Of course. I leave the farm for a day to learn grant writing in a class at Heartland College, and the pig I've been watching day and night, night and day for the last week, decides to give birth. Figures. Little Miss Debbie had her litter of eleven just before noon today. Our first litter of pure bred Red Wattles. Long live Fritz the boar. (May he rest in peace) That means the winner of our Litter Lottery is...drum roll please...MUSTARD !! If you are unfamiliar with Mustard he is one of the hardworking chefs at Epiphany Farms. You can check out all that they do on their site http://www.epiphanyfarms.com/ Mustards guess was so close to perfect , he said Feb 25 at noon, 11 piggies, I think he must've been hiding out in the little hog hutch watching Iand then counting as the piggies emerged. I'd like to think his intentions were pure and his concern was only for Debbies welfare but the Red Wattle meat is know for its rich tasting meat and Mustard is a chef. You do the math. I'll get your prize in the mail to you very soon Mustard, and thanks for playing this months REAL farmville game .
Now the sad news. Not all piglets survived. Keith reports two were stillborn and one was...uh..rolled on. Since Debbie decided to deliver in the large hogcienda instead of the mini hog hutch built for one, we cannot assume it was her fault. I've never really trusted our sow Dot. She's not a Red Wattle and I've noticed her giving Debbie the eye when she thinks I am not looking. An obvious case of swine envy since those recent news articles never really mentioned our cross bred hogs. Tomorrow the candied ham cam goes up in the hogcienda.
Actually Keith reports (I told you I was in class !! I can't be every where at once) that all four sows are acting very nicely toward the surviving piglets. The weather is cold but dry and clear without wind so the babes should be quite warm in the deep straw bedding coupled with the body heat of 2000 pounds of mama sows. Tomorrow I'll post pics.
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