Enclose the pigs on the pasture. Apply the rain evenly over ten days. Feed the pigs twice daily to encourage them to root.
“et voilà” good pasture turned to mud bath in under two weeks.
It might all look calm and orderly in the photo but there’s quite a bit of pushing and shoving at feeding time. We were feeding the pigs in the middle of their paddock and it was only going to be a matter of time before one of us belly flopped into the mud.
Here is feeding time with piglets after 1/2 inch of rain. The buckets are supposed to reduce the food waste, but as you can see the piglets have other ideas. The field has gone from being muddy to looking like the Somme, it won’t be long before we move them all to drier ground. Thank goodness their ark is nice and dry.
The piglets are scampering about sticking their snouts into everything. One escapee managed to duck under the electric and through the stock wire. We couldn’t find it and with the light fading we had to leave it to it’s own devices. ‘It should find it’s way back, that’s what piglets do’ we told ourselves!
Headcount check at first light, 8 are you sure? After a double and triple check all eight present and correct. Sultana remains her laid back self keeping the little ones and herself fed.
Sultana
The most adventurous piglet has a white blaze on it’s forehead shaped like Harry Potter’s scar. Not a good name as she’s a gilt, maybe we’ll shorten it to ‘HP’.
Kiwi’s back with us, she’s been away for the last 5 weeks with the boar, hopefully she should farrow in February. Her last litter are coming on well, they’re just about 4 months now which is when they get boisterous, they’re like delinquent teenagers pushing and shoving each other. Pigs have a talent for turning good grazing into a mud bath in double quick time. These Six are black belt ninjas hopefully we can keep them there for another month and then it’s off to the butcher.
Sultana’s litter is a week old and pretty lazy if you ask me. Only two have come out of the ark, the rest are happy to stay inside all warm and cosy and wait for Sultana. We think the two adventurous ones are the same two that were out on day one. Today however another two have braved the outside world, take a look at the video.
Sad news unfortunately we lost one piglet yesterday, we think Sultana sat on it, so we’re down to eight. The others are doing well though, fingers crossed.
Sultana, had 9 piglets yesterday. All fit and well. Two ventured out of the ark somehow and I found them under huddled up together underneath it. It’s Sultana’s first litter and she’s chilled about the whole event.
To make the perfect mud bath you will need;
Dumblehole 