If you were hanging out in the Kitchen’s Garden Lounge of Comments yesterday you would have read that a piglet was lost in that first cold night. I found him dead on Poppy’s side of their quarters. Being the Lady Pig Farmer is not always easy. All our focus these first few days is keeping the babies safe and well fed. This task feels mutually exclusive at times.
Although this does not happen often in my set up it does happen. The sows are very, very big and prone to rolling over without warning then they find it hard to move very fast when a piglet gets stuck beneath them. They are pretty nonchalant about their piglets. They wade through them. When they are ready to lie down they will often wait until the babies are away from them. But it looks to me like Poppy is a bit lazy this time around. She is not being as careful. But pigs are not people and the words lazy and careful do not apply. Nature has her way. I think us people just get IN the way.
For the first few days the sow is very tired and sleeps much of the time, this gives the babies time to get their feet. Then they are like street urchins playing chicken with a Bus in traffic. By now they have learnt to be quicker on their feet if they want to survive.
We lost one of Mollys this time last year too. Another big piglet. A combination of too much straw, too cold, and with Poppy – me shifting her bed and giving her more straw for warmth. I knew the straw was a risk. And I have now been taught by these mother pigs that it is a risk I cannot take again.
Poppy will just have to deal with it. She still has straw and shavings but not as much. I went out late at night and cleaned around the perimeter again, there are gullies and tiny safety corridors around the outside of the pen as escapes for piglets – if she fills these in, making big beds for herself, (which she did the other night with all that extra material) they can get trapped. And last night was the last of the really cold nights, I hope. She is a very big sow now.
All went well last night though – we still have six fat and warm babies sleeping in their creep nest. I ran out and checked at 5.30am so I could give you a report.
With this nice sun I will open Poppy’s door when I go outside – the fresh air will be cold but everything goes better with the door open.
Sheila (below) is more than happy to be out of it. She never had babies and never much liked boars. So she has never had to go through this. She has been doing her housework getting this part of the field ready for seeding. Happy in her work.
Beautiful calves. With all this attention on Poppy and her piglets, I have not paid a lot of attention to the calves. And they really are a friendly bunch.
I did get a lot of the winter dug out of the chook house yesterday, though. When I am feeling out of sorts I like some good hard work. And shovelling winter chicken shit is good hard work.
The West Barn is a bit of a feed-lot as we wait for the grass to grow. I hate it but it is the season. I need the fields to feed them for the whole summer so we have to let the forage grow.
They tend to mill around their hay feeder most of the day. And it was sunny yesterday with the Northerly still blowing. With a little sun this is the best seat in the house as far as best seats go at the tail end of this long winter. Nice and sheltered. Yesterday, the cows, they stood, still and absorbent, their heads poised, wide-asleep. with cold backs and sun warm fronts waiting for spring. Or something. No cow is terribly sure what.
And so to work. Maybe I can get that chook house finished today.
It is still quiet on the farm. Next week I will be bringing in a small herd of pigs to grow on. (They are baby show pigs that do not have the right markings). And the following week the chicks and ducklings come. THEN the work begins.
So for the moment I am making the most of this little hiatus.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
WEATHER: A little more sun and a little elevation in temperatures. It is a bit like a weight loss programme: if we shed the cold weight slowly maybe it will STAY SHED!
Sunday 04/08 0% / 0 in
A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 42F/5C. Winds light and variable.
Sunday Night 04/08 60% / < 1 in
Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low near 30F/-1C. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Sun
6:24 am 7:25 pm
Moon
Waning Gibbous, 48% visible 2:19 am 12:11 pm
The Kitchen's Garden 
60 responses to “SIX WARM PIGLETS”
Being a farmer is hard work and often there are these instances of sadness as well. I’m sorry that one of the babies was lost so early. Lovely pics of the other animals. I hope the warmth has come to stay.
I’m sorry about the loss of the piglet. Strange how yesterday I was working through sadness too. Punkin the squirrel showed up not looking well at all. She had not visited in a couple of weeks, but in that time she’s lost half of her hair and seems to be miserable – perhaps it is mange or some other type of disease or disorder. There is little to be done since she’s wild now. Sometimes all we can do is hope for the best or move on positively somehow.
Sorry to hear about Punkin, Lori. I enjoyed that recent photo of her little face sticking out of the hole in the tree. It is hard to let go of the outcomes for our animal friends.. xx
Thank you for your kind words, Ardys. I have done a little research, and I still have hope she might overcome whatever it is that has caused her to lose her hair. More than anything it was difficult to see how her eyes looked. They weren’t bright and open wide.
Are you thinking parasites? Can you put some wormer in some food for her?
I’m not sure. I plan to call Wildcare in the morning to see what they recommend. We don’t see her often so we may not be able to treat her. I feel it’s either mange or some type of fungus. I have read that is common in squirrels and if weather conditions are good, many make it through and grow hair back.
pig-o-rific!!!
Those little piglets are so sweet. Its always a shame when an animal is lost. You have such a wonderful farm and I am enjoying your blog so much!
Thank you Lisa -the blog is kind of a daily journal of my small far adventures and I love writing it and love that you are enjoying reading it. Have a great evening. c
You call this busy worrisome time a hiatus! We have different views of hiatus, I think.
I hope the adjustments work well for you. I wondered what the mortality of young piglets in the wild is, and according to one paper I found when I googled it averages 15%. I didn’t have the access to see the list of causes. I imagine they are similar to yours with an addition of predators when the mother leaves her young to forage. Which made me realize that instinct to be hidden in a snug place while mom is gone out to eat is why your creeps work so so well.
Really sorry about the seventh little piglet, Celi. Hoping the group that is left will all survive and thrive. xx
Those piglets already look like they have personalities. They are darn cute.
Can’t believe how fast piglets grow . . . I do hope that includes brains to shush out of Momma’s way 🙂 ! And it won’t just be piglets shortly down the track . . . ! And Sheila – perchance just a cheerfully gay auntie enjoying her ways . . . .
I loved this poem: ”
YESTERDAY THE COWS
they stood,
still and absorbent,
their heads poised,
wide-asleep,
with cold backs and sun warm fronts
waiting for spring.
Or something.
No cow is terribly sure what.
Cute little piggies! 🙂
Your piglets are adorable. So as your chickens – Oh my they are huge! Love the calves too. Hope it will get warmer soon.
Will you be keeping any gilts as replacement breeders? I didn’t work on the pig operation long enough to know how many litters a sow generally had before they replaced her. I hope the show piglets grow out well. Sometimes hardiness is not a consideration when breeding anything for show.
I think you are right Celi … nature does have her way
We lost a couple of babies this year when our mama stepped on them. I brought one of the babies inside after it got stepped in. We had to bottle feed her and heal an open wound. A couple weeks later she was all healed and back in the barn with her siblings.
Oh well done. That is hard work. It is always such a worry – those sows are big! We are at the two week mark now – so i am beginning to relax. But there is always the chance of an incident if the sow gets over excited. I over feed the Mama to combat any exciteable behaviour. But often it is just luck.
Reblogged this on Happiness Between Tails by da-AL and commented:
Guest Blog Post: Six Warm Piglets by Cecilia Mary Gunther
Warning: reality check, then Cuteness Overload! It’s not for nothing that the human star of the pig movie, “Babe,” went vegetarian…
love this so much I just reblogged it — hope you enjoy how it looks on my site & that it brings you lots of new visitors 🙂