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’ »
Whenever I collect another batch of pork from the butchers there is always a real sense of pride along with all the other obvious feelings. Pride partly because we have produced something ourselves but more importantly we are proud to have reared animals with the respect it they deserve and given them the best life …
Despite all the preparations, forethought and planning leading up to Esther farrowing there was still a surprise in the works for us. The theory was that we would move Esther into a stone outbuilding nearer the house a few days before her due date so that we can keep an eye on her more easily. …
Continue reading ‘Farrowing does not always go according to plan’ »
It’s been a troubling time since the last expected farrowing – mainly because I still can’t quite explain why I misjudged events so completely. Admittedly it is true that Sissy already had quite a reputation for carrying a few extra pounds compared to her sister (Esther). Added to that is the constant juggling of time …
After the anticipation of an impending farrowing and my failure to spot some key telltale signs, I eventually had to admit that Sissy was not actually in-pig as I had originally hoped. It would seem that she was just taking advantage of a lapse in concentration, my own (incorrect) assumptions and the chance for a …
It seems like no time since the last farrowing but after some thought I realise that was actually back in August 2018. I probably should have been more aware of that because we still have 4 meat pigs from that litter and they’re doing really well Preparations for the farrowing shed were going well earlier …
Continue reading ‘And so we’re preparing for farrowing again…’ »
Despite my best efforts with the calculations from the date of the AI, in the end Esther decided to hold on to her latest litter for an extra day or so. Past experience with her litters seemed to show that she was fairly reliable at 113 days but maybe she lost count this time! After spending …
Continue reading ‘Another day, another litter of Tamworths’ »
Having reached the 5th anniversary of our move from suburbia to a North Pennines smallholding, it’s clearly a good time to review the current situation and take stock of our progress so far. Not least of which is where did all those years go! The first task for me was to look back at my …
Continue reading ‘Looking back over our first 5 years as smallholders’ »
Despite getting up bright and early last Saturday morning, I was still caught out by the slightly early arrival of Sissy’s litter. According to my calculations she wasn’t due until that night at the earliest but apparently she had other plans and had done most of the hard work by the time I checked on …