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!
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