Annebelle's Four 27/07

Annebelle gave birth to 4 little ones on 27/07 - her due date! We thought she didn't look big enough to pig yet - obviously it was because she only had 4 in there! Too cute these ones!

Day 1.

Three days old! Hairy little things these ones are!

One So Far

One of the berkshires started this morning!

This Little Piggy

This Little Piggy is the only one that made it. His two siblings didn't and I'm not sure if he's going to either. I won't go into the details but it wasn't particularly pretty. Survival of the fittest and all that.

Mamma Pig isn't quite sure what happened.

The first of the Berkshire sows is going to pig very, very soon. We've separated her in the Pig Hilton and thrown in a lot of hay, hoping that she fares a little better.

Sleeping it Off

The Broads and Spotty have had a quiet week. They haven't liked the sudden drop in temperature and their change of diet has left them feeling more satisfied. They snuggle up close together and barely raise an eyebrow when I go up to feed.

We expect Spotty to pig while we're away this weekend; she's made a nest in the long grass away from the one they've made in the dirt (below). She's a Wessex X in pig to a Berkshire; she was re-homed to us 6 or 7 weeks ago and was pregnant when she arrived. That's her on the right.

Here comes Coco to wake them up.

She likes to run in and get real close then race away!

They just weren't interested in playing! Too cold!

Love Our Pigs

The weaners spend a lot of time in this corner, talking to Boris.

The Pig Hilton is now finished.

Boris and The Berkshire Broads

Introducing Boris and his girls, The Berkshire Broads - Bessie, Bonnie and Billie. They came to us quite unexpectedly; we had always planned on getting Berkshires down the track but these 4 became available so we said Yes. We really weren't/aren't set up for them but managed to fit them in. Boris is living in a pen at the cattle yards; we moved the two grower pigs into a new chook enclosure and put the 3 girls in with another spotted sow that was re-homed to us a few weeks ago. Supposedly, the 3 berkshires are pregnant, as is the spotted one. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Guess we'll soon find out. There could be an awful lot of pork running around here soon. I've always thought there's nothing cuter than a newborn piglet but I might change my mind pretty quickly if all 4 decide to deliver at once.

Boris and I have become friends. He talks to me each morning and night when I go to feed him. Actually, he talks to anyone that goes near him, asking for more food please. He made a beautiful bed from left over cattle hay. Isn't he a handsome fellow.

The weaners were very curious.