Straw thieves!

Having bought some new straw on Sunday, I cleaned out the piglets’ ark, a necessary task every few days as they’re still being toilet trained. Although they tend to go to the loo outside, they do go inside as well, presumably at night – especially with all this rain bucketing it down!

So, having cleaned out the wet straw, I gave them about three-quarters of a bale, and left them to it, playing in the suddenly much bigger bed, eating the heads of barley, throwing it about and generally enjoying themselves (their fun was abruptly halted when Pinky and Curly saw what was going on and booted the piglets out so that they could play!).

I then took a second bale down to the sows and gilts, nearly slipping in the mud en route but thankfully managing to stay upright! I only intended to give them about half of the bale, topping it up again later in the week but, being pigs, they had other ideas. I put the bale in the ark, pulled the old straw to the front, which is where the rain comes in, cut the string, carefully removed half, and put the half I wanted to keep in the corner, and set about shaking the sections up. That done, I turned round …. and saw that Perky and Scrumpy had taken matter into their own trotters and had done the same to the other half! I thought they were enjoying the straw that I was shaking about the ark but no, they were making sure they got the whole bale, not half.

So they got the whole bale, though I did tell them that this means they won’t be getting a top up for at least a week.

I don’t think they cared…

Perky in the pig ark - 15 November 2009

The pigs continue to play happy families!

If I’m honest, I’ll admit that young Master Curly is a pain in the backside and I spend half my time wishing I’d sent him off before Bailey, instead of waiting for the freezer to empty so I can fit him in.

However, I spend the rest of my time marvelling at how gentle he is with his piglets:

Curly and his piglets - 23 October 2009

Pinky is, of course, as doting as any sow:

Pinky and her piglets - 23 October 2009

If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see that she even dropped down in a large pile of pig poo to feed the piglets when they started telling her that they were hungry!

Good times

All change!

Yesterday turned out to be a mammoth pig moving day, which just goes to show how much I have changed. Gone are the days when I couldn’t move one ark by myself … yesterday, I moved two!

Pinky, Curly and the piglets had run out of grass. It might have looked as though they still had grass, since the enclosure had a green floor, but I know that all the good stuff had gone because they did this:

Pinky, Curly and the piglets - 4 October 2009

However, there was one small hitch. The part of the field where I wanted to move them to was slap bang next door to where Tia, Brini, Perky, Scrumpy and Fergie were getting down and dirty in the mud (ie clearing the undergrowth) which meant that in order to move The Family, I needed to move the Quintuplets first! Why? There’s not an electric fence in the world that would keep a boar away from five females if they were so close! And considering that Scrumpy is Curly’s mother…

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to establish a hierarchy after I put them together for the first time on Thursday, once I’d got back from taking Bailey. Amazingly, Tia is the new matriarch! That’s quite something for a pig who, 18 months ago, I bought only because I felt sorry for her. It just goes to show that a leader lurks in all wallflowers… Anyway, the remarkably swift establishment of said hierarchy means that they are sharing one ark at night instead of using both, which actually made the move possible, since there was no way I was three pig arks in one day!

So, with much grumbling under my breath (the five pigs had at least another week’s grazing were they were, possibly more), I transported all their bedding to the new site, dragged their ark across the field, went back for the rubber mats that make up their floor, rolled up, moved and erected three 50m rolls of electric netting, then moved the five, who knew where they were going and only waited for me because I had some pears in a bucket!

Tia, Brini, Scrumpy, Fergie and Perky - 4 October 2009

After dragging myself back to the house for a most tasty lunch of boiled eggs on toast (thanks, girls!), I set about moving the piglets.

In theory, this move wasn’t as physically demanding, since the distance was (a) shorter and (b) on a slight downhill slope but mentally, it was exhausting. Have you ever tried to explain to six squealing and hyperactive piglets that they have moved house?!

Once everything was moved, I finally managed to catch all six and plopped them in the ark, persuading Pinky to go in to feed them to help them relax. This tactic vaguely worked, in that instead of rushing around the enclosure, panicking, they instead ran around after her as she rushed around sampling all the different grasses!

Eventually, once the sun had gone down, I saw the piglets take themselves off to bed in the ark’s new location, rather than the old location, which is where they had, naturally, been trying to get to all afternoon, blocked by the electric fence, which I switched on.

All in all, it was quite a day!

Here’s another piglet photo (sorry, can’t resist!)

Piglets! 4 October 2009

I can’t believe how much they have grown in the past two weeks!

More piglet Ooohs and Aaahs!

Patch - 29 September 2009

That’s Patch. He’s the smallest of the litter and is currently being bottle-fed on top of what he gets from Pinky. And yes, the others do have names as well, but I’m still struggling to tell them all apart, let alone get them to stay still long enough for me to take a photo!

Piglets at the milk bar - 30 September 2009

You know you want to steal one, really!

Curly, Pinky and their piglets - 1 October 2009

Amazingly, considering it was the first of October, it was so hot on Thursday that the pigs declared the Grand Re-Opening of Wallow Season and I spent much of the afternoon carrying buckets of water across the field to refill empty water bowls.

Pinky wouldn’t let Curly share her wallow … he had to wait til she’d finished!

Piglets on the move - 2 October 2009

I swear that this lot are far more adventurous than my previous litters … this morning they were all for heading off down the drive, and this afternoon their courage (thankfully!) failed them just as they were about to pop through the electric fence making up the sows’ enclosure! Little monsters… On Sunday, I’ll be switching their electric fence on in the hopes of encouraging them to stay put!

