One Month

Late afternoon on March 28th, Fiona farrowed 8 itty-bitty piglets. Her first litter was only 5, so the prospect of 8 had me a little anxious. Of course, the first litter did not survive (sadness), but this one was successful and all 8 survived the first night. The next night a couple of the piglets were squished by momma and we were left with 6. 

March 28, 2020 - first family foto

Now here we are one month later and those little soda can sized piglets are now the size of a two-liter bottle of some fizzy beverage. Out of the whole bunch we have one female - Little Fiona. She is our keeper along with one of the boys who is a little gimpy.

Over the past month these little dudes have been the best distraction during this COVID19 crisis. The Governor put the two week stay at home order the evening of March 23rd, so to have these littles arrive 5 days later was, and continues to be a welcome distraction. The stay home order until May 4th just extended my stay on the farm with lots of opportunities to play with the piglets.

On the Monday that Tom found that two of the piglets had been squished we had to come up with a new arrangement for the piglets. Fortunately I had been in contact with Farmer Jason at Cascade Meadows Farm and he said that a creep would help to keep the piglets safe at night.

The best thing EVER! It was a quick training period to get them into a routine a day or two. Soon, we would go in and see that they were all sleeping in the creep under the heat lamp.  For the first several days we took turns going out to check on them to make sure they were where they needed to be. Only a couple of times they decided to be with momma.

Actually, there were several mornings after we quit checking on them that a couple of them - and sometimes all of them would be sleeping with Fiona, which is fine, but they needed to stay in the creep while Fiona got out to eat her first breakfast. They would hop over to the creep once I came in and settle down and fall right back to sleep. Perfect!

That routine lasted almost three weeks. Now they are little bruisers and they darn well do what they please. Sleeping while Fiona goes outside - no longer a thing. EVERYONE goes out! It's no use fighting what they want to do. They are getting big enough after all.

Also, over the past couple of weeks they have become very affectionate with us and will come up and rub their little bodies on our ankles and then plop down. Then the belly rubs start and soon they are sleeping. Of course they nap and will hop up as soon as they hear something and then they are all action.

All in all, the piglets have been a blast! Everyday is a new adventure and watching them explore the world around them is priceless. Discovering the ducks and the chickens all the way to a couple of them "meeting" Rex. Earlier today one of them tried to nurse and was nudging Rex in the belly in hopes that there would be milk.

If I knew that piglets would bring so much joy I would have gotten them long ago! Well, maybe not, but still. Maybe we would have had pigs earlier while starting up our farm. The reality is that we got them at just the right time. They make me smile and fill my heart with joy. People are interested in them and we welcome visitors - while still practicing physical distancing. Well, mostly anyway.

What will happen in the next few weeks...we'll see how weaning goes when they are about 8 weeks old. I'll need to contact Farmer Jason to find out how the weaning process is to happen, but that is for another day. Once they are weaned we'll be listing 4 of the boys for sale. I want to enjoy as much time with them as possible which is why being home now has been so good!

Farm Life is the Best Life...

with piglets!

Tough Love?

Okay, so my experience with an Embden Gander was good. Really good actually. My Lenny was as devoted as a goose could be...to me.

He would come up to me and get as close as possible just to be close I guess. He never did anything to hurt me or chase after me. Well, he would come after me, only because he wanted to be with me. Other times he would start to do some sort of goose howl at me, but it was quite desperate. Usually this was while his body was up against my leg and totally stretching his neck out so his head was closer to me. 

Man I miss Lenny!

Lenny getting as close as possible

Late last spring we added a pair of geese - and things were fine for quite a long time. Actually, I think that after these two were full grown, they realized that Tom was the one at home all of the time and I went away during the day. So for that I became the not-so-favored human.

 

After a while things started to get less than cordial and Gus would chase after me a little and bite me. It's been a couple of months. Now if he has the opportunity, he will totally chase after me and attack me.

Yet he does nothing to Tom.

