This week, we’re waiting on Greg’s favorite pig Stardust, named by our niece Lilah Jean, to deliver. We had hoped, or should I say wrongly assumed, that since her due date was in mid-April, we wouldn’t have to worry about freezing cold temps or snow for her big day but since this winter weather just won’t quit, we might be in for another winter farrowing adventure this week. Keep us in your thoughts.
One of the interesting elements to breeding pigs has been learning how to determine when a pig is actually pregnant. The learning curve has been steep for this midwife, turned organic farmer. You might think there is a lot of overlap between humans and pigs. As it turns out, there isn’t.
In the human world, it’s pretty simple. Pee on a stick, and you get the results within a few minutes. These tests don’t exist in the pig world. So, we’ve tried some different strategies for “preg-checking” pigs and some of them were far more complicated than you could imagine. For example, there’s one technique that we learned about from a farm in Vermont which involves carefully examining the angle of the pig’s vulva. Apparently, it points upward when a sow is even a few weeks pregnant. It seemed relatively straight forward. I will spare you the details, but I can say that despite all our best efforts and lots of careful examination of pig vulvas, we never were able to figure this one out.
Nowadays, we rely mostly on tracking their heat cycles, but like to confirm pregnancies with a higher tech pregnancy test. We use what’s called the “Preg-tone II” (funny name, I know) which is a small device that detects fluid in the pig’s uterus when it’s placed on the right spot of the pig’s lower abdomen. Curious how this works? Check out the video below of Greg and I preg-checking our sow Wanda a few weeks ago.
We will post pics of the new piglets to social media when they arrive so come on over to our Facebook and Instagram and start following us if you haven’t already.
With only 4 more weeks left indoors, we will be at our usual spot at the indoor BFM this Sunday. We have more stewing hens that are perfect for soup/stock making and a full selection of our pork cuts including chops, shoulder roasts, sausage (including breakfast, hot and mild Italian), bacon, deli ham, and the more. Hope to see you soon!
Looking forward to warmer weather soon.
From your farmers,
Greg & Jenney
PS- Be sure to try out the pork chop recipe below. Super simple, and quick..we find that it’s perfect for busy weeknight dinners.