As the weeks go on, and the pigs turn from juveniles to adolescents, there is a growing fear among the farm adults. These little piggies came into being after boy pigs unexpectedly mixed with girl pigs and a Gilt became a Sow. And so, we finally caved, and the great divide began.
Not covered in this weeks episode;
- Wk 35 and 36, and practically nothing of interest happened.
- A visit from an engineer.
- Motorbikes.
Husbandry
Felis Catus
Tuesday morning of our 37th week on the farm brought with it quite a surprise, for me at least. After all the other people had left for work or school, a general calm fell over our accommodation. Then I turned around!
Without a sound, a darkness had fallen over the bedroom corridor. A slightly fluffy darkness, in the shape of birds’ feathers, and they were suddenly EVERYWHERE.
Unfortunately, Bonnie had managed to catch and de-feather a bird. Much to my annoyance, it meant a rather large clean-up operation. Which was much to Bonnie’s annoyance when I took her toy away. I then explained to her that it was mice she was meant to catch, not birds.
And after a long morning of hunting, the cats seem to have decided they are taking over my bed. I am NOT amused!
The Great Divide
As the pigs were the focus of much of this week’s work, a ‘Porcine’ section for the Husbandry update seemed a little, well, pointless.
Water Water Everywhere
Separating the boy pigs and the girl pigs suddenly created a need for two of everything. And as I was alone for a few peaceful hours, Friday saw the digger out to bury some magic blue pipe.
The pigs were entirely unfaxed by the rattly three cylinder diesel engine in the digger, although the vibration did have an interesting side effect.
The pigs started foraging like there lives depended on it. I spend a lot of time tending to the pigs’ behaviour, but it didn’t take long to find they had struck a wormy gold mine.
A downside to digging on sand is that it is easy to get carried away. In under an hour, the ditch was dug to 700mm (and some) and the MDPE water pipe was laid.
Once I was happy there was enough pipe at both ends of the run, the trench was backfilled. Not quite before the children came home, but not too far off. I wouldn’t want to accidentally bury them!
Connecting Up
Now comes the tricky part. The actual connections are simple enough; however, plumbing while being ‘nudged’ by the piggies does have its issues.
Only the best for these Kune Kunes. A stainless steel water bowl with an automatic fill. The existing bowl does have some freezing issues, but this is much easier than hauling water everyday.
Keeping the pigs in while running the pipe means taking the blue MDPE under the fence while they’re not watching. At the same time as running the pipe, a hole big enough for a railway sleeper was dug.
And a small piece of an old tree was dropped in place, and the water bowl bolted in place. A little lower than the previous bowl, which should be better for the pigs. And with a two-foot footing, I’d like to see them knock it down.
PigWam Two – The Second Comming
From Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we continue on from water and into shelter. While the shelter will be made from recycled materials, it needs to be able to withstand an adult pig and not just these six-month-olds.
The building of the second PigWam starts with finding the timber. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of spare pieces of timber around the farm, in a range of decay. Unfortunately, this means finding the right piece takes a little bit of time.
With a range of nails, screws, teks and other assorted fixings, the frame of the PigWam is bound together. Then the frame is wrapped in some ‘pre-loved’ corrugated steel. Finally, the second PigWam is ready to be moved into the ‘girls’ half of the field.
Stake Out
One last thing before the boys and girls can go there seperate ways. The dividing ‘wall’ needs to be errected.We’re fortunate enough to have taken on the farm with an entire hedge row of electric fence stakes.
The recent hedge trim has exposed more than enough to move the boundaries around. In no time at all, the barrier is in place.
Seperation Axiety
And finally, the moment had come. Possibly the hardest part of the whole day, unmixing the boys from the girls. And oh, how much fun that was!
There were absolutely better ways to start the great herding, but we didn’t use any of them. To be honest, I was laughing too hard to actually help. I’d almost forgotten about ‘Some mothers do have ’em’, until I went and got the paddles.
There was definitely some separation anxiety over the next few days. The pigs’ behaviour had certainly changed, so, like all nervous parents, we had to check on them every few minutes. And for the first few days, there were moments when the boys stood looking at the girls, wondering what they had done wrong. But they’re all settled now.
And that’s your lot for this week.
Nothing to Farm