Handmade on the Homestead

Collecting animals and making crafts, one cup of coffee at a time...

Remember those little piglets we were so pumped about? I knew that Pinky was getting close to farrowing and every day I went outside and squeezed her teats multiples times like a lunatic. About a week before she actually farrowed, she was showing clear signs of nesting. She was redecorating her enclosure, her belly was sagging, and she displayed a general level of discomfort. We separated her from the boys and built her a nice little "bed" where she could comfortable give birth without being cold and wet. Over the next several days, I put my YouTube pig breeders certification to use and remembered that once you were able to squeeze milk from the pig's teats it was go time. Naturally I became consumed. I squeeze that poor pigs teats no less that 25 times a day.

The morning of Pinky's farrowing, I went out to once again check those teats before school started and low and behold MILK! I literally started screaming "MILK! MILK! She as milk." No one was around but me and the pigs, but I was HYPE. Well Danny left to go on a COVID style bachelor party (WE GOT ENGAGED) and at 4pm on the dot Pinky was very clearly in labor. She pushed her first baby out and I was able to watch the whole process. It was magical. I stood back and watched in aw as this big that we bred on our little homestead gave birth. That little piglet was the perfect mixture of Pinky and Bert. It was small and kind of weird looking, but I had no clue what a baby pig was supposed to look like...did I mention that I was HYPE?!

I didn't know how many piglets were coming, it was dark, and I had zero help. I frantically called my neighbor who agreed to be on standby and she and her husband rushed over with a bottle of wine. Little did we know, there's no time for wine drinking when your pig is in labor. We put on some pig birthing jams, rubbed Pinky's belly and waited. She delivered 2 more perfect little babies. My neighbor caught one mid air as Pinky just let it fall from her womb while she walked in circles and I pulled one out that was a little stuck along with Pinky's placenta. It was gloriously disgusting. I felt like a bad ass farm chic. Several minutes, then an hour or so passed, and no more piglets. We were sure she was done, we helped the babies latch on to mama, squealed at how cute they were, and of course I celebrated with a cold Coors Light by the bonfire.

The neighbors headed home and there I was with my three little pigs. I sat with Pinky for another hour or so and as the coyotes started to howl in the distance I decided to head in. I woke up in the middle of the night, like an new mom and walked the babies out to Pinky so they could nurse. To my surprise there was a another piglet. This pig was longer alive and Pinky new it. She had it neatly tucked away behind her and didn't attempt to mother it. I'm not sure if it was still born, or died during the birthing process. I beat myself up over whether I should have stayed with her longer, but that fact of the matter was that the pig was gone and there was nothin I could so about it. I continued focus on the piglets that had made it. It became obvious that the first piglet, the one that looked a little weird, was less developed than the other two. It was having a hard time suckling and had a strange color.

Of course, I had to do everything I could to save this piglet. Ya'll I milk Pinky. I milked the freakin' pig. I went out there and every time the other two ate, I milked Pinky into a small bowl, sucked it up with a syringe, and tried to feed the struggling piglet. After 2 very long days of me trying to feed that poor baby after 3 hours, it took a trip to the "forever farm". I was down to 2 piglets. I watched them like a hawk. Danny finally came home and Pinky was not having it. She charged him anytime he went hear her or the piglets. I on the other hand, was literally laying in the nest snuggling Pinky while we cared for her new babies. It was such an amazing experience, but I was exhausted. I was terrified to take my eyes off of Pinky for fear that she would smother the piglets.

After a few days, we finally got comfortable to leave her along for short periods of time and eventually, we would only bring the babies in a night. I had mixed feelings about leaving them unsupervised, they were so small, Pinky was a first time mom, it was cold, it was rainy. I had a whole list. However, Pinky wanted her babies near her and they were crying out for their mama more and more. She did great for a day or two and I started to let my guard down. I went to check on the babies, just as I did 100 times a day and I noticed Pinky had somehow lifted the floor that we had created for her. The floor that was held down with cinderblocks, straw, and all the things. The babies were gone, she had wriggled them under the floor with her and when she came out they stayed in. She wedged herself under it for some god for saken reason and took those sweet precious babies with her.