In the last few weeks he has gotten relentless and will continue to do whatever he wants to me even when I'm trying to get him to stop, stern voice and everything. He pretty much hated everything about me. Late last this week I was walking back to the house and he came after me and just started in and would not stop. He never did get a hold of me, but he tried and I did my best to keep his head away from me even with his wings going. That was it. I had enough. I was 100% ready to get rid of him and possibly her since they grew up together. 

Knowing that Tom really likes having them around I decided that if they could be penned up and not running free all over the place then I would be okay with them staying. It was a good compromise and one that Tom agreed to. 

He placed an order for a new portable fence from Premier 1 and lo and behold it was delivered today! 

Starting tomorrow these two will no longer be allowed to run around the farm and pooping all over the place and leaving land mines in the driveway. Also, I will no longer have an escort to walk me to and from anywhere on the farm, to the pigs, to the car...the garden even the hoop house! It's a few steps from the back door and Gus would take ANY opportunity to make sure he exerts his power over me.

Also starting tomorrow...

Farm Life will be much sweeter!

Hump Day

Two more days and it will be weekend time again. I think that the days at home last so much longer doing tedious work projects when I really want to do farm projects. Also, I feel a little forgotten. sigh.

Oh well, at least I have things like this to lift my spirits - even just a little...

This morning was a reminder that the piglets are growing and their needs or their little brains are progressing as well. As per the schedule of the last two weeks I went out before dawn to give Fiona her pre-breakfast ration. Most mornings up until this morning the piglets would go to their creep and settle back into sleep. This morning was quite different! A couple went to the creep and settled down, but within a couple of minutes they went out and joined the others and were clamoring around Fiona for their first meal as well.

Look at these little fatties! Once I took a look at this photo, it was a very cute thing and I decided it was time to let them do what they want to do. They ARE nearly three weeks old afterall!

Tonight I hope to get them out with Fiona behind the structure that has their shelter. They seemed to like to poke around a couple of nights ago. Last night they preferred to run around in the paddock.

They are a perk for me while working at home. I just wish I could spend more time hanging out with them while they are eating, sleeping and just being piglets.

Farm Life...Best Life

Herding Piglets?

Today the piglets decided to explore beyond their fence. The tricksy little stinkers figured out how to get out by going under the fence. We either need to keep the fence energized all of the time or just let them do what they do. 

After dinner tonight I decided to go ahead and let Fiona out and leave the fence open so that the babies could join her and 4 of them did! The other two were napping within their area and missed the opportunity.

It's hard to stay upset with the situation as it were. They are too cute and how can anyone be upset with these little faces?

I do believe that this life is everything that I want to live out for the rest of my days. Just need to drop the work thing....

Farm Life is the Best Life!




Fun Video...

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!

For the first time in forever we are not celebrating Easter with our church family. Thank you COVID-19. Instead we'll be meeting remotely and separately as we tune into Felida's YouTube live session later this morning. It's a good thing really, we can only hope that unchurched people might land on the video during or after. It's not ideal, but it's what we've got right now and at least we'll be able to attend worship, but only separately. Sunday evening is our Small Group night and we have been meeting via Zoom. A handy tool to allow us to meet for a short period of time.

My weekend started on Friday and I feel like I've done enough that I don't feel like the day was wasted. Also, I'm trying not to beat myself up when I don't feel like doing the things that I say that I might want to tackle. Staying home is enough to keep me feeling down, so I don't need to set my expectations high.

Yesterday and Friday I did spend some time in the Hoop House getting things cleaned up and organized. Also decided to transplant some seedlings - even though they were on the small side. The only problem that I ran into was the fact that my seedling trays were mostly trashed and I had to get more. My choices: Amazon or drive to Wilco in Battle Ground. Because I don't like to go to Battle Ground I looked on Amazon first. After searching for a few minutes and kind of being interested in a couple of different offerings, I decided to drive to Battle Ground. This trip will probably be the last trip out there for a while. At least it is an option.

A mix of saved seeds and new seeds from Seed Savers

Both Friday and Yesterday were beautiful sunny days so I was happy to be in the hoop house and not out in the wind. Friday the temp reached 82 degrees out in there! Anyway, transplanted more than is pictured above. Looking forward to more days getting seeds and seedlings planted or transplanted!

