Maternity Pen
November 24, 2013
At this time of the year, lots of folks are counting down the days. Some are counting down to the end of the year. Youngsters are counting down the remaining days until Christmas. Around here, we are counting down the days until the baby pigs come.
The cold weather makes this job a little tricky, but our moms are experienced. They will have no problem managing their babies. They will build big, soft, deep nests. The nests will cradle the babies and along with mom’s body heat, will keep them warm.
The sow in the photo is in an eight foot by eight foot pen. She is a big girl, but still has plenty of room. She also gets “playtime” twice a day. She gets to exercise and walk around. She soon gets tired of the whole exercise thing and walks back to her pen. Or perhaps I should say “waddle”, because she is at the end stage of her pregnancy…. you ladies know what I mean 😮
I spend a little extra time petting and talking to my gals. They seem to appreciate a scratch behind the ear or a good brushing of their backs. All this bonding goes a long way when its time to handle thier babies. They tolerate me much better, knowing that I won’t hurt Their young. I should probably rub their feet …but then that’s going a bit too far 😮
In any case, the time of year for counting days is upon us. Especially here at the farm… I’m doing all that I can to make sure there is indeed “room at the Inn”.
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