Thursday, May 5, 2016

Changes In The Idaho Pasture Pig Lineup


We moved around some of our piglets.  Some were sold and one was purchased and we had to get rid of one.  

Tigger, our boar, finally had to go.  He was becoming more aggressive towards the males in our family (I could still work with him) and we worried about the damage he could potentially do with his giant tusks (this picture is old and doesn't show how large they had become).  We won't keep mean animals on this farm - be it pigs, or roosters, or anything else.    



So welcome William, aka "Willy", our new little boar.  He comes from a different bloodline than our females.  He's black and white with touches of ginger and we're hoping he won't develop tusks.  We're watching him, and if he does, we're going to clip them while he's small enough to hold down!  



We've kept one pretty little girl with very good conformation, the orange girl with our sow, Flower, in the picture below.  We'll have two breeding females next year.  There were a lot of calls for Idaho Pasture Pigs later in the spring and we want to be able to fill the need.  I think we're naming the new girl, "Marmalade".



And we kept the female runt and two boys as meat piglets.  These meat piglets already have future homes.  Willy likes hanging out with the "boys".  I put boys in italics because  recently learned an interesting new skill... how to castrate a pig.  It's not difficult, just very noisy, as the piglet does NOT like it!  


Spring is coming on quickly and the grass is growing and you can see that the piglets above are enjoying eating the fresh grass!  






Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The High Tunnel Has A New Roof

I have to give a big thank you to the people who came to help put the new cover on the high tunnel.  It's so nice it is to have friends who will show up a 5:30 a.m.!  

Why 5:30 a.m. you may ask?  Because when you put on a high tunnel cover, you want there to be the very least amount of wind possible.  Even a breath of air can make the job a nightmare!

We were lucky and the job went off without a hitch.  Then our helpers sat down to a very hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, bacon, hot coffee, orange juice, toast, and a dutch baby, with homemade jams and our own honey. 

I've been working like a crazy woman to get the high tunnel tilled and planted because we have a BIG trip coming up.  More about that later!



The new cover looks so fresh and nice!