Spitzon’s Gash
Spitzon, son of Spitz, made a mistake. About a month ago he left his south field territory and went north where his father reigns supreme. This was a mistake because not only is Spitz several hundred pounds larger but Spitz also has much bigger tusks than Spitzon.†
Spitz did not kill Spitzon, but after giving his son a thorough thrashing he came and complained to me that there was something wrong in the land of Spitz. Upon investigating I found Spitzon in the north field with several gashes. Will, Ben and I walked Spitzon back to the south field which is his territory and he seemed very happy to get home.
Spitzon is big, much bigger than Tamboar who he rooms with although Tamboar is eight months older. Despite Spitzon’s impressive growth rate, a record setter on our farm, he is still significantly smaller than his father.
Boar fight are rare because of how we manage territories but when they happen it is a matter of tusk and mass. Their battles are mostly shoving matches as they spin to keep face and shoulder to the other so that neither can easily use tusks on underbellies or gain domination above.
I’ve not measured Spitzon recently but he is now up to the size where he would actually consider challenging his 1,000 lb father – best to simply keep them separate which is why Spitz rules the northern field and Spitzon rules the southern field with a no-boar zone between them.
As a result of his thrashing, Spitzon had a couple of small gashes, perhaps two or three inches long each, on his sides and a big nine inch gash up over his shoulder across his spine. That was likely the deciding blow of the fight. Spitz also gave Spitzson a long gash on the back of his right hind leg – I suspect that was a parting memento to make sure Spitzon had gotten the point as he turned tail. There was nary a mark on Spitz making him the easily declared winner in this contest.
The gashes were over an inch deep and long – tusks are sharp – but now a few of weeks later Spitzon is basically healed up. I did nothing for them but simply checked them roughly daily to make sure that infection didn’t set in. Pigs have very hardy constitutions and recover well from pretty impressive injuries without needing to resort to stitching or antibiotics.
Had he needed more I would have started with a hot compress which is the same thing I would use on myself. The heat kills bacteria just like a fever does. Garlic powder helps kill off bacteria too and can make a good addition to the hot compress as does some iodine. Turmeric is something that has been suggested to me recently that I have read some interesting research on but have not yet gotten to try in any controlled manner. Had Spitzon’s cuts became infected he would have been my initial test subject in the name of science. Over 99.9% of the time these simple remedies along with the body’s own power to heal will take care of things and bring one back to health.
Outdoors: 40°F/38°F Sunny
Tiny Cottage: 66°F/62°F
Daily Spark: Sows make weaners and then they make wieners.
†The similarity between their names is no coincidence. Spitzon means son of Spitz. Spitz got his name because he was threatened with being spitted as a roaster size boar by his previous owner when he ran off. Instead he came to our farm, we were looking for a Berkshire boar, and I changed his name from Spit to Spitz.
