Selling pigs

Well, we have now got rid of all our piglets, and even one of our sows, Wanda.

We put some pallets in the back of the Toyota, and drove the last of the piglets around to sell.

When we got into pigs, there weren't any others around. Now, there are three pig operations in our village alone. We believe in diversity as the key to a good local economy, so we have decided to sell up before the market becomes saturated. We will still raise a couple feeder pigs each year for ham, bacon, chops, etc. but we will no longer be in the breeding business.

It was very sad to see Wanda go, but not as bad as it will be when we sell our boar, Amigo, who sits on command and runs up to be petted whenever anyone goes over to the pen.

Oh well, such is life. At least we'll still have the rabbits, who are the easiest animal in the world to raise.

Gloria's first litter

Gloria, our second sow, farrowed yesterday morning during our first stormy night. She had 8 babies in total, but two were stillborn. Of the 6 remaining, 4 are male, 2 female.

Once again, they are cute as can be.

Wanda's piglets are now much bigger. It rained yesterday and they were frolicking around in the mud - happy as pigs.

More babies

Yesterday afternoon, Wanda, one of our sows, gave birth to 7 beautiful little piglets. We had expected her to have more, but this is her first litter and having less might not be such a bad thing as she learns the ropes of motherhood. She is a great mama, being very careful to make sure her babies are out of the way before she sits down and keeping them all within her sight. She is also very calm with us (even with an overexcited little three year old) being around her and her brood.

We all went out after lunch to check on her (we knew her time was fast approaching) and there she was, with one piglet running around and another coming out of her. They really are so cute at this age. Unfortunately, Gloria (the other sow) was right next to Wanda and her nest, so we decided to move her out, as she could accidentally squish a piglet. Abe had to push her unwilling ass into the pasture and shut her out of the pen. She is very annoyed. She's not used to being alone and she feels her place is beside Wanda. Just for a couple of days, Gloria - sorry.

For more photos and videos, click here.

New Sows

This week we've been doing some work on the gardens, but most of our efforts have gone to the pig pen. We mucked out the toilet area (we would place hay on top of their poop, which keeps the smell away and makes for a better compost), and put it in a pile in a garden bed we won't be using for a while. While Abe and I did that, Leo carried rocks and filled in a hole they'd made under their water nipple (they quickly learned how to push the nipple so that water would pool up into a lovely mudbath, which had grown incredibly deep). We then put a shade up and made a new hoop house, so that each sow would have a nesting area.

Once everything was ready, we went to the city and bought two beautiful sows. They are still young (born in July 2010), but already showing signs of the immense size they will grow to be. Both are pregnant, one due about 18th May, the other beginning of June.

They had a stressful day yesterday with the 2 hour journey to our place, and when I went to take a photo, they were asleep under the shade in some hay and did not even stir. Notice how their front legs are intertwined (we had considered getting just one due to the cost, but decided that the company would go a long way to keeping them both happy and healthy).

We need to fence a new area for them to graze, although there is no rush, as we will keep them penned up until they are used to this as their new home. This is the first time they have lived with dirt and grass under their feet, so we don't think it will take them long to call this home.

We only went a few days without having pigs on our property, but we are glad those days are over. These two are the beginning of our herd, and we hope that they will long be a part of our family.

For more photos, click here.