Stay-at-home Dad!

Mum (Pinky) went outside to do her thing:

Pinky - 22 September 2009

Dad (Curly) was left in charge:

Curly and the piglets - 22 September 2009

Luckily, he’s great with the piglets:

Now, if I can just arrange that Lottery win so I can stay and play with them all day…

Pinky and the piglets!

I’m pleased to report that all seven piglets survived their first night and were sound asleep between Pinky and Curly when I arrived at the farm this morning.

I’ve taken loads of photos, but thought you might appreciate this video as well:

And here’s a photo of the piglets in the ark with Pinky and Curly:

Curly, Pinky and their piglets - 21 September 2009

It’s so frustrating – after today, I don’t get another day off until Sunday, which means I’ve got loads of work to do around the farm. But it’s also my last full day to sit and stare at the piglets! Anyone fancy giving me a week’s wages so I can stay here and watch the little buggers grow?!

Happy birthday, Curly!

Keeping young Master Curly until his first birthday wasn’t exactly how I planned things, but Fate intervened and Curly has endured. This is a miracle in itself, as I wasn’t expecting Scrumpy to farrow when she did – but neither was she, as I discovered her in the ark with all but one piglet, a pink boar, which was screaming for his mummy outside in the cold and wet… I picked him up, put him in with his siblings, whereupon he found a teat and has never looked back.

Scrumpy and her newborn piglets - 10 September 2008

Curly and Squeak - 18 October 2008

Curly - 9 August 2009

As it rains, so I return indoors to the blog!

Sorry about the absence, I took advantage of the glorious weather to be a busy bee outside and have rather neglected the blog of late.

So much has been going on, I thought I’d cheat and do a photo update of some of the highlights (yes, yes, I know that you know this is because I’ve actually forgotten what I’ve been up to and the photos I’ve taken are the only reminders…)

For various reasons, I’ve been unable to send any pigs off for slaughter so I’m still feeding eight hungry mouths, which is annoying me somewhat. The only good thing about it is that little Curly is rapidly growing so we should get some decent meat from him when his time comes. Which it had better do soon! Oh, I lie, there is one other piece of good news about Pinky and Curly’s delayed departure: they’ve cleared a massive patch of brambles for me! In fact, I’ve had to totally adjust their fence so that they’ve got something to eat as they’ve completely exhausted their original patch:

Curly and Pinky - 22 June 2009

We have two new hens: Maude and Mildred, a pair of Warren POLs (point of lay) who are approximately 20 weeks old. The others are being extremely mean to them but I’m hoping they’ll settle in soon.

Maude - 22 June 2009

It was a no-go with Willow and her Maran and Light Sussex eggs. Not a single one hatched. I did think that they weren’t warm enough to the touch quite early on during her incubation, but there was nothing I could so except wait and see. Thankfully, she got off her nest when I (gingerly) took the eggs away, but right on cue, Speckle went broody! She’s been in the broody ark all week and I’ve been promised some Light Sussex eggs, so I’m hoping she’ll settle in and hatch some LS chicks who should be good for laying and the pot…

When the sun next comes out, I’ll try to take some photos of the two new girls. They’re quite camera shy at the moment, not that I blame them!

Did I mention that it’s been hot, hot, hot? Here’s the evidence: even Fergie, who hated getting muddy, has been spotted frequenting the local wallow:

Fergie - 23 June 2009

And Midge, the dog who also hates getting muddy and wet, has completely shocked me with her choice of Favourite Game:

Midge - 24 June 2009

B’s cat is a bit of an idiot:

Horatio - 24 June 2009

But I can’t talk. Just look at my dog:

Snipe - 24 June 2009

And here she is again, this time with her new toy:

Snipe - 25 June 2009

So that’s what I’ve been up (not to mention everything I’ve forgotten about).

And you?

Brambles, basking and bikes!

I spent yesterday clearing some brambles in the enclosure that’s playing host to Fergie, Perky, Scrumpy and Brini. The two adults are in heat so were in a mood with me (no, I don’t know why either) and kept vanishing off to sulk and/or squabble, but Fergie and Perky followed me faithfully, pouncing on each bramble stalk as it miraculously fell from the heavens.

Fergie

Perky

Pinky and Curly spent the day in the nettles (Curly’s been making a tunnel. I don’t know where it leads.) but as tea time drew ever closer, they took up position so they wouldn’t miss out.

Pinky and Curly

B, meanwhile, spent the afternoon repairing an old bike she’s been given and once I’d sawn off the too-long seat shaft thing (you know, the one the saddle’s attached to), she was able to take it for a test ride and I was able to test out my photography skills when it comes to action shots.

Becci tries out her bike

The bike worked great and just needs a few more bits doing to it.

I’m a rubbish photographer.

Poor Curly!

When I arrived at the farm the other morning, I found Curly asleep in a scrape outside his enclosure, as close to the electric fence as he dared get, directly opposite the ark where Pinky was asleep, no doubt wondering where on earth her pen mate had gone.

I have absolutely no idea how he got out, but I’m grateful he didn’t try to go anywhere!

Bless him, he was so pleased to see me, though I had a bit of a hard job trying to get him back into the pen as he’d obviously been zapped several times by the fence in his attempts to get back in and wasn’t taking any chances.

Still, I managed it in the end and a joyful Pinky was reunited with her pen mate.

Once she’d said her hellos, she got on with the important business of being a pig, but the poor boy was in shock and spent most of the day in a depressed slump.

Curly - 29 April 2009

He was on form the following day but he was so miserable!