The one thing that I wanted to do, which probably will happen today, is to get the tarp out and cover the garden for the next few weeks. The chickens have been moved out and it's time to start the prep with a period of baking for the next month or so.

This was taken March 10th.

My hope is to start planting in about a month. That gives me a few weeks to plan where to put my crops and how close I want to make the beds. The vining crops take too much room, so those will be planted somewhere else. Maybe in the space where I tried to do Three Sisters last year.

Lots to plan!

Late yesterday we went for a walk and as we were getting started we saw this:

These are the neighbors who live across the street from us. They were practicing Social Distancing and playing BINGO. I didn't notice them at first since I getting my Pokemon Go working. Then I heard someone yelling out B-11 or whatever. We are only acquainted with three of the families and it was fun to see them outside. This sheltering in place has caused people to think about relationships and this is awesome! On our way back I heard one of the men yell "The winner of the next round wins eggs from the neighbors!" Hahaha...I would have brought over a goose egg if I were feeling saucy enough. Next time.

And now it is after small group time and I've got a little time to finish this post.

This afternoon we DID get the tarp on the garden, but when I was out a little bit ago, the wind had blew some of the tarp around. We'll need to find some heavier weights for the corners I guess.

The only problem is that the garlic is in the big garden this year. I decided to try planting into the ground instead of into a raised box to see what kind of difference that would make. While I knew that I would be putting a tarp over the garden this year, that didn't stop me from planting the garlic. Note to self - plant garlic elsewhere this fall.

Also moved the fence around Fiona and piglet's area. It's only been two weeks with the piglets, but Fiona has been in the space a week more. Fortunately Fiona is the only one with full size pig poo. The littles still have itty-bitty everything! So, they will be okay for another couple of weeks.

Now my weekend is coming to an end and I'll need to get back into work-mode tomorrow. I'm certainly not looking forward to it as the project that I'm working on is very tedious. I am grateful that I still have work coming my way and that I don't have to worry about being furloughed or laid-off.

The only thing getting into the way of farm life is work :( Oh well, it's not forever and really farm life is still pretty sweet and I can't wait until this is my forever!

A Day Off

Even though working at home feels weird, because I'm working - mostly. I still need a day off. Besides, I've spent nearly three weeks at home now and it was time!

Amazon Prints has a fun thing they offer on the website - personalized mugs! So I've taken to creating a new mug when we get something new on our farm - and even have ordered a couple for gifts. I started this with Rex & Fiona when they were first here with us and the latest mug is of their offspring - the PIGLETS!

Other things that I got up to today would be working in my hoop house and getting some of my seedlings transplanted into pots to help them along.

This space is a little disheveled

I had some success and some half successes - I did get 7 Purple Kohlrabi seedlings and 7 Romanesco  seedlings, the successes. All ten of my Salvaterra tomato seeds sprouted, but not all were ready for transplanting, but since I was not on top of keep track of the seedlings over the past week many of the seedlings withered.

Overall I had a nice day off from working in the Dining Room which included a lot of hanging with our momma pig and her babies...

Going into the weekend with a much better outlook! Farm Life is helping :)

Daily Note for April 9, 2020

Okay, so we'll see how long this lasts - my track record here hasn't been very good. However, since I am stuck at home during this COVID-19 crisis, I may as well record some daily happenings.

Probably the cutest thing from the day had to be one of our itty-bitty American Guinea Hog piglets was getting a full-body massage.

From our experience with his big daddy, Rex, it didn't surprise us that this little dude enjoyed a good belly rub. With Rex sometimes all we would do is barely touch his side and he would totally plop down for a full-body massage like his off-spring.

Yep - the CUTEST!

Yesterday, the meaties finally were transferred out of the livestock tank that we used for a brooder and into the new and improved Stress Free Chicken Tractor.

