Pop goes Olivia...

The big lady is dropping ppiglets today. Good thing I moved her 2 days ago. She's doing great and so are the baies. 4 so far, I'll bet she's got 8 or 9 total, maybe more.

Dave,

More news

Pigs are going to their new homes, cows are settling in and goats are starting to kid. Lily had triplets again. Two little red girls with frosty ears and one girl who looks just like her daddy, redbeard.

Picutres as promised

Had a great family reunion yesterday. And managed to get some pictures (of critters, not the reunion). Just some random snaps of Swinehildas babies, Bigmomma coming to check me out, Blossom and Raisin (Dexter Cattle) and some of our truly free ranging pigs (piglets regular journey into completely unfenced hay field.

Enjoy :--)

Pop! Goes the piggie

Swinehilda finally dropped her littler. 8 beautiful, big babies. I wnet down, shuflfled them under the heat lamp (they were dry and sleeping...cleaned and fed) instead of cuddling under momma.

Not  a bad way to start the day :)

Dave,

NOTE: She tricked me. One more piglet arrived between my early AM check and chores.

Total is 9 :)

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!

"Hilda has still not yet sprayed forth piglets. But her milk is in (it's expressible...yes we squeeze Hog boobies). Should be any time now.

And there is this big, loud black thing in my pasture. It's name is Blossom and it came with a small black thing we named Raisin. They are our new Dexter cattle (miniature cows). Full grown a steer is 800-900lbs and about 50% dressed, so about 400# of beef a shot. Momma is beautiful and was dehorned as a young one (makes me much more comfortable playing with her) and is slowly learning that we are her source of food. Heather will be working on halter training her and convincing us to let us milk her. Dexters are supposed to produce around 1-3 gallons a day, so plenty manageable for us.

I'll post pictures as soon as I have them :)

Dave,

Now my wife has done it...

With some gentle, nudging encouragment from me (something like..."Oh just buy the damn things before they're gone and you miss out...") my wife has confirmed our purchase of a bred Dexter cow with a calf. She was worried about if we had enough ground  and if we had enough loafing shed space. We do, and they'll fit in fine. Or I'll put them in the freezer. Ahh, farm logic, quick and easy :)

Anyhow, we'll pickup the new critters soon and I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.

I finished about 4 acres of seeding with the no-till box this week between rain storms. Timing worked out well, and so did the drill. Way over the needed eed rate, but seed is about half of what it was last time I bought it, so the extra seed is no biggie.

If I had to do it again I would have bought the 8' drill and not the 30", but at the time I didn't have the $$. Someday...

Next year (after I spread manure this fall) I'll overseed the lower 6 acres of hay ground. Mostly to keep the stands nice and thick and get a few legumes (Alfalfa) mixed in. We filled the barn last year, so if the plantings take off, I will have to sell hay as I won't have any place to put it.

Oh, and 'Hilda hasn't popped her piglets yet. Someday....

Dave,

And the watch continues...

Swinehilda continues to look like a big, black football held up with toothpicks. Looks like she will explode. I would realistically guess she'd easily in the 10-12 piglet range with this litter. She farrowed prematurely last time (doesn't look like an issue this time) and had 8 I think. But alas, her milk did not come in and we lost the whole lot. It was he first time, the feed was not as good as what we have now. I have high hopes for her that the issues were environmental and not sow-related.

With our nutrition change, our birth numbers are up significantly, and no stillborns at all. The largest live litter we had last time was 8, and this time that's the smallest, our largest being 11 this time. I cannot wait to see how 'Hilda does.

I'm on pins and needles!!

Dave,