I WAS DONE. I was absolutely bedside myself. I ran behind the garage fell to my knees and whaled. I worked so hard for so many weeks spending countless hours bonding with Pinky. I had heard terrible stories about things like this happening, but I thought we were out of the woods. I went through every scenario. I picked apart every single move I had made since those piglet entered the world and nothing I could do could do was going to bring those piglets back. But you know what, I had to pull myself up by my bootstraps and finish the evening chores because the reality is that what happened to me is just that, the harsh reality of farming. We will bring animals on to the homestead, we will love them, we will breed them, some will go to new homes, some will fill our bellies, and some will make the journey to the "forever farm". Mistakes will be made and miracles will happen. At the end of the day my Pinky girl is healthy and happy, that it was matters. We will have another chance and we will all be ready.

I've been asking Danny for goats for as long as I remember. I'm pretty sure on our first date I told him I wanted a goat. He told me that he wanted to live on a sailboat. Shockingly we went on a second date! Trials and tribulations of our courtship aside, a few years later and we think we're Mr. and Mrs. Old McDonald. Danny's friend, we'll call him, the "Chicken Dealer" somehow seems to have an endless supply of the perfect homesteading animals. He called a few weeks ago and asked if we wanted goats, Danny declined...again. However, they did have a brief chat about pigs. Danny is all for "free" bacon and has been talking about pigs since we've moved in. (Side note: there is no such thing as a free animal).

Fast forward a few weeks later and here we are masked up, hand sanitizer packed, in the middle of the pandemic, taking a really necessary trip to go pick up two pigs. Don't judge us! The Chicken Dealer is moving out of state and has to re-home all of his animals, so this was kind of an emergency. We arrive at the pick up site and after a few hours of loading both cars (yes, we had to take two cars) full of homesteading contraband, we were on the road back to Virginia, 11 ducks and 2 pigs heavier. All while wondering what on God's green Earth we would tell the police if we got pulled over for transporting livestock across state lines in the middle of a pandemic. We get the pigs, Bert and Ernie, home, unload them and Danny builds a very okayish electric fence. They survive their first few nights. I only have to chase one of them around with a bowl of dog food when he escapes the pen. And Bonus neither of us get mauled! We're thinking "We've got this! Everything is under control!"

Surprise, surprise, guess what shows up on Craigslist a few days later, a girl pig! Of course the boys need a girlfriend, lets add another pig to the mix since we already have no freaking clue what we're doing. Bert has half of his testicles, it will be a great science experiment, he probably can't be bred anyway. Naturally, we bring Pinky, the girl pig home, along with 3 "free" roosters and 4 chickens. Pinky goes into the pen and tensions are high. She and Bert exchange aggressively weird butt bumps while she runs around then pen squealing like a maniac as she realizes the fence is electric. Meanwhile, I'm googling on our non existent internet how to properly introduce pigs to each other because Danny and I both though the other researched beforehand. Clearly, we are horrible pig owners already. As we sit thereon the tailgate of Danny's 1987 Dodge Ram, drinking Coors light, wondering what in the world we were thinking, Bert less than gracefully mounts Pinky! Looks like I've got three months, three weeks, and three days to get it together. That's how long pig gestation takes.

So here we are 3 pigs, 11 ducks, and 4 chickens, and 3 roosters later and Danny says to me, "I guess we're pig people now."

Disclaimer: We did do a significant amount of research on pigs, specifically Kune Kune x Juliana pigs over the past year or so before even considering bringing the pigs home. We would never purposefully put any of our animals in danger.

Update from the funny farm...A few months ago we found some free rabbit hutches on Craigslist. We had been building our own and quickly jumped shipped to snag them. The owner of the hutches was moving and offered us all of his bunny supplies along with two Male bunnies. This was a solo mission for Danny and he graciously took the rabbits knowing I could resist anything small and furry. We got the hutches home and had the two buns share a cage while we did some repair. Well let me tell you about the shock and confusion I felt when I went to check in on them last night and saw what I thought was a dead rat in one of their cages. I screamed babies babies, help me, there are babies! Danny came running thinking I found a real baby at the edge of the field (men). It turns out Coco who never let me get near him was actually a girl and the time she spent with our other bun was just long enough for romance. Also...CoCo is now a mommy. Happy Birthday baby bunnies!