Last Wednesday one of our young gilts delivered her first litter of pigs. 8 of 10 made it through the process – not bad for a first timer. One of the most interesting things to me is the instinctive nest building behavior that hogs perform prior to farrowing. Even though our new mom-to-be had a hut full of fresh straw she proceeded to uproot a massive amount of grass from her pen to build her nest.
A bit of nervous energy may have fueled this housing bubble
Is this a door or a nest?
After building her nest we all went to bed and the next morning she had done her work.
Learning how to not step on/be stepped on can take a day or two
After being born young pigs immediately find a teat and begin to nurse. They are amazingly ready to cope right out of the womb.
Finally, a little bit of sun!
For the next six weeks the mama’s job is to make milk and the babies’ job is to eat and grow!
All hands on Deck!
What a great photo of all the piglets nursing!
We just had the fava beans I bought on Saturday and they were quite yummy.
Comment by Jesica — July 19, 2010 @ 7:16 pm