Just 9 days away now…the first of my mama sows will be having her fall piglets!
Here are some mama pig fun facts:
– Pregnancy for pigs is 114-118 days (or just short of 4 months).
– Berkshires, for whatever reason, tend to be 118 days, vs other breeds are a little shorter. Those extra days must be to make sure those pork chops are just a little more juicy. 😉
– They typically have piglets twice a year. Some larger operations will get in 3-4 litters a year, but personally I think that’s too hard on the sows, so we do fewer on our farm.
– Each sow usually has between 8-12 piglets. Heritage breeds like Berkshires tend to have fewer piglets than other breeds. I’m ok with that…in the past, we’ve had larger litters with other mixed breeds (up to 17 a few times!) and pregnancy and nursing is so hard on the sows with that many little ones.
– Rarely does a sow have every single one of her piglets survive to adulthood. It’s a sad but very common fact. One could be born runty (too small for the body to grow right so lives only a short time) or the sow could lay on some (a 2-3lb piglet has nothing to a 600lb sow…) Smaller litters usually mean larger piglets (fewer runts and the ones who are there are stronger and more active) and we also work to create farrowing pens to help keep the piglets safe (like a heat lamp in a corner behind a gate to draw the piglets away from the standing sow so when she lays down again, they are out of the way.)
– Every piglet has their own teat for milk. They pick one minutes after birth and will keep it all the way until weaning. If someone else tries to steal it, there is usually squealing that, as they grow bigger, can be heard all the way across the farmyard.
– After the piglets are born, they live with their mother for about 7 weeks here on our farm.
– We usually keep a few of the piglets to finish out (grow up to adulthood). In the springtime, the others go to hobby farmers around Minnesota and northern Iowa. The fall piglets head to a farm just a few miles south of us to grow for another small farmer to direct market.
Farrowing is my favorite part of the farm. I always look forward to the new babies!!
What’s in the farm kitchen this week
This week, I made fried potatoes with green peppers and onions…all from our garden!
First I diced the raw potatoes, and fried them in a cast iron pan with our own pork lard and some salt.
When they were nicely soft, I added the diced peppers and onions.
In the past I’ve added the peppers and onions earlier and they usually end up burned or crispier than I wanted them. I like them just tender so this worked out well.
I paired the potatoes with crock pot chicken legs/thighs. In the early morning I had filled the crockpot with the chicken and covered it with BBQ sauce.
The kids LOVE this and who can argue with a super simple and fast way to make chicken??
Bible inspiration this week
Recently, I had a young child tell me, with a sigh and a look of dejection, “Why is it so boring to be good?” 😀
It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud, but how often do we think the same thing?
Sometimes it does seem so much easier to do whatever we want and follow whatever whim and fancy of the world and disregard making good, God-pleasing choices. Those are usually much harder and something we need to consciously work at every single day, all the time.
But the older I get, the more I see the repercussions of my own life and the lives of others around me when worldly “fun” takes a higher priority.
In the long run, it never turns out well.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.Psalm 146:9
I think it’s always a good reminder that not only does God say to make good choices, but he also promises to be with those who do.
AND that those who have no time for God and those promises will not ultimately succeed.
Encouraging you to keep doing the “boring” things with the assurance that the Lord will be with you and bless you every step on your way to heaven.