This is definitely a deluxe living space for the meaties! The first build was almost to the specifications in the Stress Free Chicken Tractor book. Almost because the bending of the metal conduit was not going well and Tom ended up using miscellaneous copper joints to make the frame that would be the roof. This one features plastic electrical conduit and instead of a tarp, wavy plastic panels. The other plus about this is that I can stand upright in this one and there is a lot of head space to boot. The meaties were very hesitant at first, but were convinced after I brought them an extra portion of food for the day.

The work that I did today was mind-numbing, but at least I have the piglets and the chickens and ducks to visit throughout the day. I have decided to take a day of vacation tomorrow. Even though I am home, I am supposed to be doing work stuff and not farm stuff. Tomorrow I'm gonna be a farmer!

Farm Life - Best Life!

It Finally Happened!

The moment that we have been waiting for since we brought home Rex & Fiona!

When the first litter didn't make it, it really was a learning experience, and we were better prepared this time around. Also, we spent the past couple of months thinking, "Is she or isn't she?"

January 18 and March 18

For the longest time I was just being hopeful. Then I thought maybe she was getting fat - that was really a thought. It was a thought that was unwarranted because she and Rex had been getting the same exact diet. She would have had to be sick to get THAT big. So, yeah she was definitely great with piglets!

The week before Fiona farrowed I got a message from Farmer Jason of Cascade Meadows Farm. His assessment from a photo that I had posted on Instagram was that Fiona looked to be about a week away from having piglets. He suggest that we separate her from Rex. At first Tom thought he would get Rex over to the other side of the old structure that will one day become the Pig Palace. Then I had the idea that the room that we had already talked about using as Fiona's farrowing room actually be used for that purpose. We have an extra fence that won't be needed for another couple of weeks. Perfect solution!

March 28, 2020

For the week leading up to her actually having the piglets she seemed to be enjoying not having to share food. Plus having a king size room all to herself was just a bonus!

This time around we were ready for her to have piglets and learned even more so this time around. Having her separated meant we didn't have to deal with Rex. Also, we had powdered Colostrum available to give the babies a boost before they were able to nurse properly at the milk bar.

Around dinner time on March 28th, Fiona started to act a little off. Not her regular I want to rub my head on you or push you over because of food type of behavior. Once I figured out what was going on the first piglet came about 5 minutes after I was getting the idea in my head. Oh, hey - that's like confirmation right there!

Tom had been putting a couple of tarps over the part of the shelter where Fiona was housed - good thing too! Anyway...

The whole process was about two and a half hours and at the end of it there were eight piglets. The first five were fairly good sized and the last three were smaller with the last one being the smallest. Fiona did so well and she was so good natured throughout the entire process. She let us "help" her while she was laboring and we didn't feel like we would be in any kind of danger otherwise. Fiona is a very sweet and chill sow. It's almost like she understands that we were there to help her.

Our next learning experience happened not the night of the piglets arrival, but Sunday night. I was feeling fairly confident that they would survive another night that I didn't think anything would happen when I went to bed Sunday night. Monday morning I was up early, but did not go out to check on Fiona and babies. Instead we just went about our routine and then Tom went out after we had our coffee and had discovered that two of the piglets had not survived the night. They had been squished. My sadness was not as acute as Tom's, as I was not the one who found them. That's not to say I wasn't sad. I was hopeful, but thankful that not all of them had died.

Afterwards, I posted on Instagram and then later Farmer Jason had sent a message and suggested that we build a structure called a "creep" for the piglets to go to in-between feedings. Tom pieced something together hung the heat lamps and then we started to train them to go there when they were not nursing. Here we are five days later and they are getting the hang of the routine. Let's face it, when there is heat involved where would you choose to go?

So during this COVID-19 craziness we have been pretty happy at home. Even though I do have to work, at least I can take a break and check on the littles throughout the day. Even being at home I can see how blessed we are. God has been good to us and continues to bless us with things that bring joy to our hearts. A joy that we have been able to share with a couple of friends. Who doesn't love a baby animal? I think piglets are the BEST!

While we continue to practice physical distancing our focus when I am not working will be on making this little piece of happiness the best it can be. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is a pretty good gig.

Farm life is the best life...

and PIGLETS!

April 4, 2020