WEANING DAY - OUR LITTLE PIGLETS ARE GROWING UP
It was a long hard day on the homestead today!
I won't even go down the lengthy list of activities from today, but I will mention that I like keeping my activities varied. That way, I don't have to get bored or spend hours on end with just one task. I can change it up and keep it interesting. Along with other things today, we finally got around to weaning our first nine piglets from the sow that @smailer bought us.
WEANING DAY!
YUP, THEY ARE BIG ENOUGH NOT TO NEED MAMA ANYMORE
We got the mama into another pen tonight. Yes, it was late tonight, as the grainy photos can testify to. We actually waited about six weeks to wean, which, although it is not unheard, it is not so common these days. Since you can breed a sow 4-6 days after weaning, a lot of piglets are weaned in less that two weeks of being born. Many hog breeders can get about 2 1/2 litters per year, with a 114 gestation period.
For us, the goal is not to have our sows be piglet factories. We can still easily get two litters per year, but we don't need to rush things.
Just for fun we let the @little-peppers try to bottle feed the piglets for a bit. Some did drink. This was not so much to take the place of their mom, but to have a bonding opportunity between the children and the piglets. If they tried to pick one up before and the piglets squealed, their mama would come racing over, like a good mama should.
Now, mama is out of the picture, so they kids can try to play a little more with them. We will be working on getting these little ones out to some pasture soon, and it is on the lengthy to do list. They are a lot of fun to watch play and bring a lot of joy to our family. We will keep you posted on how things continue!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-weaning-day
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
They are beautiful! Farm life must be really relaxing...
Thanks for posting!
It is, we really enjoy it!
The grow up fast! :)
Stupid question but... do they smell?
I think you would be extremely surprised at how clean of an animal that hogs are. I was under the same impression before I began raising them as well. They choose a "special" spot in their pens to be their bathroom, and regularly return to that spot, and use only that spot - never will you ever see them going to the bathroom in their housing or feeding areas. The only odors associated with raising hogs (atleast on smaller scale) is due to mud being prevalent from constant rooting and their high weight concentrations on their hooves creating more mud.
Ah nice. Thanks for the info! Sounds cute too.
Whats the long term plan with the pigs? Is there a point when you say yea that enough pigs? Just curious.
You got bacon for days!
Sell some, eat others, breed some too. Until then, just enjoy them and have fun.
@papa-pepper follows that old adage... this little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy became bacon ... oooh will you make bacon?
That's awesome that you're doing it. :)
Please dont make lide ibto a comodity, treat the pigs well and respect them , dont sell them off, a slaugjeter house wouod readly buy them and convert them happy pigs into tortured crearures. Love nature for it it is.
If I sell any, it'll be to people like me, not to a slaughter house.
I have just one question:
How do you decide which little piggy gets roast beef and which little piggy gets none?
Honestly, we hadn't considered that yet.... I'll get back to you!
Sounds like you had an interesting day, @papa-pepper. We used to wean you piglets at 6 weeks, sometimes 8. We weren't in a rush to have more piglets and it gives mama pig a chance to build up before the next batch are born. We weren't in a commercial hog raising venture and I think your meat tastes better for it. The kids will enjoy playing with the little piglets.
Yeah, we are a little more laid back about it too!
Great post amigo, thanks for sharing. Cheers from Mexico!
Thanks! Greetings to Mexico!
I love your blog, it's very interesting @papa-pepper
Thank you for that. It's just the live that we live!
Omg! I had not seen black pigs!!!
It seems that in this profile I find interesting things, I invite you to go through mine @rosangelatg9
Once again @papa-pepper you have produced a nice blog about your day with the baby pigs. It was cute to see the kid is so hands on as her pops. You have a gift brother and it's shines beautifully through your seeds as well. Great read my friend. Thanks for sharing
#circleoffriends