The Song of a Sow
It is 5. 14 in the morning and outside the window hanging low in the Western sky is a bright full moon. I was texting with Fede last night and said to him Can you see the full moon and he said No, I can only see buildings.
This was such a sad answer.
Yesterday one of the piglets developed a cough so I loaded him into the car and took him to the Pig Vet. He had a temperature of 104.7 (should be around 100 -102). His lungs were noisy but not thumping yet. But he was on his way down. Either pneumonia or septicemia. He had a solid shot of antibiotics. He screamed his head off all the way to the Vets and all the way home. which was a good sign And though still slightly behind the pack the Vet and I are hoping he will be alright. Last time I checked in the night he was sleeping jammed between his brothers. It is always a good sign when they are sleeping with the others, when an animal moves apart we are in trouble.
We are not sure why he got sick. But the Pig Vet said that swine are having a hard time this summer, with the wet summer. But as Fede said he has a good strong mother and she is feeding them well, so this will help.
Tima was noticeably quiet yesterday. But when I brought in her fruit she was up and eating like a shot. I will be watching her too.
In the header shot you can see Godot sitting in the Peacock Penthouse. When a female is sitting he chooses to sit with them which is interesting. Mrs Flowers is in a nest up there. I am not sure how many eggs she is sitting on but the Palace is a good safe place to sit. Soon I will close the door to lock out the bad chickens and she can have a go at hatching her chicks herself in there where they will be safe. I have more people interested in buying chicks so this is good news. 
Are you two pregnant?
Pigs have different voices for different people and also different sounds for different situations. When a sow feeds her piglets she sings to them. This is a very distinctive sound. I have recorded it for you (though I forgot to turn off the fan in the background-sorry about that).
This was recorded after the Vet visit so you can see that the sick one is still eating well.
I hope this plays –
Well the sun has risen, the moon has dropped, it is 5.51 am , the roosters are crowing and the calves bottles are already warming on the stove. Time for me to get to work!
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
55 Comments on “The Song of a Sow”
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Would you look at those precious little piggies feeding – I do hope the little one gets better C.
Pete and I are off to Kenya tomorrow for a week so I may be a little scarce. Can’t wait to get to warmer weather for a while.
Have a wonderful weekend.
🙂 Mandy xo
Sharing the video with my daughter as she’s a new nursing mother. Know she’ll enjoy listening and seeing the piggies nurse.
I love those little pigs! I hope the sick one is OK. It’s fantastic that Poppy let you take him to the vet.
In case you didn’t know, it’s a blue moon this month 😉
…actually it’s the second moon this month – there’s an extra moon this year, hence blue moon or once in a blue moon!
How cool to learn that Mad! Thank you for this info! Sooo, that means we had a full moon at the beginning of July, and are now having a full moon at the end of July too??? I’ll have to do some research on this for sure, as I sometimes use the saying ‘once in a blue moon’ to mean a long time, but really didn’t know it’s roots! 🙂
Yes that’s right – there was a full moon at the very beginning of the month too 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon
Thank you for this Mad! So interesting!!!
Love Poppy talking to her babies, can’t help wondering why all the piglets are eschewing an obviously engorged udder on top? Hope the little guy recovers quickly today. We are freezing here today. Laura
Awww Poppy is such a beautiful Mummy! ❤ Hope her wee man gets well soon x
{Godot is a very progressive Daddy – involved and supportive from the beginning 🙂 }
Though he is actually not the Daddy – he is way too young – so i am not sure what that makes him – the younger man?
Ahhh ok … surrogate father? Or maybe just being a friend keeping Mrs Flowers company 🙂
I hope piglet gets better quickly. That video is so sweet, I just love it.
Oh my god! That sow song is so sweet and lulling. I think I might have to make a ringtone out of it! Then maybe my phone would’t bug me so much. I might actually want to answer it. The piglets are beyond darling. I love their bodies so close and snug.
You made me so so laugh for the ringtone! 🙂 Just imagine that being heard in a bus or in the Metro….
I have a friend whose phone cackles like a chicken and one whose yells “I’M RINGING”.
Or a business meeting!!
I love this idea. Poppy’s song would make me actually answer my phone!
You must have a quick ear to pick up the sound of a piglet in trouble. There are so many things to worry about on the farm. And we just sit and take our food for granted. If each of us had to work as hard as you to get our food, it would be a very different world. Loved the video. Those animals are all lucky to have you taking care of them. Does Fede get to come back to study. I don’t know if I missed his test results.
It’s a funny thing, when you’re with your animals a lot it’s almost as if you develop a sixth sense. I can’t count the times something, I have no idea what, has made me look twice at one of my animals and very often I hear or see something that’s not quite right.
It’s like a mom with her children. Your animals are your children so you are tuned in.
That is exactly IT sherry. That Hmm feeling.. c
Piggy love today! Hope the little one got just what he needed in time and is on his way to full health!
aaww how adorable. Bacon is totally going to be upset that he missed this one while he is off at Summer camp. The babies are so cute feeding. I hope the one feels better soon and all is well. Have a fantastic day my friend. ❤ Houdini
Wow – that recording is spectacular. What a good mum is Poppy. Time looks as though she’s singing. I hope she’s OK , also the little one.
Poor Fede with nothing but roofs to look at. I hope he can see the sky.
Keep well and happy all you Farmy folk,
love,
ViV
It is not often people can see a free pig nursing.. they all trot in from their pig garden when she calls it is so sweet.. c
Thank you for the video. Great fun; great smiles from here. A very happy afternoon to you all. xx
Love across the oceans to you too Misky
I love the faces this morning, as well as the pig sounds. I think that it’s clear that Fede misses farm life 😦
Fede must be missing you and all the Farmy creatures so much, the whole gentle pace of the seasons, the weather, the creatures and their lives, and all the useful and creative work he did when he was with you. I hope he comes back some time… Lovely Poppy and her contented Mama song to soothe her babies and make them feed well. I hope the poorly piglet gets well and thrives soon.
