Piglet Update

The piglets are doing great!  Agatha ended up with 15!  She only has 11 nipples so our friends took 4 to give them a chance at survival. 

If you want, you can follow their progress here http://candmpence.blogspot.com/

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We had a couple close calls.  At one point Agatha crushed one and we couldn't get her off of him.  He was trapped under her for about 4 minutes while we moved all the other piglets and prodded mama to get her off him.  He was limp when we got to him and looked dead.  We tossed him off to the side but then a few minutes later we noticed he was twitching.  He had a heartbeat but didn't seem to be breathing so Jacob breathed air into him and pretty soon he started to sputter.  He looked confused for a couple hours and was walking in circles but by evening we couldn't even tell which one it had been.  They are tough little animals.
  

Today some of the piggies are taking a field trip to special friends camp so the people going to camp there can see them.  I will update about how that went and add some new pictures when we get home.

Piglets?

The kids have been after me to post about the strawberries and how we used them...

Lots of fresh berries, 17 jars of jam, strawberry shortcakes, strawberries over ice cream, strawberry rhubarb crisps and..... 

What?  You came to the blog to find out if piglets have been born or not?  Oh....

well....

they have!

They started coming around Midnight between July 11th and 12th.  I had specifically asked her to NOT have them in the middle of the night.  But it looked like she was going to have them soon so some faithful sisters slept out in the barn with Jacob.  

 Bandit thought this was the best night EVER!

  They range from light and spotted to brown to black like their mom.

She had 11. We are still waiting to see the final outcome for a couple of them.  There are definitely a couple of runts.  Jacob had to get this one going after it came out.  It was the last to be born.  But it did perk up and start to nurse so as of 3:30am we still have 11.

Update:
At 3:30 in the morning Agatha had two more babies for a total of 13.  Problem is that she only has 11 nipples.  Not a fun decision for Jacob but probably two will need to be sacrificed.  Or put on a bottle which is pretty much the same thing for pigs.


 And they keep doing things like this-

Wandering away and not being able to find their way back or getting stuck in the corners of the stall.  Will update later today.

4th of July at the Stetsons

A traditional Stetson 4th of July.

  Trip to Boom city. 

 Playing in the wading pool. 

 Spending time together in the yard.

Happy Independence day everyone! 

May we always remember to be thankful to God for the freedoms we have.

And may we never forget those who gave their lives for that freedom.

Agatha Moves In

Today the kids finished Agatha's new house and she moved in. 

She went right to work rearranging it the way she wanted.

They made her a nice water hole in the sand

It was an Agatha day at the spa.  Time to get all cleaned up and ready to have piglets.

A very content, very pregnant Agatha, just a few days from having piglets.

Did you know:

 An average pig gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days  

A sow is an adult female pig.  A gilt is a young female

A boar is a male pig and a barrow is a castrated male

A sow typically has 8-12 piglets at a time and can be bred twice a year

Rhubarb for Daddy

Clara has been caring for the Rhubarb for the last few years and even entered some in the Stanwood fair last year.  Rhubarb is one of daddy's favorite treats! 

Last night she made him one of his favorite desserts all by herself; Strawberry Rhubarb crisp.  Picked the strawberries, grew and picked the Rhubarb. Sliced everything, made the topping, put it all together and baked it.

Good Job Clara!