Piglet Watch

Flower, our Idaho Pastured sow, is getting close to farrowing.  We've moved her into a stall in the barn where she'll be warmer and there'll be more protection for the piglets.  There's a nice little enclosed area outside the stall so she can still get outside and sunbathe on a nice day.    

The gestation period for pigs is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.  We know she was bred on Halloween, so that would make her due date about February 23.  But we're erring on the side of caution - we don't think she was, but, just in case she was bred earlier!  

If you remember, we has a disaster last year because Flower farrowed a week earlier than we expected and it was on the absolute coldest day of the year.  The temperatures were in the negative digits!  We lost four of her six piglets.   

So now we're watching her very closely!  Her teats are expanding and filling.

And she's building her nest.  

Tomorrow we'll put up the heat lamp and start running it at night in the event that she farrows during a cold, cold night.  Last night was 17-degrees and that would be awfully chilly for newborn piglets!

If we were a big working farm, we probably wouldn't go to all this trouble.  But we have one litter a year from our sow, and the piglets are very precious to us!

I've had a lot of interest in my piglets and I'm on watch to see what we end up with.  I hope we get a great batch of really nicely developed Idaho Pastured Piglets for everyone that's looking for them!

I'm looking for a new home for our Rosie and Violet, our mini goats.  Rosie is a mini boer and Violet is a mini boer/alpine mix.  I think Violet must have some angora in her because she gets a winter coat that I think could be spun.  They are both does and about 3 years old.  They have been pets up until now and I would like someone who would like to breed them or milk them - not for food.  Please contact me through the Fitzgerald Family Farm contact form if you're interested.