Livestock toiletries for sunburns, sore feet

This is L's third year raising pigs and her second with sheep. I can say without a doubt that this year has been the strangest with diagnosing, and treating, health issues.

First there was Yuki the white pig. Within a week of her arriving at our house we observed her hind legs giving out randomly. Before we made a phone call to the farm she purchased her from, I suggested L. do some research. L. scoured her resource books for the symptom while I consulted the web. I ran across a couple of message boards from the mid-west and found a reference to "dipping" legs.

The cause? Sunburn.

I kept on looking for other diagnosis but L. and I kept coming back to references to sunburn. And since L. has never raised an all-white pig, it stood to reason we might not fully understand the implications of a white pig's skin sensitivity.

After another gander at Yuki, we agreed she did look a lot more pink than she did the first day we brought her home (but thankfully, no sores of a serious sunburn). We also had the realization that Yuki spent the first five weeks of her life inside a barn. She'd spent every day with us happily rooting (digging) in our outdoor pen. I think there was maybe two days of sun in all of May but Yuki seemed to have soaked that sunlight right up on those rare occasions.

The treatment for a pig's sunburn is like a human's because our skin is so similar (this is actually a good article that explains how to treat pig's sunburn).

We smeared Yuki with lots of aloe, mud and on the sunny days (which were not many this past month), some sunblock.

Less than a week later Yuki was looking more white than pink and her legs stopped dipping.

Yuki, the white, turned pink, now back to white pig who is in hog heaven when outside rooting.

An interesting learning but L. was pleased to have diagnosed and successfully resolved the issue.

Then Pearl, the white lamb, started limping.

There are a variety of hoof-related problems with sheep, including "scald" due to prolonged muddy conditions. Anyone who had a lamb/sheep this spring was likely treating some of their herd for this because of all our wet weather. It's common and not a big issue if you catch it early.

L. has been diligent in checking and clipping hooves this past month to avoid any more serious hoof issues. She didn't find any problems but Pearl continued to favor one leg.

Then yesterday a farm friend took a look at Pearl's hoof and noticed a small puncture wound under her wool just above the hoof. L. (nor I) thought to look above the hoof, assuming the issue was on the underside because that is the more common problem area.

The wound was small and likely caused by a twig or something equally benign. Regardless of the cause, the wound created a small puss pocket and that hoof was warmer to the touch than the others.

The treatment suggestion from our farm friend? Epsom salt in very warm water.

The plan suggested was to soak Pearl's wound in Epsom salt to draw out the infection and pour a Betadine solution on afterward to disinfect it.

L. did Pearl's second afternoon of soaking today and not only does the puss appear to be gone but her hoof is cooler to the touch after only these couple of treatments.

Pearl doesn't mind the foot soak as long as the bucket doesn't get in the way of her grazing.

If you ever plan to raise livestock, be ready for anything... and know that you might not have to look any further than your own bathroom cabinet for treatment options. We've also learned it is a heck of a lot cheaper too.