Creeps
We never got the piglets new fence finished yesterday but maybe tomorrow. Farm work has a delightful endlessness, there is always more to do but when you don’t quite finish every job it does not really matter – there is always tomorrow. The important thing is to do a little every day towards completion. Feeding and maintaining the animals always come first.
Tane.
Poppy managed to break the chain on her gate and I found her out grazing with the cows.
She is probably looking for a place to build a nest but she is not going to be farrowing in the field – every night the coyotes scream their way around the farm, I am not about to leave her out there for them.
Poppy’s farrowing pen has two creeps, they sit on either side of her big pen with the big open door. One of the creeps is cold and one hot. The cold one has a house in it and piles of straw. The hot side has a small cosy tin house made from an old rubbish bin that has one flattened side so it lies flat and more straw. I have hung a hot lamp above the tin house so that the metal warms up just enough to create a haven of warmth. Sometimes I turn the light on so I can see how the little tin house warms up. Both creeps are inaccessible to Poppy the big sow but if she lies flat she can fit her nose through the tiny piglet door to the hot creep and warm her face under their waiting light.
Like a young mother sitting in the rocking chair in the waiting nursery.
LuLu loves to sleep in the little tin house proving that this is a good place for piglets. Imagine her surprise when a little team of honking piglets appear. Though we must touch wood – this summer has taught us that there are no guarantees of a happy outcome.
When Sheila is not busting gates and bothering the cows she stands in her doorway and looks out. Just standing – looking out.
Bless her heart.
I hope you have a good day
celi
16 Comments on “Creeps”
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They all look like very happy pigs today 🙂
They are all quite characters, are they not?
Poppy does look like she is on a mission.
i love your attitude and i also love the rhythm of your farm life )
I second that emotion. Love, Gayle
Oh Poppy is so cute. Such a head strong pig. Oh wait – pig/headstrong – two of the same words right? Her ears make for a perfect sun visor. Are a pigs ears soft like a dogs? My beagles ears are the softest ever and I love running my hand down them.
It’s nice to see your animals grazing on the fields. Looks like a lovely upbringing. Farm work is never done but your preparations for the next litter sounds pretty good. Fingers crossed.
Bless your farm and your heart too!
Your Lulu has found the perfect spot to cozy up. Beautiful picture.
Bless you all and may Poppy,s piglets arrive safe and sound
Love the Poppy photo series; you can almost turn it into a movie of her trotting across the field with an air of spurious innocence: “Chain on the gate, Miss C? Was there a chain…?”
I think one of the piggies ate my comment 🙂 I think Tane is itching to get out into the harvested fields for the spilt beans and corn 🙂 Laura
Ha ha! Nothing better than happy pigs. I love the first shot… all of those noses to the ground. Who couldn’t love Tane’s toothy grin?
Like your farm through the pictures…finding time tend to your animals and still blog is quite industrious of you.
I noticed the windmills in the background of a shot a while back. I don’t remember hearing about their arrival? There are definitely mixed feelings in this part of the continent about them. They seem to be more beautiful to those who don’t leave close to them. Me being one of them … I get mesmerized by their slow turns.
Poppy is such a character out grazing with the cows!