Injured piglet - skin torn off leg. (graphic pictures)

[arrowti]

Hello. This is off from my thread about a mean mama and is about a piglet she injured. A large patch of skin is torn off the piglet's leg, and we can clearly see the bulging red muscle beneath. The piglet can move, but its leg drags behind it when it does. Once its done climbing around it moves the leg into a normal position so it at least has some function in it, which I think is a good sign.

We've never had a wound this large on a piglet. I'm wondering what your advice is and if you think the piglet will be able to heal from the injury. The piglet is just over a day old and the injury happened this morning when it was stepped on.

There is no blood coming from the wound. The flesh wasn't pierced.

I'm linking directly to the images because the uploading site I used doesn't let me get a .jpg link.

http://postimg.org/image/fpjck1lzn/
http://postimg.org/image/6j11wrgr7/

The piglet was capable of getting to its mother to drink so it isn't in terrible shape, but I have no idea how such a large injury will heal in a cold, windy environment.

 

[Pamela]

That baby needs stitches and maybe a tetanus shot and antibiotics.

 

[Latestarter]

I have to agree.

 

[arrowti]

Thanks for your response! We've been checking on our other sow who's just gone into labor now. Hopefully no problems with her and her little ones.

How exactly do we stitch up the leg? In terms of the piglet thrashing, screaming, flailing and doing anything possible to avoid being held down (castration memories...) what's the best way to hold one for stitches? We do not have a veterinarian in our area who will deal with farm animals, so I just need some advice on how we'd do it ourselves. Is there any mild sedative that can be used on piglets to make the process safer?

 

[Pamela]

Do you have suture material and needles? I really don't know how you would manage that on your own unless you have prior suturing experience. Maybe someone else can chime in here.

 

[Pamela]

I will ask my husband when he gets home. He is a nurse practitioner ( for humans) and has lots of stitching experience. It might be too late to stitch it anyways.

 

[Pamela]

My husband says that with humans, you have a 6 hour window for getting stitches. If your piglet is past that, the am n may not be viable for stitching. Sorry.

 

[Baymule]

In view of the situation, being past stitches, probably would be a horrible experience for both you and the piglet, I think I'd skip that idea. And don't forget Momma, who would probably tear the place apart when you started making her baby scream bloody murder.

Honey is a healing agent. Honey is sterile and virus cannot live in it. Honey is good for burns and cuts. I would put honey on the wound and wrap it in gauze and tape it up, change it daily for several days. I would also watch the Momma in case she thinks honey roasted piglet is tasty.

The other side of this is, the piglet might not recover or if it does, this incident could set it's growth back so that it never catches up with it's littermates. If the wound gets infected or if the piglet gets worse, the kindest thing to do might be to put it down. I will do all I can to save an animal, but recognize when all I can do is just not enough. Then again, pigs are tough, and this little guy might come through with flying colors. Hope so.

 

[Pamela]

Great info about honey, baymule. I agree wholeheartedly with the rest as well. We had one get stepped on and while she lived for many weeks past the injury, she could not keep up calorie wise. During the first hard cold snap, she died. I wish we had put her down, but she had such a will to survive that we felt like we shouldn't. Hard choice to make.

 

[Ferguson K]

An injury like that not tended too will likely kill the piglet in the long run. If it's to late to stitch, and it's cold, the piglet will be burning to many calories trying to heal that and likely won't grow. I personally would cull it.