Mr. Farmer: Aww... you ruined your yoga pants!
Mrs. Farmer: Nah... it's just a little blood. It will wash out.
That's right, it's castration time again. Wilma's second litter was 18 days old today. Since I was off work and Young Master Farmer had a short day because of mid-terms at school, we finally got down to the business that various emergencies had caused us to put off. We castrated 3 of the 4 males, leaving the last for possible breeding stock for another location.
Averaging 12.5 pounds each, the piglets were, once again, very strong for their size. I held the first, a white, spotty, splotchy little guy, while Young Master Farmer assisted and Mr. Farmer performed the operation. But the process was a little slow, and I soon tired. My right arm, holding the critical back feet, started to ache, then go weak. I could feel the blood draining out of my face as I held on as best I could, and dizziness soon set in. In the end, I had to ask Young Master Farmer to take the back feet while Mr. Farmer finished up, cleaned the wound, and applied the liquid bandage. It was exhausting!
The second and third castrations went better. Young Master Farmer took my position in the chair and held the squirmy piglets by the legs, while I assisted with the head and repositioned him as needed. The operations went fairly smoothly, and Young Master Farmer managed to avoid getting bitten by the sows when snatching the piglets from the pen.
Once again, when all was finished, we were tired and dirty- except for Mr. Farmer, of course, who was as clean as any vet would be after performing surgery. When I went for my shower afterward, I started by pre-washing the blood spots on my pants. I then found that I had a matching blood spot on my leg (yuck!) and dirt on me in places I couldn't believe those muddy little pig feet could have reached! I believe Young Master Farmer still has a muddy smudge on his face that I can't explain either. But the job is done, and we can move on to the next project.
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| It's a Dirty Job, but Someone's Gotta Do it! |
So wait...wait...you didn't post Mamas' birth video because you thought it would be too graphic, but you have no issue with posting a picture of pig nuts in a bowl? LOL
ReplyDeleteA little warning would have been nice...I thought I was looking at a picture of what you had for dinner. Then I clicked on the pic to enlarge it and saw what I was REALLY looking at. I think you need a "Warning: Contents Graphic" under your title so us unsuspecting folks who are about to eat dinner don't get our appetite completely ruined!
I suppose it's suitable that we're having pork ribs for dinner. LOL
And I thought MY life was crazy! Hehe...
In my defense, Jenn, you DID get squeamish handling a frozen chicken cutlet...
ReplyDelete(I added the warning. You're Welcome.)