Days 59-63:...and by tomorrow I meant Saturday

Howdy!

Weather: It has finally cooled down to the 70s and the clouds have rolled in, but it was fairly warm and sunny earlier this week.

I don't have much to report from what occurred early in the week, seeing as I was tied up with class, work and adventures that left no room for piggy-time.

But I've made up for that lately...

Thursday I met with Jody, my wonderful adviser, and we determined that the sows are gaining weight as they should be, and might soon be able to have their feed reduced to 6#/sow/feeding (they're fed 2x a day).

Friday I spent all morning (from 8:30-11:30) setting up new fencing with my chums Hannah (the livestock intern) and Jacquie (who's also doing a project with pigs this summer). The sows now have a bigger area to roam, root and graze and the piglets have an entirely new area to spend their days in. Friday afternoon I went to Butterworks Farm for a field trip, and brought along the farm truck to pick up 1,000 lbs. of their high-quality pig grain. The piglets should be set for the season!

This morning (Saturday) I fed the pigs the bakery seconds I had picked up on Thursday along with my helper Tobias (5 y.o.) who had never visited the piglets before. It was quite a treat, for all parties.

Day 58: More tomorrow...

I had 9 hrs. of class today...eek!!

More to report tomorrow, when I have more time.

Today's free time related to pigs included tracking down a Butterworks Farm grain order and confirming the price of a piglet I'm selling to a fellow student for her senior project.

Days 56 & 57: A reflection on pig diet

Back in late May/early June I made a decision with Jody, my adviser, and Stuart, the farm manager, to let the piglets wean naturally.

However, just last week, we interrupted that process by separating them.

Now at ~12 weeks old, they're a mere 52-53 lbs. each at the high end. Some pigs are around 150 lbs. at this stage.

What could we have done differently?

I see two options. 1) have kept the piglets and sows together, but had a line of polywire high enough that the sows couldn't go through but the piglets could, and thus feed the piglets separately with supplemental foods. 2) separate them, and have fed them feed from the outset, at around 8 weeks. That would have meant separating them a full month ago.

However, it's a learning process. I also have realized that were I to re-do this project, I would have the sows farrow in the early spring, so they could be out on pasture starting in late April to early May when there's more moisture and the ground tears up more readily. Then, move them to the woods during the dry heat of mid-summer.

Just my 2 cents.

Days 54 & 55: Movement sans madness!!

Weather: MUGGY. Record breaking, even.

I think we've finally got this pig movement thing under control.

On Wednesday, Stuart and I moved the piglets in the evening back to Virginia Russell (which is now powered by the farm lines, not a battery!!!)

I also heard this fascinating and well researched VPR story. Definitely in line with what I'm trying to accomplish with my sliding scale pork prices.

On Thursday, Hannah and I moved the sows out behind the barn with no problem.

Also on Thursday, I brought some friends out who are new to Sterling (they're here for the summer program in Farm to Table) and they delighted in checking out the piglets. We fed them whey from the kitchen's cheese making as well as spare beet greens and bakery seconds. They seemed quite happy with our offerings.

Day 53: more shots

Weather: sticky and in the high 80s with abundant sunshine.

Today I set up fencing for as long as I could bear before retiring to the shade.

This evening Stuart and I did our best to inject the sows. They had to get 8ml of anti-wormer. We managed to get the full 8 into Ice Cream but had to settle for 5ml with Maple. She just wasn't having it.

That's it for Wednesday!

Days 50-52: A break from the farm

Weather: it has been hot, muggy and sunny, consistently.

Not much to report, aside from what happened on Friday.

Which was, I must admit, painful and a bit funny.

Stuart and I spent an intense hour separating the sows from the piglets in a trailer, and bringing them back near the barn. We returned after dinner to learn that the piglets had escaped and traveled the long trek from the pasture back to the barn, and to do so, had to bust through an electric fence and follow a narrow footpath through the woods. So, to resolve this we gathered the piglets in a outside paddock, and barred the sows in a barn stall. Quite the endeavor.

