Monday 20 December 2010

Piggies in the snow.....

We had the shock of our lives yesterday morning when we went to feed the pigs. Where we had left four sleeping piggies in the ark last night, this morning there were eight.

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Lying side by side like four giant black sausages were our four Large Blacks, and in the middle suckling off their Mum Lottie, were four little hours old babies. All warm and cosy with their family.
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Unfortunately, this can't continue, so as the big pigs slowly and carefully picked their way out of the ark for breakfast the door had to be closed to keep Mum and babies safe. And for a young first time Mum she is doing a brilliant job, taking lots of time to lie down so she doesn't crush her lovely little daughters in the confined space. Of course there is always one who seperates herself from the others and makes this more difficult...
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...so honour of Dads' birthday yesterday, the little headstrong, independent girl is called Cyd.
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Mum and babies, warm and cosy in the ark. ~ The others have their ark to retire to after breakfast, although fingers crossed we will be able to re-locate Jack to his own enclosure in the Orchard today. Lulu will be due any day now and we can't have a boar near so many babies. ~ Hope you're keeping as cosy as the piglets in this snowy, snowy landscape. We are now watching the weather and weather bulletins avidly as Lovely Hubby is due to fly to Scotland to visit his Mum for her birthday tomorrow. We'll see.
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10.10 am - Piggie update - Jack has now been successfully moved to his 'batchelor pad' and Mum and all four babies are warm and cosy after a night of -5 degrees.
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She had a total of 7 piglets, one was a little runt and died naturally, and we think 2 were born outside the ark as we have found two little frozen bodies.
~ Sue xx

12 comments:

  1. Oh they are gorgeous. What a lovely early Christmas present!
    Hugs
    Mandy xx

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  2. Wow, what a lovely surprise. They sure look cuddly.
    Jak x

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  3. Awww what wonderful babies and a lovely surprise.

    We've no more piglets planned for this year due to the extreme conditions we had last winter when we lost 6 of a litter of 12 due to the cold - it was -27 the night they were born and 3 lost their tails due to frostbite!

    Your arks look lovely and snug.

    SuzyJ

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  4. So very cute - such beautiful coats, too.

    CJ xx

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  5. Oh, they are so small! I love the contented little sounds baby animals make when they eat and sleep.It must be difficult not to cuddle them!
    Jane x

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  6. Lovely little piggies. Hope they stay cozy and warm. Sad to lose some, but that's life isn't it? I hope your LH manages to get to Scotland in view of all this !!! weather. Ann x

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  7. Awww so cute..so sad about the ones that passed away..hopefully the remaining ones will thrive and grow big and strong..
    sara,fern,iris

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  9. Lovely! Congratulations on the surprise piggies!

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  10. Thanks for all the lovely comments.

    They are still doing relly well, and are getting lots of cuddles, Lottie is a really friendly pig and is sharing her babies with us without any trouble. Her sister Lulu and Liz are checking the babies whenever the ark is open and Lottie is out having a wander to stretch her legs.

    Lottie is acting all cuddly and wants even more tickles and cuddles than usual off me. So lots of fun here in the snow.

    Sue xx

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  11. Briliant! A true Christmas blessing.

    Lots of straw and a nice snug ark - they'll be fine. Tiring work for you guys in this cold weather though. Don't forget to relax in between checkings!

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  12. Oh they are lovely! Great pictures and sounds like all the grown up pigs are taking to it all very well too.
    Hope Hubby has a safe trip and is able to make his Christmas visit.
    take care
    Sarah x

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