Some days, you never know what to expect around here.
It seems like only Wednesday that I was asking one of my neighbors about breeding hogs. Then, two days later, something happened. Normally when I call my pigs for a meal, they all come running. Today, only three did.
For some reason, the pig that @smailer bought for us did not come. I could only think of three potential reasons:
- It died.
- It escaped.
- It was giving birth.
The first two reasons seemed unlikely, though possible. It was the third that I was specifically wondering about. This particular hog is a Large Black & Red Wattle mix, so it has a different build than the other three. Lately though, it seemed like it may be even "tubbier" than usual. I wondered if she might be pregnant.
All four of these hogs were picked up from two different places which both raised their hogs on pasture. This means that for the most part, all of their food was provided by what grew in their pens. A little grain was still used to keep them coming to the owners, but other than that, they just lived out in a field.
It seemed like both places may have used a more natural approach to breeding too. The males and females seemed to just be left unattended in the fields. As it seems, unattended hogs may get bored and make more hogs when you are not looking!
When I went to investigate, I saw her lying in a corner. I startled her, so she quickly arose, but there next to her was a tiny piglet. (Look just in front of her head in the photo above.) Quickly I took a photo and texted it to @mama-pepper. I needed reinforcements.
The three biggest @little-peppers quickly rode their bikes down ready for action!
I knew that sometimes more "domesticated" hogs pretty much have zero maternal instinct. This means that the mothers are more likely to accidentally kill their piglets than they are to raise and nurse them. For this reason many will make a "safe place" in the pen where the piglets can get away from the mom for a bit.
Some of the neighbors once disassembled some infrastructure at a hog barn and still had it laying around somewhere. It was off in the woods with trees growing through it, but it was there and I was granted permission to use it. Soon, I had some of it loaded up and ready to go.
I figured that I might as well invite @mama-pepper and the rest of the @little-peppers down to watch the whole "miracle of birth" thing. It was getting to be our lunch time, so @mama-pepper brought down the waffles and blueberry topping that they had been working on before I interrupted with the news.
Life on the homestead can often throw you a curve ball, so it is nice to have such a flexible family that can roll with the punches. While we ate, the mama pig had more babies.
One after another they came. Finally, things slowed down.
In the end, she had nine little piglets. Once the last one came out, the placenta passed. This signaled to us that the show was over and life with cute little piggies was about to begin. As I cleaned up the mess, I felt somewhat like a midwife. I've seen them in action after a delivery and for some reason cleaning up the afterbirth and tidying up the place made me feel like one.
The little piglets are very cute and very small. All of the @little-peppers were very delighted in the pleasant surprise. We were hoping that our pigs would be making us more pigs, we just were not sure if they actually would. Now we know!
So far we are impressed with the job that the mama is doing. Most of the time, she is found lying on her side nursing her young. Sometimes she does lie down partially on top of one, or step on them for a moment, but nothing too major has happened.
When we took a stroll down after dark she was found in the same position, with all nine piglets with her. I spent some time "piglet-proofing" the place and making a safe place for the little ones to get away from mama too. So far everything has went very well, considering that we were not exactly planning on this.
We even gave her a celebration dinner. Those are big at some hospitals these days and we did not want her to miss out. I let some whole corn soak in some beef broth and then fed it to her out of a bucket with me holding it mostly. I want her to be comfortable around us still, and so far it is working pretty well. She will certainly grunt when you get close to her and the little piglets, and she won't hesitate to see what is going on when a piglet squeals.
One thing that I cannot get past is that the first three pigs were bought with SBD that I cashed out. Then, @smailer donated so that we could buy this one. Now, we have nine more, all because of steemit! That is absolutely #amazing!
I'll try to post some cute photos of the piglets with the children from the @little-peppers account soon, so stay tuned for that. Otherwise, we'll keep you posted!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-piglets
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
wow what a beautiful post and a beautiful family (9 little beautiful piglets ) added to @papa-pepper tribe. Buddy , you deserve a title for your good job as midwife. I wonder if you will like to take up the profession? Greetings to the whole clan and I wish you all a blessed weekend.
Thanks @charles1! I have upvoted your comment at 100% to encourage others to make real comments and actually interact here on steemit!
Thank you @charles1! On to a blessed weekend!
welcome @papa-pepper and thanks for the upvote. I agree 100% with the need for actual human interaction here and not bogs or bot like comments-haha.
Do you use bots , and what is your opinion about bots ? feel free to see my latest post about the subject and send in your comment. I wish you more success and hope that we stay in touch.
Wow what a blessing and to hear this was from the power of Steemit is even more special. So this is the second generation of pigs, looking foward to seeing the third, fourth, fifth etc of pigs. This is amazing.
No kidding! On and on it goes, and it all started with a dream and some STEEM... might have to write a book with that title!
Man, please write that down on a notepad and keep it somewhere that is a very good idea.
Papa, maybe not just a book... seems to me there has to be other homesteaders all over the USA and other parts of the world.
https://homesteading.com/write-us/ Just found this website... they pay $25/article, plus $5/per photo. This may not be of interest, but perhaps @Farmstead might be interested because I know she was struggling a bit.
