One of our wild avian friends decided to build a nest behind an electrical box on the backside of the Farm Store.
When I peered in the other day and saw the perfect dome-shaped nest and imagined how long it must’ve taken her to collect each one of those sticks, I was awestruck.
I considered removing the nest right then and there and forcing her to build elsewhere. After all, she chose a high traffic area and the smell and sounds that may come from it in a few weeks may be entirely off putting.
But I stalled knowing that I just didn’t have the heart to make her do that work all over again. And I soon came to find out, Greg and Abby had come to the same conclusion a few days earlier.
When I think about it, this little bird was actually the first of two creatures whose nesting behaviors I’ve observed lately, the second being our sow, Meatball.
The little bird harvested just enough material with a little extra fluff on top for camouflage purposes. Our sow, however? Lord only know why, but she built a nest equivalent to Fort Ticonderoga, plus a moat, drawbridge, and more.
Truth be told, I’ve never, ever, seen a nest like Meatball’s before and neither had Greg. She got out of hand and clearly gathered way to much material, building a dome so large that she couldn’t even reach the top!
When her labor actually started, she assumed position underneath the nest itself, instead of on top like usual because the mountain of bedding was too tall. As you can imagine, this created a deathtrap for the little piglets on the way who would need to find colostrum quickly without roadblocks of straw and sticks everywhere.
Luckily, just a few minutes before the piglets arrived, Greg and I noticed the growing monstrosity across the farm and were able to deconstruct the fortress just in the knick of time. Why and how we noticed this, in this moment, at the end of a long day, is beyond me.
But we did. And the outcomes? Well, we have new chicks in the farm store – if you hear peeping while you’re shopping with us, now you know why – and a new litter of piglets on the ground. Relief comes in all sorts of forms, doesn’t it?
Your Farmers,
Jenney & Greg
PS- Exciting news this week! We’re unveiling our new and improved website with a brand new e-commerce platform. We’re in the process of transferring over to the new page, but in the meantime, you can submit an order through this form HERE.
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