No, not 3 little pigs, we have 8. Actually, we had asked for 10 a few months ago but sows don’t always produce the exact number of piglets that one orders so we have to make do with 8. We originally wanted 5 or 6 piglets but Andrew and Colleen said that they’d like some as well so we upped our request.
We picked them up from a local farm yesterday. They are fairly good size already, averaging about 30 pounds with one or two that felt like at least 40 pounds when being lifted, screaming and kicking, in and then out of the truck. The farmer kept them in his barn for a couple of weeks extra because of the cool weather but didn’t charge us any extra for the pounds they added during that time. Now the weather is nice and warm (actually it is humid and a bit hot) and the pigs have enough weight to withstand any cool nights.
Their breed is mostly Tamsworth, a heritage breed known for good rooting and grazing behaviour, with some Yorkshire mixed in. The Tamsworth contribute the reddish-brown colour and the Yorkshire the classic pink pig look (they call it white).
Here are a few pictures of the new arrivals with some more details about them:
We have a short video of the pigs playing around but YouTube is having difficulty loading it so we’ll try that in a day or two.
Well Ted. I (and especially Sheila) think that we are at the maximum that we can handle right now. But if you and Jenny would like to move here and take on the role of shepherd, we would welcome having some sheep on the property!
3 Responses
Ted Goshulak
When do the sheep come?
BobandSheila
Well Ted. I (and especially Sheila) think that we are at the maximum that we can handle right now. But if you and Jenny would like to move here and take on the role of shepherd, we would welcome having some sheep on the property!
Jonathan
Are you saying that now would not be a great time to suggest that the farm needs a horse? 🙂
Thanks for the pig pictures. See you tomorrow.