It was close...

As I mentioned in the other post about the severe thunderstorms we got, well we found out that it was really close.

Yesterday morning, it was terrible, I was very scared. This was the worst thunderstorm I had ever seen.
Last night, 16 sows couldn't get up anymore.
They looked like they were paralized in their back legs.
Of course, we searched the internet, scared that we got some kind of disease under our herd.
We do have a high-health status, but you never know.

Well, this morning the vet came out. We had to put one of the sows down and he opened it up.
Guess what, one of her hip was scattered into pieces. Unbelievable. They must have had a terrible shock during lightning .

Wow that's too close for comfort, and I'm sorry about the sow! Did the other 15 recover okay?

Did the one have any marks on it, or did the lightning travel through the ground, or do you know what happened?

That's really scary close. You're probably still shaking.

farmchiq wrote:Wow that's too close for comfort, and I'm sorry about the sow! Did the other 15 recover okay?

Did the one have any marks on it, or did the lightning travel through the ground, or do you know what happened?

That's really scary close. You're probably still shaking.

I'm sorry, but we had to put the other 15 down as well. They were in to much pain and as we could see in the sow the vet examined, there
is no way that all those bones will heal properly. The hip and upper part of the leg were seriously in so many pieces, the vet said, even
when you tried it with a sledge hammer, you wouldn't get so many pieces. (sorry if this sounds a bit to graphic)
We felt so sorry for those poor animals, that we are glad they don't have to suffer anymore. It's difficult, but sometimes you have no choice.

It's weird tho', there are no marks at all. It must have gone through the ground. We had never thought about it, but the vet said it is possible to "ground" a barn. So we called an electrician already, hopefully he will have a solution for that, I hope that this never happens again!

For me, yes I shaked for many hours. And this morning again, when we reallized how close it really was. We are thankfull none of our family got hurt or worse.

Wow, Anna, that's just incredible. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your sows. It must have been terrifying.

Good grief that is horrible! Amazing that could happen to your poor critters and it must have been very traumatic for you

Wow Anna. That's terrible. We were sitting here watching the lightning and guessing it to be right around Fort Mac. I guess we were right. . . For your sake I wish we weren't though

That is crazy, almost hard to believe, wow what a shock that must have been for all of you Anna.
I have heard lightning can do really strange things and that is very strange indeed!

Oh Anna I'm so sorry!! I do hope you had insurance for the sows, at the very least, and I'm sorry that you lost them all in such scary circumstances! I hope you can get an electrician in to give you some peace of mind.

The farm beside me is right up on top of the hill and I know they have a very strong ground system as they are such a target for lightning.

What a thing to have to deal with.

What an awful, terrifying thing to happen! I'm so sorry for your losses.

I hope you can find a solution so you don't have to worry about it ever happening ever again. Poor pigs.

We lost a cow to lightnig but ya that was close.

JaerhonChanteclerEuskies wrote:We lost a cow to lightnig but ya that was close.

I'm so sorry .

@ Farmchiq
yes, we have insurance on the sows. We don't know yet how much they are willing to pay, but we will get some $$, which is nice, but still
we would rather have the sows. Just the thought that they must have been in such a terrible pain .
We had to make pictures for the insurance claim , as they were not able to come out yet.

That is a bit close for comfort isnt it Anna, but so glad your family is safe.
We had a terrible storm go through 2 nights ago and it was very intense, now reading this I am glad nothing extreme happened here.

Oh I'm so Sorry! What a horrific things to have happen. I'm in shock reading it. What a huge and unnerving loss! The storms have been just insane.

Anna, what a horrible thing to go through, I wish I had words that could help. I'm glad you had some insurance coverage, and that you and your family are all safe, but the shock of what happened must be so hard to deal with.
It was pretty bad here too but thank goodness no direct hits on the farm. My sympathies and thoughts to you.

We are having quite a storm here in this area of BC as I type this post (half expect our electricity to go poof any second) but I think the storms in the mountains are a different event from the storms out on the open plains. I have never witnessed anything like the electric show I've seen on the prairies.

This is a horrible happening. You probably wish the strike had killed the pigs outright rather than leave them injured. I hope this is the only time in your life anything like this happens. Once is enough! Sorry for the loss.