The Meishan and Ossabaw gilts were all bred basically at the same time. One of the Meishans has already farrowed, almost 10 days early. I am not sure how many babies she actually had because I cannot find any trace of where she farrowed, but then, the dogs will clean that up as part of their job not to attract predators. The thing is, there are two nests built, in two different huts, but I believe she farrowed in the third hut and did not build a nest. I found two dead piglets, and 6 live ones, which is half the size of litter she was expected to have. The sire was a Pot Belly boar and they only do have small litters, so perhaps there was that influence or perhaps there were more. The piglets are not well tended as this is the pig that adopted the deceased pot belly sow's brood. She allowed them to nurse which brought the milk much quicker than needed. The vet said a week prior to birthing her own, the piglets should be removed to allow the colostrum to build, but she farrowed early. The piglets are very small, the size of potbelly babies, not Meishans. Meishans should be 2-3 pounds at birth and these are likely all under 2 pounds for sure. I planned to remove the babies from the deceased sow on Monday, which technically would give her 5 days to develop colostrum. Plan failed! Because she does have 20 functioning teats though and she has 10 live piglets to nurse, I am hoping for the best. 

So, the second Meishan gilt should farrow anytime, though technically she too has 8 days to be on schedule and the Ossabaw sow should be right in their too. I am guessing it is those two sows that have built nests, since the first one is in the hut without any straw at all, plus the littlest piglets cannot get in and out because of a large step. I made a ramp for them and as long as the big pigs do not dislodge it, they can come out. I suspect some of the piglets perished because they were cold, since they do not have any nest at all. I will give them some clean straw this afternoon after coming back from getting dog meat. 

There are always strange things on the farm. Some of them make my heart heavy, and I am learning not to count my chickens before they are hatched so to speak. I was worried about having so many piglets and as it turns out, there are only 5 from Clara's litter and 6 from Meishan 1. So, unless the other two sows have successful litters I won't really have much to worry about at all. But, I feel terrible about the loss of those little lives. I really do. 

Pretty much everyone I know loves pork, and who doesn't love bacon? Large pigs grow fast and eat a lot. The Fat Ewe Farm had Berkshire hogs a few years back and started a lot of folks in this area with their own Berkshires. They are easy going pigs, good natured and not too hard on fences. And their flesh makes great pork meat for human consumption. But one pig is a lot to eat, so I gave them up. I had to buy grain for them and the cost to raise the pigs was almost more than if I bought some one else's pig already cut and wrapped. The problem is I was never sure what the other pigs were fed and that made a difference to me. 

So last year I got some pot belly pigs, Clara and Wilbur. They have had quite a few litters together, though the ravens got one litter except for one and she had one group in the dead of winter and they froze. She was inexperienced then and scattered them out of the nest she so carefully made. 

A friend had two Meishan pigs that their family had outgrown which she offered to me and they are part of the pigs on the farm now. Meishan sows have 20 teats and can raise that many piglets easily. They were imported to Canada from China to increase the numbers of piglets that our North American sows had, but the cross breeding didn't work. The crossed sows were not able to support large numbers of piglets so then some of the Meishan pigs were sold in markets around the country. I am not sure how my friend acquired them. They are mid sized black pigs with floppy ears and when they are babies they have lots of wrinkles. 

The Meishans are bred to the Pot Belly Boar. I hope to sell the piglets, dressed whole, for Christmas dinner alternatives. Long ago, especially in Britain, piglet was served for Christmas, whole on a platter, but roast to perfection of course. After butchering the Pot Belly piglets at 4 months of age and eating the delicious pork, I would not like to go back to the large pigs again. It is that good. There is no bacon on a pot belly though, but Meishans have excellent bacon so perhaps the crosses will too. Clara is pregnant and due in a few weeks. This litter will be ready for butcher in October and the Meishan cross piglets should be ready in November or December depending on when they were bred. Perhaps I can also start some small farms back to raising smaller hogs for family use. 

Today a third breed of pig joined the farm, the Ossabaw hog. They have long thing pointy snouts and seldom exceed 200 pounds. The breed was likely a Spanish pig that was left by sailors on the Ossabaw Islands off Georgia in the USA where it became feral and survived in poor conditions. With good feed the pigs develop gross amounts of fat around the belly, but the meat is considered the best for charcuterie and is highly sought after. The pigs do well in a forage based operation. 

On the Fat Ewe Farm, the pigs have pasture to root through and grass to eat as well as their barley feed. I am thinking of allowing them in the bush by the creek where they can root around and find things they like to eat. That is much healthier than sitting in the grain bucket for their food. It will be interesting to see or rather taste, the difference between the Pot Belly, Meishan and Ossabaw pig meat. Would you like to try some? 

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