It’s going to happen any day now. The sows are looking mighty round. Greg thinks their milk will start coming in soon. Which means that before we know it, the piglet explosion will be upon us.
We have not 2, but 6 litters of piglets hitting the ground this month. Since this is 3 times the number we usually planned for, as you might expect, we’re a bit on edge.
With all the anticipation, I’ve been recalling a story my Dad told me when I was a kid about the time he went to a farm down the road to watch a cow give birth. When things started to go south, the farmer had to use a tractor and chains to pull the malpositioned calf out of the womb.
My Dad was just 10 years old at this time and the experience made quite the impression on him. And his story must have made an impression on me, too, since I’m still thinking about it all these years later.
Luckily, just once have we had to manually deliver a piglet stuck in the birth canal on our farm. With pigs, it’s called a “log-jam” (for obvious reasons) and we handled it swiftly with just soap, water, and one very long rubber glove. No tractors or chains, required, thank god.
The biggest challenge we face these days actually isn’t related to the labor at all. In cold weather like what we’re having this week, if we’re not present at the birth to dry the fresh piglets off, hypothermia can set in and the loss can be great.
You know us, though! We’ve tried to think carefully about every lesson learned over the past 4 years working with pigs so that we can ensure safe passage for these creatures of ours.
This has meant that Greg has spent a lot of time working in the cold this week retrofitting one of the ginger high tunnels into a 3 bay winter farrowing shelter. He added a heater, overhead lights and trail cameras, too.
It’s the most high-tech farrowing set up we’ve ever had, and it feels like it’s already paying off. Being able to check in on the sows from our cell phones – instead of getting bundled up to check on the sows every few hours – is absolutely amazing.
Whatever happens, I can say this for sure. The stage is set. The sows are ready. And now, it’s time for the farmers to watch and wait.
Your Farmers
Jenney & Greg
PS – Thanks to all who picked up 100% grass-fed beef with us last week. We’ve been thrilled to hear so many rave reviews already! We’ll continue to roll out a few new items each week (along with our pork) and if you’d like to learn how to place orders with us, please check out our Five Steps to Order HERE.