After an unplanned year off during 2019 for Sissy with litters, she finally delivered again in the early hours of Mon 13th Jan. As usual I can’t help wanting to be there when it all happens but that always means a lot of lost sleep. This time she ended up with just 2 live piglets …
This time around I’m a lot more confident that Sissy is actually in-pig and is due to farrow in a little under 2 weeks. I’m very aware that I’ve said something similar before but all the signs are there so far. When I look back on blog updates from this time last year I’m can’t …
Continue reading ‘Farrowing preparations for January 2020’ »
Today was a special day which normally gets overlooked in the mad rush before Christmas so this year I’m quietly pleased with myself for marking the special event with a blog post It’s hard for me to believe in a way but our 2 main Tamworth breeding sows – Sissy and Esther – are 5 …
I’m trying not to take it for granted because each time we have to move pigs around and it goes really well then I could easily become over-confident. It’s probably wise to keep reminding myself that it can easily and quickly go wrong at times. This past weekend was weaning time for Esther’s latest litter …
While we’ve never really had a problem when moving pigs around our holding, with a 300kg sow there is always the possibility that she will choose to go in a different direction. Once she makes that sort of decision, there’s not a lot the hapless pig keeper can do about it other than to try …
Now that the weekend is over I can reflect with some satisfaction on the wide range of events that took place in a relatively short space of time. Each in their own way could have had a different, more troubling, outcome but in the end all have been completed fairly successfully Esther Farrowing One event …
Since we moved to our smallholding almost exactly 6 years ago, we have made the Northumberland County Show a fixture in our calendar for us on the second Bank Holiday Monday in May. It’s always an entertaining day out but this year was our first ever attempt at showing pigs there so I made sure …
We’ve finally made it to the eve of the Northumberland County Show and, much like exam revision at school, I’m of the opinion that it’s far too late to do any more serious preparation now. After 4 years of the leisurely outdoors life for Sissy, there are some patches of ingrained dirt that not even …
For the last couple of years I’ve managed to come up with good excuses for not showing our pigs at the local county show. However, this year I decided that I really should try it at least once so I can decide whether I want to consider as a regular thing or not. Preparing pigs …
Continue reading ‘Time to try something new – pig showing’ »
The miserable weather seems to have gone away (for the moment) so I could start on some of the pending jobs that have been put off due to the wet ground. First up was a move for the cattle into an adjacent field which, although not perfect by any means, is definitely better for them …
Continue reading ‘A sunny day means lots of moving around’ »