Hello, all. I doubt anyone can help me with this, but thought you might enjoy our latest farm FUBAR. We had thoughtfully planned to downsize our pig population with the baby coming, and were even thinking of having no hogs at all through the fearsome Adirondack winter. (The fox and barred owl have downsized our flock of chickens for us.)
But pigs are large and smart and don't have natural predators where we are. Two weeks ago we were getting ready to do a harvest (which means taping fairy wings to the grown six-month-old piggies, taking them to heaven and turning them into chops & bacon & ham). One of these plump little piggies, on harvest morning, started having a litter of piglets!
"Oh my goodness, that was a close call," we said to yourselves as we continued loading the other plump beasties onto the trailer... As it all unfolded, six of the eleven pigs we thought were ready for harvest were instead quite pregnant and ready to drop their litters, all within one week. None of these young girls were tame (we only tame & name the ones we intend to breed.) We had no nurseries set up. We had no idea they were pregnant! What a fiasco. We are the most ignorant, bumbling farmers.
So now, instead of downsizing our farm, we have 50 new piglets running around, six new mommas who are not tame, and holy moly, what a summer!
How on earth are we going to find an experienced, organic, humane and spiritual hog farmer to farm-sit for our sixty beasties while we go spend three weeks in Ethiopia receiving our first child?
God laughs at those who make plans.
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