Good Morning!

Usually when I do some research when I want to get involved with something, I like to hear the "bad" stuff. I find this information helpful because sometimes things do go wrong. Sometimes the weather just won't cooperate. Sometimes you may feel extremely exhausted and dread going out in the freezing rain. And fence work? Not my idea of an exciting afternoon.

I clearly remember a statement this woman had made about her farm a while back. That's all it was...just a statement. Not a full article detailing the "how to's" of farming. But just a simple feeling she had one morning. She just didn't feel like going outside. She just wasn't in a good mood. But as soon as she stepped outside, she was immediately greeted by happy animals excited to see her. Sure, they wanted to be fed, but it's nice to see happy, excited animals. Her mood changed and she had a great day.

My day usually begins by getting up early (I love getting up when it's still dark) and getting the coffee started. I turn on the computer and then maybe get some appliances going.....then sit down with my first cup of coffee. As the sun comes up, I start glancing outside to see the morning status. Is anybody up? Anyone escape? Why are the dogs barking? I happened to glance to my left one morning, looking out in the field towards the huts. No one was out yet. Still too early and cozy in their huts. Then all of a sudden 20 plus piglets bolted out of a hut and raced towards the feeding area. I could imagine one piglet saying, "Last one to the fence is a rotten egg!!". Then the moms, one by one, came out of the sleeping quarters...slowly stretching with their morning yoga. They do look like they are doing the "downward dog".

The roosters start crowing, however that begins as early as 3:00 am. The geese fly overhead from the backfield to the pond out front. The cats who were sleeping in the house wait by the office door ready to start their day shift. The cats outside during the night jump on that same office door. Night shift is over and are ready to sleep. We all have our morning routines.

I thought about that woman's statement this morning. I wasn't in a bad mood....I just found it hysterical when I opened the side door and all of the pigs....boars and sows out front, piglets on the side and the pork hogs in the back...simultaneously lifted their heads and looked towards the house.

"She's awake!!"

They really do look happy....and that makes me happy.

Yes indeed, the feeding will begin.

Downsizing...

Gosh, no kidding when people say the older you get, the more time flies. It certainly does! Another hot summer went by. As we went day after day of 100 plus degrees, our decision of not doing poultry this year proved to be a good one. It was also smart to downsize a bit because Scott's work took him half way around the world for a one year assignment. Scott left for Djibouti, Africa last September. We needed to get our farm into a manageable state for all of us to handle.

It takes a while to build up a herd but before we knew it, we had twenty-five sows in our fields....which led to many piglets. Strangely enough, pigs are hard to find in these parts. We kept some piglets for our farmers market pork and sold the rest...which was most of them. I never worried about not being able to sell piglets. I put one ad in our Valley Trader and wound up spending hours on the phone with interested people looking for hard-to-find pigs. Most were sold even before they were born. I also got calls from larger farms who decided not to have breeders but purchase weaned piglets for their pork operations. I can understand going that route. I think Scott would be interested. There's a lot of worry and labor behind farrowing piglets. However, that's my favorite part! But yes, I do agree, there is A LOT of worry. We have had so much rain this past year. Of course it was perfect timing for a very wet spring and fall farrowing season...endless hours of trying to keep the huts and piglets dry....not fun.

Last spring and summer was phase 1 of downsizing the breeder sows. A few were the obvious ones to try and place. They were actually in the pork hog group but a young, feisty boar broke through his fence and got to them. They were good moms and had great litters so I thought that maybe reaching out to other farms would be better than taking them in for pork... farms that let their animals run on fields or in woods. Five of these sows found good homes.

Some of my dear sows found homes by accident. I wasn't necessarily trying to sell them. A few new farmers had called to purchase piglets. They were interested in producing pork and would love to start breeding, but the thought was daunting.

"Do you happen to have a sow that is already bred?"

I thought hard about this one. A young family with lots of kids living the farm life, interested in pigs. I know the joy that you feel when you see piglets running around. The joy of when your 400 pound mommy sow comes up and rubs her head on your leg. Hmmm...Mary Lou would be good for that family. Do I want to sell Mary Lou? I could downsize some more, but I really like her. She's a great mom. She's great when I'm around her when she's farrowing or when I need to handle her piglets. She's just plain great...she's great and I love her...Yes....Mary Lou would be perfect for the young family who would like to know more about raising pigs. Mary Lou found her new home.

Harriet was also a dear little sow who made her way to a good home. Her new owners were new to farming and wanted to dive head first into pig rearing. They also were interested in a bred sow. Harriet somehow turned out to be the "ugly sister" of her litter. She was a small, funny looking Tamworth, but sometimes the ugly ones turned out to have great looking piglets. Harriet would be a perfect first sow. She wasn't too big and she didn't care if I was around her piglets. She was another great mom who made her way to a wonderful new home.

When phase 1 was complete, I was left with 15 sows. That's actually still quite a bit, but I needed to stop. I needed to take a breather and live with these girls to see if 15 would be okay....

I also found good homes for some of my boars. I didn't need three Tamworth boars. I had purchased two Tamworth brothers with the plan of keeping the one I liked best and selling the other. The problem was that I LOVED them both...my Max and Hamlet. Max was the better looking of the two and my best breeder. But darling Max was an escape artist. We couldn't keep him behind any fencing we were able (and could afford) to build. Needless to say, he was the "young boar" who kept escaping to the pork group causing much stress! A gentleman came by for some piglets and claimed that he may also be interested in a boar and a sow for breeding.

"Max is very friendly. Loves his people.....but he needs super duper fencing. He is also a jumper so it has to be tall enough!"

Not a problem for this gentleman to build the fencing that Max needs. He also purchased my dear Clementine. Clementine was the most wonderful, friendly, playful sow. But she, too, was an escape artist. She could shimmie her way under anything, over anything, around anything. She also needed the super duper fencing this gentleman could provide.

I really wish I could keep them all, but I have come to realize that it's impossible. It's impossible to keep the good ones and sell the bad ones. They are all good. They all have brought so much joy to our farm. I love each and every animal that I have owned. I had no idea that pigs could have the greatest and most loving personalities. It's only fair to share that joy with others and to hear the great stories that they are experiencing with my pigs.