ALSO... those piglets are SO DARN Cute !! and it all came from a Dream & STEEM...as You said.
Thanks Again Papa for sharing... Cheers !!
Awsome piglets. Nice pics!
Such beautiful pigglets. I hope they would remain cute forever lol
Steempowered piglets! Congratulations Papa- P
What an amazing day! The waffles in the middle of the proceedings made me laugh. Those little ones will keep you all busy but happy for sure.
Eat a waffle.
Watch a piglet be born.
Clean up a placenta.
Steem on.
Life is good.
You gotta name them the Amazing Steemit Piglets!!! Some more young babies making even more joy for the @little-peppers!
@papa-pepper the midwife, that could be a nice post name btw mate! hahaha!
Have a lovely weekend ahead man!
Cheers
@progressivechef
Really nice you took your kids with you, the little piggies are SOO cute , the bond between a mother and her children , so touching .
I needed their help!
Such a great father :D teaching his kids everything from nature to the big game
beautiful. makes me not want to eat them...
Back to that again? LOL!
You will be shocked at how much better the flavor is on your own home raised pork than that "other white meat" they sell in the supermarket!
well done
Wow amazing very nice post Cute piglets
Thank you, they sure are cute!
The little pigs are cute and adorable. The mother defends them fiercely with all their love. They are very docile and can be great pets.
Greetings.
She is a very good mother so far. We are pleased.
Congrats on the new editions! Can't wait to see the post covering clipping needle teeth, iron shots, and castration, lol😂!
Might have to wait a bit for that!
Oh don't worry, lol, I'm patient!
i wonder y the pigs are so cute
Don't know why - just know that they are!
wow you got bacon seeds now ;) fantastic news great pictures and fast action sir and youngen's too :) will there be video and pictures as the piglets get bigger ? thanks for sharing
BACON SEEDS!
"very nice post" message from me a Student who needs extra income. Follow & Upvote me @lordmp27
Lovely little pigs!)
Thank you @deleni!
Awesome litter. The power of Steem is filling out the Homestead. Sweet!
Yes it is! A little STEEM to get it started, and then it should run itself!
Great to hear @papa-pepper, that is a nice looking hog crop! Seems like the Large Black sows are a little more forgiving of the human family around their piglets, other breeds we have had are downright aggressive when they have a litter of piglets. Good to see the pepper clan in the hog pen! Good luck with them!
So far so good. Hopefully no one gets rolled over on in the night.
Great post man, thanks for bringing the homesteading life to all of us that can only live it vicariously :)
It seems that many enjoy that, so we will keep them coming. Maybe once we get it all set up others can even stop in periodically to get a little less vicarious!
Aw look at those little darlings and the little peppers are cute too. So now you have more steemit pigs.
Even more!
Same thing happened to my parents. They did not even know their pig was pregnant and then on Mother's Day 6 piglets were born.
Bork!
Wow 😳
What sweet, tiny little things they are. Congratulations! Every time I read one of your articles, I marvel at the great opportunity you give your children to live close to nature, getting back to basics. May your children grow up to follow in their parents' huge footsteps. And may those piglets grow up to supply delicious hams in future.
Hi @papa-pepper
Wow ! wow ! WoW ! Great post ! so beautiful picture. Your piggy are very much. They are really cute.
@chainarong
I love pigs... When I was a kid and lived with Uncle Arthur the farmer we rented from had a big white hog that used to follow me around like a dog.
much better raised with organic feeds rather than the GMO feeds that are being fed and sold to what we buy in the market.
Why did you have to clean up after the birth? Our live stock, cows and goats always ate the placenta after the birth.
You are an amazing person))) I admire you)
LOL Bacon-bits! So thrilled the little peppers were there, too many kids are shielded from the reality of life and those grow up thinking food comes from just the grocery store. Folks living the real life realities are steps ahead.. Sharing for others to enjoy the new bacon bits....
Upvoted and also resteemed!
So cool! You're living the dream!
When I was about five years old, I got to watch a pig give birth to damn near twenty little piglets in an incubator at an agriculture and farming exposition (with a rodeo, too) at Kemper Arena here in Kansas City.
It was very interesting, and piglets are absolutely adorable!
At the same event, I got to play the lion cubs, tiger cubs, and a leopard cub.
Yeah...we're a strange cowtown, that's for sure.
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Now thats a great suprise! Congratulations you lucky dog.... or should is say pig???
Hey @papa-pepper! I did ask about your piglets and they are gorgeous, fat little bundles. I have seen some amazing things on steemit! Nature will take its' due course when left alone. Sometimes I think we tend to interfere too much and that's when things run amok. Thanks for sharing this with us! Looking foreward to more...
SO Great!!! Steemit piglets!!! How Wonderful!! That's funny you felt like a midwife. Thanks for sharing the news with us and I think it's great you were able to share the miracle of birth with your whole family!
back in the day on the Llano Estacado I raised hogs.
Kind of amazing animals really.
Their rate of growth is FANTASTIC.
Very cute piglets. I hear they can make great little pets too. Talk about a multi-purpose animal!
So nice, returns me in my childhood :)