We are currently enjoying warmer than usual weather here in Tennessee, which has allowed us do some work on fencing a new pasture. We currently have 19 pigs and one of our sows just gave birth. Given our very dry summer last year followed by heavy fall rains, the pastures have taken a beating. We want to continue getting more pastures ready so we can do more rotation to let the grasses recover and provide plenty of forage. It’s been slow going with just the two of us working on it and trying to squeeze a little work in during naptimes, but we are hopeful to get at least one new pasture ready in the next month.
Given last season’s piglet chasing antics, we got smart and built a small catch pen in the nursery pasture. This is one of the few projects that has taken less time than we expected to complete and we were able to get it done in half a day. This left us a little extra time to work on lowering fence insulators in the areas the pigs have started to dig up in the pastures.
D is now fully mobile and has discovered the joys of the great outdoors. She is not yet very stable on uneven ground but seem to be enjoying not being stuck in her stroller while we do farm chores. She is not very helpful yet, preferring to sample the chicken scratch herself rather than throw it to the chickens. The piglets are not sure what to think of her squealing back at them face to face and take off running from her, much to her amusement.
Our sow Rocky gave birth last Sunday to a small litter of four large piglets. We think that the litter was so small because we put her in with the boar at the end of her heat cycle. She had a difficult labor, with more than an hour passing between piglets so I had to intervene and pull two of them. If you had asked me several years ago, if I would ever imagine having to reach my hand into a 600lb sow and pull out a piglet, I would have looked at you crazy. But here we are and some days on a farm, you just have to put on your big girl pants and do what needs doing.
Given last season’s piglet chasing antics, we got smart and built a small catch pen in the nursery pasture. This is one of the few projects that has taken less time than we expected to complete and we were able to get it done in half a day. This left us a little extra time to work on lowering fence insulators in the areas the pigs have started to dig up in the pastures.
D is now fully mobile and has discovered the joys of the great outdoors. She is not yet very stable on uneven ground but seem to be enjoying not being stuck in her stroller while we do farm chores. She is not very helpful yet, preferring to sample the chicken scratch herself rather than throw it to the chickens. The piglets are not sure what to think of her squealing back at them face to face and take off running from her, much to her amusement.
Our sow Rocky gave birth last Sunday to a small litter of four large piglets. We think that the litter was so small because we put her in with the boar at the end of her heat cycle. She had a difficult labor, with more than an hour passing between piglets so I had to intervene and pull two of them. If you had asked me several years ago, if I would ever imagine having to reach my hand into a 600lb sow and pull out a piglet, I would have looked at you crazy. But here we are and some days on a farm, you just have to put on your big girl pants and do what needs doing.
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