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

It's Vacation Time...

With my vacation time comes lots of projects and things that I want to get done around our little farm.

Over the weekend we started one very important project - building new nesting boxes for the hens. The pet carriers are functional and all, but they are a bit haphazard and kind of janky too.

How the egg cart looked at the beginning.

The first set of nesting boxes were as you can see above. A couple of pet carriers and an old hooded cat litter box that we found at Goodwill for cheap. Over time we add three more pet carriers and it worked for a while. The whole system is not a bad concept...just looked...well, janky. Especially since the litter box is now on top of a pet carrier and, since it is so large, will have at least two hens sitting in it. That's not a bad thing if they both lay an egg. Anyway - with the addition of several more hens we decided an upgraded system would be good. I might still hang on to three of the pet carriers and the so that there are options. It would look nicer for sure.

Today is Monday and I have an outing planned with a friend so there won't be nearly as much happening as we'll be going for coffee and Pokemon catching opportunities. Lunch may be part of the outing, but I'm not sure yet.

Tomorrow is our meat chickie pick-up day - so we'll be heading south to Tanget to do that. I love that there is a hatchery so close to where we live. So today we'll need to get the brooder all cleaned up and ready for new tenants - 30 of them!

I will be posting here each day and sharing what we have accomplished each day. Right now, I need to employ good time management skills. My list of things to do is a mile long and I only have a week off.

Here's to farm life!