Pig Enema

Much of my time is spent helping take care of little Nathaniel, my only grandson who is now 17 months old.  Many of his books talk about animals, so we decided to let him visit the Texas State Park farm where his mommy works so he could get some first-hand experience with animals.  While there, he watched the cow being milked, the sheep being fed, the turkeys being noisy, and the pigs being snorty.  Except for having his finger pecked by a curious chicken, he enjoyed it all.

As a Texas Park Ranger, Hannah has been managing the living-history farm for more than 5 years. She, along with staff and volunteers, show the public what Texas hill-country farm-living was like around the year 1918. On average they receive about a hundred visitors a day where they might see a blacksmith working, soap being made, vegetables being ‘canned’, wool being spun, or butter being churned. Like any farm, if an animal gets sick, it needs to be cared for.

Not too long ago, one of their cows became lethargic, hung her head low, and would not eat. It was discovered that the cow’s cud (the food she regurgitates back into her mouth to chew again) had become compacted in both of her jaws and there was just no way she could chew. They had to pry open the cow’s mouth, reach in with their hands, and scrape out the days-old partly digested cud. Can you imagine the slime and smell?

A few weeks ago, one of their sheep gave birth to a lamb who showed signs of illness and would not eat. Still dependent on its mother’s milk, Hannah and a staff member had to wrestle the mother on its side, hold her down, cover her eyes, and milk her by hand, then force-feed the lamb by bottle. This was done for several days until the lamb recovered.

A farmer knows something is wrong when an animal doesn’t eat or when his poop isn’t normal. Hannah remembers the day their prized pig wasn’t pooping at all. She was lethargic and obviously ill. They had to tie her to a post, administer an antibiotic, then prepare a rubber-like plunger that could be inserted up her rear to pump about a gallon of water into her intestines. Once the pig was released, she ambled around the pen, releasing her intestinal contents. Again, can you imagine the smell?

About a month ago their Jersey cow gave birth, but after a few days, the mother was showing signs of illness. One of the workers saw a piece of tissue hanging out the back end of the mother. Turns out her placenta had broken off with a portion still inside, causing an infection. The staff had to secure the cow, then begin pulling the placenta until there was a rush of bloody, smelly tissue that gushed out. The cow recovered quickly.

Of course, a farm is about more than just animals. Every day, the Sauer-Beckman farm prepares their lunch on a wood-burning stove using only the meat they have butchered and the vegetables they have grown. One of their favorite German-influenced dishes is sauerkraut. Hannah and her staff prepared this special video to show how sauerkraut is grown. Please note that I’m sending out this blog post on April 1, about the same time the video was prepared a couple of years ago. For my international readers, April 1 here in the U.S. is sometimes called April Fools Day. So, enjoy the video!