Then, Stuart and I and 11 others took off for the White Mountains where we spent a blissful 16 hours hiking and not worrying about pigs.

Tomorrow morning: give the sows shots and prepare an area back in the pasture for the piglets, one that is stronger and better than ever before. Will it keep them separate from their mamas. Will it stop them? Check back in soon for details.

Days 48 and 49: Shots, bites, and fencing

Weather: quite warm, sunny, around 83F.

Yesterday was fun. A friend and I set up fencing for the sows in the pasture behind the upper barn. They should be happy there.

Today was interesting. We wanted to inject the pigs with Dectomax, so first we practiced with a lemon (to simulate a sub-cutaneous shot), and then did the real deal on 2 pigs that are currently in confinement for 2 other students' projects. They are very used to being handled, and things went smoothly.

Then we trekked up to Virginia Russell Pasture, and one person would deliver a shot while another would mark the piglet with chalk, and a third person would hold the dewormer. By the third pig, when the piglet let out a squeal of pain, Ice Cream, our most protective sow, got mad. She charged at a student who was helping us and snapped at her, grazing her calf. When she bravely went back in to finish the shot, Ice Cream again went at her, this time leaving a bruise and scrape marks from her front teeth on her thigh. The student and I went to the other side of the fence for safety while Stuart motioned to the sow that he was taller than her and not to mess with us anymore. With that we recorded which piglets we had injected (the spotted one, the black and white one, and the big striped one) and got out of there.

This afternoon we'll be moving the sows to new pasture in a trailer, effectively separating them from their beloved piglets. Wish us luck!

Day 47: electric all the way

Weather: Beautiful with a cool breeze. High around 80.

Today I learned that sows can bust through page wire. Though, I'm improving! I learned this through conversation, not experience. (Thus, the sows new area, though already fenced in, will be supplemented with a single strand of polywire) =)

Otherwise, not much is new. Expect a big update in the next couple of days...we're moving the sows to new ground, and that's always an adventure!

Days 31-46: A long past due update

Weather: Warm then "cold", then warm again. It's been quite muggy the past couple of days.

I'll hit the high notes given that this update spans such a long period of time (sorry about that, I was dealing with a mixture of laziness and inundation with work, a potent mix)

Well, the pigs escaped, twice. Both times because the wire connecting the fence to the battery fell off or was mistakenly not put back on after someone took it off. Either way, each time the pigs, acting in tandem, took off to far away fields. Both times, I was unfortunately not on the farm to help. The first time they ended up acres away and across the road at the Art House and the second time they ate ALL the grain in the can (over 50lbs) and then crossed the bridge to the farm. Having never been that way, I'm amazed at their navigation skills. They must have been guided by their noses (after all, they must have been "hungry" after eating 50+ lbs. of feed).

Recent news: The piglets and sows both have strongyles. According to a Pig Parasites site, "there are two important strongyle worms in the pig. Hyostrongylus rubidus, the red stomach worm and Oesophagostomum dentatum which lives in the large intestine. Neither of these worms migrate around the body, but live in the wall and lumen of the intestines causing local damage which results in poor food conversion and growth."

I've become recently concerned with the sows weight and the piglets slow growth rates (compared to their peers that classmates are raising for independent studies). I now can attribute this to them not being weaned as well as to this parasite, which the vet confirmed them to have.

Otherwise, all is well in piggy land! The pigs will be treated soon for the parasites through an injection of dectomax. They definitely make much better progress on the land after a rain, and given the general dryness factor in July and August, we have made a decision as an ag team: move the sows off the pasture (that is far from the barn) where they currently are and move them closer to the barn. This will allow the piglets to be weaned as well as reduce the work load of chores people (because the majority of water and feed is currently provided for the sows, big mamas that they are).

Well, that's it for this time! More timely updates, coming soon!