Today sees seven new additions to the Fallowfields Farm. Our Oxford Sandy and Black sow gave birth to seven little wriglets in the small hours of this morning. These pictures are taken when they were about 20 hours old. Here is one of them.
This is Oriane, a very gentle sow, not looking at her most beautiful [but who would covered from head to foot in mud from her wallow]. She is deciding that our home baked Soda bread is a very satisfactory reward for her endeavours.
I am very fond of this young sow, it is her third litter with us. For such a big girl [she is enormous], she is incredibly careful when she lies down in her hut to feed the little ones. Lowering herself onto her front knees…….ever so slowly. Then down at the back…..even slower to give the little ones a chance to get out from under. Woe betide them if they are asleep!!
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Gorgeous little piggies. ‘Wriglets’……..a wonderful name for them!!
Our next litter is due on Wednesday, a Large Black/Middle White cross, that will be the last litter born on the farm. We will be pig free by mid September, sad but necessary due to family commitments.
Sue xx
Oh Sue…will you be sad to see your pigs go? I thought of wriglets today when I picked up this little chap and he squealed, as they do, and then wriggled and wriggled to get away from me. He calmed after a few seconds. I just love them when they are so small like this. I have had both Large Blacks and Middle Whites in the past – both lovely breeds. I particularly like the squashed nose of the MW. Do you have a home for your sow or will she be off to the sty in the sky?
We have two Middle White sows, Martha had a litter of crosses 5 weeks ago and will be sold as soon as we can find her a good home. Maud is about to farrow and then hopefully we will do the same for her. A home together would be best as they are sisters, but like your pig they are BIG girls and they may have to go seperately. We are also hoping to house our 4 five month old Middle Whites, I’m about to put an advert in the local farm supplies store for them.
We have managed to re-home all our Large Blacks. The breeding herd of our Boar Jack and his 3 wives went to the Netherlands to start a new herd there, very exciting stuff. The rest went either to sausages
or to begin new breeding herds around the country.
It’s been like musical pigs on the farm just recently, but this has all been very necessary as Alan’s Mum has cancer and has only a few months left, we need to be in Scotland on and off to be with her whenever we can. Sometimes life sends you different priorities and you just have to react!!
Hope your ‘wriglets’ do well, they have a wonderful life in store for them at your place.
Sue xx
We’ll be very sad to see them all go, but Alan’s mum has cancer and has only a few months left and we need to be able to visit her in Scotland as often as we can, so the pigs must go and we have changed our plans for the future.
Since yesterday Maud has had her ‘wriglets’ 13 or 14, we can’t count them properly they are all snuggled into Mum!!
We also have our other MW and her 6 piglets to rehome and four 5 month old MWs. Our Large Blacks have all been successfully re-homed the core of the breeding herd went to the Netherlands to start a breeding programme there. And our Kune Kunes are off to their new home in Somerset next week.
So it’s all change on the farm.
Hope your piglets all continue to do well, I’ll look out for their progress on here.
Sue xx
Oh Sue what a difficult situation, but you are doing a wonderful thing as, family must come first. We have converted a barn here so we can be close to my Mother [94] and my Father [96]and can give them help whenever we can….but I realise not everyone is lucky enough to have a spare barn to convert.
What an upheaval though for you, even if some of them are off to exciting new challenges in Europe. Well, I wish you all the best and for Alan’s Mother too.