Wow, I hadn't realized how long it has been since we posted. But nothing makes us want to write, or at least share pictures and videos, like new babies on the farm. Let's not bury the lead, and let everyone get their piglet feeding frenzy fix:
There it is, porcine cuteness incarnate. We haven't written much about the pigs previously, but we had decided to try our hand at breeding and raising pigs. So we bought two registered Berkshire pigs - one boar and one gilt (a gilt is an unbred, or first time breeding female. I'd like to think the name is somehow a corruption of guilt - which we often push especially on our human females when they first breed. Of course, the males are "bores" their whole lives no matter what). They are Alpha and Pearl respectively. We got her first, and he was much younger and smaller when they first arrived. We got to see them attempt to breed over and over again, and that led us to believe she would be due August 17. We waited with baited breath, and did our best to contact all of our pig people before the day to glean whatever wisdom we could. Sadly (temporarily) that day came and went, and we kept waiting for pigs only to find disappointment. We eventually concluded that on their first attempts at amore he was just a little too short to full complete his boar-ish duties.
Gilts (and sows) go into heat every 21 days or so, so we eventually set our sites for 21 days later, and hoped with all of our hearts (stomachs and wallets) that she was really pregnant. Finally on September 10 we were rewarded. I got a call at work fairly early in the day to let me know the little pigs had arrived. Our advice had been to leave them alone early on, because disturbing them leads to momma (especially new mommas) accidentally crushing them getting up and down. So for the first couple of days, we gave her her food, but didn't do much more. Around the 2nd or 3rd day I turned off the electric fence, fed her, and got in there with them. Our prime pig man, Tommy Searcy of Gum Creek Farms, had advised us that if a first time momma brings 4-5 pits all the way to weaning then she is a good momma. That day I was able to count 9 squirming, walking, adorable live baby pigs . . . and 2 that she had probably accidentally crushed.
So far the number remains at 9 live piglets. We have been told to expect at least a bit more attrition. Almost a week after birth, they are much more active now, which means more agile and more able to dodge momma when she lies down for them to feed. That said, we aren't counting them just yet, but hoping the majority will make it to weaning age.
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