Farm Livin'

        This little piggy went to market. Come Monday the last of our first group of pigs are off to market.  

        All of them seem to have become best friends with my husband.  

       Have no fear we have cute baby pigs to replace them.  These adorable 30 lb. pigs arrived on the farm Monday.

         Did you know a pig this size will eat 3 pounds of feed a day?  Oink, oink.... stay out of my way. I'm hungry.

        A water drink or itching post? The red with black spots piggy has an itch that needs to be scratched. 

        We are day two post surgery and a trip out to see the pigs always make him feel better. 

        My husband has enjoyed the pigs so much, we are expanding the operation.  Here is a farrowing house built by his grandfather in 1948 according to the markings in the concrete.  A farrowing house is kind of like a nursery for pigs.  It's where all sows come to have their babies and stay until they are weaned. 



       Originally this building housed 20 sows in crates which lined both side walls with an open middle.  We aren't sure how long they used the barn, though. My husband only remembers raising baby pigs outside in huts and this building being full of "treasures."   It took a week to clean it out.  There was lumber stacked on both sides, farrowing crates stacked in a corner, an old snowmobile, a stack of extra tin from building a different shed, and many more things including a nest of 4 baby skunks and a momma possum with two little ones.   Eventually this will be separated into three pens for finishing hogs.  

        On the outside we will have to cut three holes in the wall to allow the pigs to get fresh air.  Before that can happen we need to pour some concrete, install water drinks, find some more feeders, and add fences.  We already have the posts to install the fences to, gravel down as support for the concrete, and working on forms to house the concrete as it dries. 

       In a few short weeks there will be 120 pigs running around in the sunshine.  

       Before we headed in for the day it was time to pick strawberries.  Yum, Yum!!  Our first picking resulted in 6 quarts of delicious strawberries in the freezer.