17 babies all fast asleep
December 8, 2012
Yesterday, we weaned the baby piglets from their mothers. The two litters equal seventeen babies. They fussed and fought a little yesterday , as they worked out the pecking order, but all is quiet in the nursery today.
You have to look close, maybe even click on the picture to enlarge it, but the babies are all there. Some like to sleep all piled up with their siblings. The others prefer to hide under the straw, safe and warm. It is always funny to me that they can hide so well.
I made a little noise and tomorrow you can see more of the mob as they scrambled from “the big bad wolf”…me 😮 These little ones will soon be ready to go to new homes. Some we will keep, but others have been spoken for and will be gone in another week or two.
The little boys have all been altered. The piglets will now continue to learn to eat and drink on their own. They have been picking at grain for quite a while now, but up until yesterday, could fall back on their mother’s milk. They are adjusting and doing well.
The last thing will be a vaccination shot and a dose of medicine to rid them of worms. Then the race to finish will start. They will be headed for freezer camp in about four months. I do plan to keep a couple of little girls to become part of our sow herd. Raising our own babies makes it so that I know every thing my pork has had to eat, and any problem what so ever, from the womb to the tomb. I want it that way.
The mothers are resting in pens nearby. They are a bit sore today from enlarged breasts. The milk will soon go down and be absorbed back into their bodies. They will feel much better, so much better in fact, that the old boar will look attractive to them again. Then the cycle of life will repeat itself, in just a few days.
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
RicelandMeadows 