious for being overweight and going toxic when littering so she'll have the best chance as a young mother rather than waiting till she's older.