Re-commenting as I replied to my comment yesterday and some may not see it. Use OIL to remove stickers! Works like a charm. And it is save. I use olive, corn or jojoba depending on where I am using it. It remove chewing gum from your shoe or hair too! Sometimes if the sticker has a thick plastic top you have to get the oil under the top coating – or remove the top coating. Which will be hard on the calves, but get it in the hair. Let us know if it works!
I always thought acidic things would remove it – until I saw the tip on some show long ago. And BOY does it work well. No residue at all!
Does Fede have his test results? I miss him.
OIL! Excellent we will try that today.. I wish i had thought about that when the children were little.. Fede is resitting a part of the test in Argentina.. which will be even harder I think – he is also getting everything ready to begin applying to the universities – His plan is intact.. c
We used peanut butter for gum in hair, it also works on labels – at least on jars, and some price tags that have that impossible glue. I suspect the oil would be easier although, the peanut butter can be controlled better. You’d think that considering they’re putting those blasted labels on a living creature they’d find some that could be gotten off more easily.
I’m using oil too against adhesives – works very well.
oh the poor little piggy- thank goodness you are so alert to changes- poor Fede= no full moon view- I bet he misses the Farmy …. have a lovely rainless day!
Oh yes you are right – a RAINLESS day and another one today!
Here is hoping the little pulls through and no one else falls ill!
Also, how are Fede’s test results?
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
He did not get as high a score as he wanted.. passed of course but he wants a better score so he is retaking it in Argentina.. you can take it as often as you like evidently..as long as you have the money! c
Oh, Thanks! Good to know.
I love the photo of the little brothers babysitting the patient. Animals are amazing in knowing when people or other animals are ill or out of sorts. I hope the patient returns to full health real soon. Thinking of Fede as he resits his exam. If wishes worked, those of the Farmy fellowship should bring him out on the top level!
I had to be gone all day but I just now heard Poppy and her piglets. Just so cute!! Thank you for that.
I just now heard the video. Poppy sounds so sweet and gentle. Those little piglets are plenty pushy–at least that one is! Thank you for this. I hope the little one coughing is much much better by now.
What a star Poppy is – cool, calm and collected as a singing film star, with her piglets 🙂
I love that although distance may separate us, we all see the same moon, and indeed last night it was lovely. I felt sad for Fede, but maybe tonight he can seek it out.
Oh, what’s going on? Every other day you have to see the doctor for one of your little ones. So sad. But so lovely too. You are such a good mother to all of them. But it’s getting expensive to pay for the vet and medicine, isn’t it? – Nice pics of Tima.
It’s such a nice post today, all sorts of information and the song of Poppy to her children. So nice to share all that with us.
And thank you for your Thai pepper answer. I have grown some bell peppers on my balcony. They have about 40 cm height now but not yet blooming. Though there are some tiny buds in sight… I like their white delicate blossoms.
Say hello to Fede. Nice to hear from him. – Have a very nice evening!
With the great people from all over the world working with you the growing network of connections seems much more important than the temporary help they were able to give . . . . Fede from a highrise in Argentina remembering the prairie life and the farmy and you . . . Oh, and I love Poppy soothing her babies whilst they are enjoying their feed . . . . do hope all are well next you write . . .
Thank you for taking time to make that video… it made my day! 🙂
lovely pictures and lovely thoughts today. But unfortunately I’m still a little stuck on yesterday’s “pedestrian” corn chowder and “startlingly good” corn stock.
Please might you share the recipes or methods you employed? We are in the early stages of corn season here and I’m just loving every bite of it – would love to use the cobs too, I’ve always thought it was a waste for us city folk as we don’t have anyone to feed them to. Pretty please?
Chris S in Canada
This is what i did. I took all the corn off the cobs and put it to the side – then broke the corncobs up and put them in the stock pot with onions carrots and celery and tons of fresh herbs and covered with water plus about 5 inches and cooked for – oh about an hour – then strained that and added about 4 cups of home made chicken stock. It is a wonderful stock – sweet. After that it all went down hill. I panfried potatoes, and onions, then added the stock and the corn kernels and cooked again. But it was terribly dull. I think I could have made something much better ass it started with such a good stock.. let me know what YOU do! c
thank you! I shall give the stock a try this weekend, it’s a long weekend for us here in much of Canada, so there’s a bit more time. Off the top of my head I wonder if the pan-fried potatoes were just too strong? Maybe using leftover boiled potatoes cut up the way you would for potato salad? With a delicate sweet stock, perhaps you don’t need other heavier flavours, just a sprinkle of salt to brighten the veg and I didn’t see the magic word – CREAM. I’ve always enjoyed a creamy chowder, and with the cream in it you would only heat the soup, not really cook it.
I’ll give it a try and let you know. Thank you again!
Chris S in Canada
PS – a little history for anyone interested. The holiday is locally (for me) named for John Graves Simcoe, a lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1796. Upper Canada became what is now Ontario, Lower Canada became what is now Quebec. Wikipedia has more info for any history oriented readers.
I love this video, celi!!🐷🐖
It is wonderful isn’t it – hope all is well up there in the big city!
That’s a wonderful video and although our blue moon was not full on 31st, we had a stunning moon on the south coast of England the other night!
Oh how much I love that video!
What a calming sound. Those little ones are rooting all around.
What contented grunting! I love listening in to the farmy.