We have decided to go live on the net. Little sprouts will soon host a live 24x7 webcam where you can watch the animals live.
The first will be the new baby piglets. Stay tuned!
The first will be the new baby piglets. Stay tuned!
Follow along our adventure as we make the transition from corporate city life to the world of natural farming. Each day brings a new experience and brings us to a deeper understanding about the life and spirit that made America great. At our farm we do our best to give the animals we raise a natural, free, happy, stressfree lifestyle. Our mission is to learn and share how to manage a farming operation that is both profitable and humane.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
First outing!
April takes all of her 10 kids out for a late afternoon play in the mud. They all seem healthy... Even if small. And April is proving to be a great mom!
New waterer for the pig pen
With the new piglets arriving early, we had to scramble around to provide a community watering spot outside of the "winter pen". With most farm supply stores closed this late on a Sunday we had to improvise.
What we decided to so was to get a small metal watering trough, sink it in the dirt so that the piglets could reach inside it and line the bottom with spare bricks so that if they fall in they wouldn't drown. Then I strapped a hose to a branch and to the fence to give stability and set position. This was connected to the water supply on a timer so that I can adjust how long and when the water flows. The regular fresh water should replace what is drunk as well as keep the trough clean.
You can see the final setup in the pics below. The piglets are able to reach and drink, and hopefully the cranky Romeo won't be able to push it around being buried. It may take a few days to get the timer right and everything set permanently, but its working for now!
What we decided to so was to get a small metal watering trough, sink it in the dirt so that the piglets could reach inside it and line the bottom with spare bricks so that if they fall in they wouldn't drown. Then I strapped a hose to a branch and to the fence to give stability and set position. This was connected to the water supply on a timer so that I can adjust how long and when the water flows. The regular fresh water should replace what is drunk as well as keep the trough clean.
You can see the final setup in the pics below. The piglets are able to reach and drink, and hopefully the cranky Romeo won't be able to push it around being buried. It may take a few days to get the timer right and everything set permanently, but its working for now!
All 10 piglets nursing today!
I chekced this morning to find 10 little piglets quietly nursing off mom! We are very happy that they all have made it this far. Yesterday 4 seemed very weak and they are all VERY small, it seemed doubtful that they would all survive. Nevertheless we left the mom alone to take care of them, and prayed as a family for their health, and today they are ok.
Our philosophy is to leave everything to nature that we can, with as little intervention as possible. In this case it seemed to work. It is amazing tha thte mom could get those four piglets up and nursing when 2 of them could hardly walk, but somehow she managed.
The one "intervention" I attempted yesterday was an attempt to place the weakest of the litlte piglets on moms belly to get it nursing but in the process I made the one cardinal sin of a pig farmer, NEVER STEP OVER A CRANKY PIG. Sure enough she jumped up, throwing me against the wall of the shelter, scratching my leg up and pull my hurt arm backward. That was 10 minutes of intenst pain that resulted in the mom leaving the pen anyway. The only good that came out of it was that we were able to wash the mud off her belly while she was up. This did allow hte piglets easier access to their precious food.
The bottom line here is, once again, in most cases nature has a better way of dealing with things than our attempts to improve on it. Its simply amazing to watch all the miracle of birth and observe the success of these animals when provided their natural habitat and left mostly alone.
Heres a couple shots of the piglets in their morning meal.
Our philosophy is to leave everything to nature that we can, with as little intervention as possible. In this case it seemed to work. It is amazing tha thte mom could get those four piglets up and nursing when 2 of them could hardly walk, but somehow she managed.
The one "intervention" I attempted yesterday was an attempt to place the weakest of the litlte piglets on moms belly to get it nursing but in the process I made the one cardinal sin of a pig farmer, NEVER STEP OVER A CRANKY PIG. Sure enough she jumped up, throwing me against the wall of the shelter, scratching my leg up and pull my hurt arm backward. That was 10 minutes of intenst pain that resulted in the mom leaving the pen anyway. The only good that came out of it was that we were able to wash the mud off her belly while she was up. This did allow hte piglets easier access to their precious food.
The bottom line here is, once again, in most cases nature has a better way of dealing with things than our attempts to improve on it. Its simply amazing to watch all the miracle of birth and observe the success of these animals when provided their natural habitat and left mostly alone.
Heres a couple shots of the piglets in their morning meal.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Another litter arrives!
We have our second litter of pigs today. April must have gone into labor early this morning.
For now there are 10 babies, but 4 seem very weak. She has not started nursing yet and if she doesn't soon some won't make it. Unfortunately she is much too testy to work with yet. Attenpting to get her on her side nursing a couple time resulted in some scratches on me and the mom sitting on one weak baby. We have decided to let her settle alone for half an hour and check again.
We did install the gate back on the winter pen where they are to keep the other pigs out. This means we need anothrr waterer for the main pen.
When we get back from the store to install willl be time to see if she has figured this out and how many made it alive.
Lets pray that all 10 make it.
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