Gallomph

Thank goodness. ETA: pity they're not also phasing in something like the Weribee pen systems or Ellipsoid crate system for farrowing to replace regular sow crates. Both provide better sow welfare & no more piglet crushings than regular sow crates. However, that would require people to pay more for their pork, since they allow the sow much more room (hence, fewer sows can be farmed per square meter of land - costs farmers more to produce each piglet). As a previous poster mentioned, many consumers would rather source cheaper offshore pork than more expensive humane locally produced pork. So, we can't just blame the famers - we as consumers determine what they produce by what we will pay for. Both of those systems were invented about 20 years ago, and have never been successful in any commercial farm because the crushing levels are still a lot higher than regular crates. The only places they seem to be successful is in uni or ag college research units, which have relatively few sows and very high supervision of sows and piglets by staff and students doing research projects. They have resurrected the idea of the Werribee pen again recently, made some modifications, and trials are under way. We'll see how they go. Even if an acceptable solution is found, it would take many years to implement change. Not only because of the hundreds of millions of dollars of capital that would be required to retrofit existing buildings - but because more buildings would have to be constructed - this requires getting planning permission (almost impossible in some areas), getting finance (ditto), getting tradies (ditto) etc etc. Then there are massive WHS issues for staff working with unrestrained sows and their litters. The sows weigh up to 350kgs, and can do serious damage to a person when they get cranky! And so on.. Lots of things to consider - the devil's in the details!

Unfortunately, your understanding is incorrect. AA, Peta and co. constantly push the image of sows in stalls without actually telling the facts about what is happening in THIS country. A bit like their campaigns against pedigree dog breeders - they are not interested in telling the full story or any of the reasons why certain practices are used. In Australia, 90% of sows only spend the first 4-6 weeks of their pregnancy in stalls. This is to allow them to be fed and cared for individually while the embryos implant and the pregnancy is established. They are then moved to group pens, where they fight vigorously to establish a dominance order, and they compete against each other for feed each day. Apparently most consumers believe this is more "welfare friendly", so now Aussie farmers will be phasing out all use of sow stalls. I guess all the extra injuries from sows fighting, not to mention all the miscarriages that will occur, will also be perceived as "welfare friendly"??? Farrowing crates are a different issue. They are necessary to prevent crushing of piglets. Sows only spend 3 weeks in them for each litter. Without them, piglet mortality from crushing ranges from 20 - 100% in any given litter. You should do a little more research on wild pigs ... in fact they also suffer high mortality from crushing. They farrow 8-10 piglets per litter, usually 4-5 survive. That may be acceptable in wild pigs, but everyone would be up in arms if we allowed those sorts of mortality rates in domestic livestock. Research has been going on for 20+ years to try to find an alternative to farrowing crates that allows acceptable survival rates for piglets - no one has found the solution so far. IT is all so puzzling. I am relieved to hear that sows are NOT confined to stalls for the entirety of their life but do sympathise with farmers having a battle on their hands due to high mortality rates of piglets and miscarriages. WHat has propelled the aussie farmer to phase out the use of stalls? Is it due to PETA? Basically due to the "animal rights" groups, they have a lot of money for their campaigns and a lot of time to write letters to supermarkets etc. Aussie pig farmers could see the writing on the wall and decided to jump before they were pushed. The idea is to differentiate Aussie pig products from imported stuff that is produced in countries that have sows in stalls 100% of the time. Currently about 80% of bacon, ham and processed pork products is imported. However, it's not made very clear to consumers, so it would be nice if the Govt would improve the food labelling laws, and actually police them. It would also be nice if consumers would put their money where their mouths are, and actually buy Australian products, even if they are more expensive. Unfortunately many consumer surveys have shown that while people say they are concerned about the way meat animals are raised, when push comes to shove they almost invariably buy the cheapest product, not the one produced in the way they say they'd like it to be produced.

