They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Gertrude has recovered amazingly from her ordeal last week, and the piglets are almost double in size. In a week or two we will need to introduce creep feed and water for them. This might be a good opportunity to introduce hog drinking nipples as well. Then in about 8 weeks, try to sell six… Continue reading Healthy Pigs
Tuesday was a rough day for Gertrude. First time mama-pig, with a litter of 10 piglets. She had a long pre-labor on Sunday into Monday. 6 hours of labor to produce the first piglet on Monday, then 3 hours more to bring out the rest of them. Then they were nursing all night. She was… Continue reading A Rough Day for Gertrude.
Yesterday was a long and stressful day. At 4:30 Gertrude had still not had any piglets. First time gilts can sometimes go a day or two longer than the 114 days gestation time, so we weren't too worried, but we decided to move our school to the farm instead of staying at home, just to… Continue reading A Harrowing Farrowing
Last night, checking on Gertrude, was able to get a drop of milk from one of her nipples, and she seemed pretty restless. My guess is we should have piglets today or tonight at the latest. 
Our Meishan sow, Gertrude, is very pregnant. We think (actually we know for pretty sure) she was bred on or around May 8th, which means she should farrow sometime between August 29 and August 31. So right around the corner. She has been having trouble getting into the tall feed trough recently, so I moved… Continue reading A Very Pregnant Pig
Monday morning Seppi got up and asked "Daddy, What kind of day is this? Do we get to eat meat today?" (We do the traditional meatless Fridays in our house, and Seppi hates days without meat.) Upon being reassured that it was in fact a Monday, and therefore meat was on the menu he asked,… Continue reading A Day without Mommy
This post is long overdue. That is because I have been in Texas on National Guard orders for the last two weeks and it was a very busy course. Early mornings, late nights, long days of computer work. Boring! This all took place at the end of May. Remember, Gertrude was bred on the 8th… Continue reading Sick Pig
Gertrude mounted, May 8, 2026. If she takes, she should farrow around Sep 1.
Gertrude and big pig are officially moved in together as of May 4. He continues to be very interested in her So far, she is showing no interest in him.
