Back to normal...whatever that is.

Well Daph is back to her old self. She is certainly skinny compared to a week ago. No wonder scours wipes out piglets so fast. Daph is "merely large" and I think another week of this would have wiped her out, fluids or no fluids.

In any even she came out to the trough last night with the other pigs. And gobbled up food. Since the slop has lots of liquid, she'll get plenty of fluids at the same time. I use a secret mix of 16% protein chow, salad oil ($20 for 35 pounds was a deal) and water. Makes them all crazy and is doing quite well at (1) packing on the pounds a little faster and (2) helping with the dry skin the big pigs got this winter.

As of this AM Daph was at the hay feeder nibbling away just like her old self.

But the Dalan Farm is not all about sick pigs! There is a lot of other fun stuff to do this weekend! Like clean the chicken house (yesterday...10 wheel barrows full of compact doody and straw for the compost pile), cleaning the hog huts today and the goat barn tomorrow. This stuff will likely be used in the garden next year. Green chicken poo, even cut with straw, is REALLY hot (high in nitrogen) and would likely turn everything brown this year.

Chickens are making eggs like mad. And so are the ducks. Funny thing those ducks. The boys (we have two male and three female) have been harassing our rooster and one of my hens. So much so I finally proclaimed that on the first warm day, I would be moving them from the pen to the freezer. Heather proclaimed the same for the females. We decided they are basically useless, and they were free.

First warm day came (we actually had a 65F day after weeks of -6F at night and 10F during the day) and you know what? Duck eggs everywhere. And it's been the same ever since. So they have earned a reprieve. Now that it is cold again, the boys are off the hook as well. Come spring, I make no promises. I'm thinking duck stuffed with Goat (Chevon) sausage and sage.

Sounds yummy to me .