Unfortunately, your understanding is incorrect. AA, Peta and co. constantly push the image of sows in stalls without actually telling the facts about what is happening in THIS country. A bit like their campaigns against pedigree dog breeders - they are not interested in telling the full story or any of the reasons why certain practices are used. In Australia, 90% of sows only spend the first 4-6 weeks of their pregnancy in stalls. This is to allow them to be fed and cared for individually while the embryos implant and the pregnancy is established. They are then moved to group pens, where they fight vigorously to establish a dominance order, and they compete against each other for feed each day. Apparently most consumers believe this is more "welfare friendly", so now Aussie farmers will be phasing out all use of sow stalls. I guess all the extra injuries from sows fighting, not to mention all the miscarriages that will occur, will also be perceived as "welfare friendly"??? Farrowing crates are a different issue. They are necessary to prevent crushing of piglets. Sows only spend 3 weeks in them for each litter. Without them, piglet mortality from crushing ranges from 20 - 100% in any given litter. You should do a little more research on wild pigs ... in fact they also suffer high mortality from crushing. They farrow 8-10 piglets per litter, usually 4-5 survive. That may be acceptable in wild pigs, but everyone would be up in arms if we allowed those sorts of mortality rates in domestic livestock. Research has been going on for 20+ years to try to find an alternative to farrowing crates that allows acceptable survival rates for piglets - no one has found the solution so far.

Ah, like a moth to a flame... How do you feel about sow stalls Moselle? I don't for a moment condone animal cruelty but I also don't kid myself that this country has anything to feel superior about. Yes, PF....like a moth to a flame, huh... How do I feel about sow stalls? one word....DISGUSTED, so much so that I do not, WILL NOT eat pork or any meat except chicken, free range chicken....not my own as they would have to live out their life if that were the case! Australia has every reason to feel superior when compared to the atrociousness that takes place in certain parts of the world. Actually, Australian pig farmers just voted to voluntarily phase out sow stalls. Just announced this week Unfortunately, there has been no interest from the media, no support from supermarkets (who continue to sell pig products imported from countries which keep their sows in stalls 100% of the time) and no support from government (who refuse to pass and enforce proper food labelling laws so that consumers con see where their food comes from).

Just a long shot, but when I was a kid, our old dog got the most putrid breath. We checked teeth, took her to the vet etc...the cause of the problem was not found. Finally one day when we were outside in very good light, my Dad looked in her mouth again, and discovered a very well camouflaged rotting bone lodged across the roof of her mouth (a section of curved rib bone), wedged in and held there against the teeth at either side. So just in case, have a look at the roof of your dogs mouth.

I don't know if this will be any help to you, but... A couple of years ago we had a big problem where I work, with tiny (pinhead size or smaller - identified under a microscope) ticks getting on the staff. They did not attach, but travelled around tender areas, biting as they went. We got some samples stuck between 2 pieces of sellotape, and sent them off to a Uni entomology dept for id and advice. They turned out to be baby kangaroo ticks. The roos had been laying in the shade in the staff carpark, and shedding the ticks. Staff were getting infested as they walked to their cars! The Uni advised that the best thing to use was pyrethrin products. These turned out to be quite hard to find, but what we ended up getting was a product called "Pyrenel foam" which is for head & body lice. It worked a treat. There was also a cream called "Lyclear". We also sprayed the carpark area with "Solfac Pro". That was amazing - the ticks were visibly moving away from the spray, and climbing up anything available (including my legs!) to try to escape. We hadn't realized that there were millions of the little suckers there - literally! So maybe washing your dog and any bedding with Pyrenel would help. But please research whether pyrethrin is OK on dogs first, because I have no idea whether it is or not.

I wanted to have mice But my parents said they'd never allow "vermin" as pets, so I moved on to the idea of a chihuahua. Mum and Dad were "big dog" people, and hated the idea, but finally agreed that I could have one if I saved up and bought it myself. I started saving when I was 7, and finally bought my first chi when I was 13! They were a bit rare and expensive in NZ in 1980 - she cost me $1000, which was a lot of money back then! Midget was a great little dog, and changed my parents' mind about small dogs - they've owned 2 chis (along side the big dogs) since then! That's Midget in my avatar picture.

People treat their horses with drugs (vet chemicals, that is) to try to help cure / alleviate whatever the horses problem is (often lameness). When it doesn't work, the horse is sold / disposed of the the abattoir / knackers. However, it takes varying amounts of time for different drugs to clear out of the body. How does the abattoir know what each horse has been treated with and how long the withhold period should be, for each horse they acquire from a myriad of sources?? It's good to hear (from other posters on this thread) that some abattoirs put the horses out to paddock for a withhold period, but I wonder how effective that is given the likely lack of specific info on each horse? It would help to improve safety a lot, though.

I'd be concerned about drug residues (bute, antibiotics etc).

She could have muscular pain from having all the seizures??? Hope she continues to improve.

Have his teeth been checked thoroughly? My old boy Gizmo had a bunch of similar sounding symptoms, including general lack of get-up-and-go, sleeping alot, occasional intermittant vomiting, small "zone-out" type seizures. Nothing terribly specific, all tests were OK, vets were unable to find a cause, and said he was just getting old...A few months later he went lame in a front leg, first vet visit they couldn't find a cause, it got worse, went to another more experienced vet and he discovered a massively enlarged lymph node in the chest /shoulder area. Looked for a cause and found 1 tooth that looked a bit dodgy (he'd had 6 removed about a year before, and this tooth had looked ok then). Had the tooth removed and bingo - Giz was like a new dog!!. I could hardly believe that 1 little tooth had been having such a detrimental effect - it had obviously been affecting him for months, just dragging him down. The difference after the tooth was gone was just amazing. Anyway, it may be worth checking. Hope your boy feels better soon.

Vivitonin also helped my old poodle, who was getting a bit of dementia, for the year before she passed away.

I had leaches on me once. I poured a bit of liquid insect repellent directly onto them, and they dropped of quite quickly (within minutes). Might work for dogs too?

OK, hope I don't get flamed for this... but when my 15 yr old mini poodle needed to go on a low protein (and low fat) diet, I was told to stop giving her the "good, healthy" foods, and move to the cheap canned stuff - which when you look at it is only 5-6% crude protein. I felt pretty bad about it, so also got her the Hills special kibble, but she hated the kibble and was quite happy to eat the canned stuff. She was stable on this stuff for about a year, until one day she got into one of the other dog's food (unnoticed by me), which triggered a massive seizure that night.

As others have said, the best bet is to seal up access to the roof cavity (when the possum is outside it!!). It will then set up home in a nearby tree, but at least it won't be rustling around in your ceiling keeping you awake.

I just got my dogs a Canine Genius mini Leo from Waggle. They love it, and the smartest / most determined one will keep playing with it for up to 4 hours while trying to get a piece of liver treat out of it.

How about a snood?

Vitamin B is an appetite stimulant. Have also heard that comfrey may help, but I have no idea if that's correct, so you'd have to research it first.

Most of my website likes/dislikes have already been covered by others, but just wanted to add...use spellcheck!!! People will forgive or not notice some spelling errors, but it looks really dodgy when the breed name is continually spelt wrong! Incorrect use of apostrophes also makes me cringe, but that's just because I'm a pedantic old bag

Where have the other 50 dogs gone??? Probably moved to another site so they can keep breeding. Or sold on to other puppy farmers. Marvellous outcome for the dogs.

This is a microwave recipe and pretty easy...I'll PM it to you. Sorry for the OT drooling everyone :laugh: .

Want a recipe??

YES!! That stuff Maggie Beer makes costs a fortune! and Maggie Beer's isn't a patch on my Mum's recipe made fresh!!! (can't find a drool emoticon - how remiss on a dog forum!!)

Yes, very old fashioned fruit! We used to have quince jam when we were kids! Yes, they make gorgeous jam! And real quince paste, to have on crackers with soft cheese .... Out of this world!!

OMG, what a waste of quinces!! They're really hard to find nowadays (old fashioned I guess). They're selling for $6 a kilo right now and are only available for a few weeks of the year. Where do you live??? I'd love to come and raid your tree. I'll trade for them with your dog - tennis balls for quinces??? Or maybe liver treats????