A sow about to farrow will separate herself from the herd and find her spot. She will have picked it out some time before and built a nest for the young ones. The nest will have a furrow for her and a space to keep the young in close to her. She will stay in the nest for a few days, usually about three, only emerging to eat and drink and relieve herself, which she would never do in her bed unless forced to. Unfortunately, Sonia will have no choice, because the only way I could keep the piglets from her was to close her space off entirely. Otherwise I was concerned that the piglets would nurse from her and force her newborns out in the cold. That happened with the last sow that farrowed. She had adopted Clara's piglets a week before farrowing and they drank her colostrum leaving the new piglets to starve and freeze. So, to prevent that from happening, Sonia is locked up. She has about 8 square feet, enough to lie in any direction and still have lots of room. 

She was bred to the pot belly boar, Wilbur, even though she resisted for some time. The other sows were much more cooperative, much to his delight. Sonia is smaller and likely not so much of a challenge for the potbelly, who is a smaller boar himself. 

Sonia had built her nest yesterday. I tried to get her to stay there and fence her in, but she was having none of it, though today, she was supremely cooperative. I got the little piglets out of the way and Sonia laid down in her nest. Her vulva was very enlarged and jiggly, a sign of labour and delivery impending. I thought by the end of the day she would have farrowed, but I checked her before I retired and there were no piglets yet. There will be tomorrow for sure. 

Sonia is Ossabaw Hog, a black and white pig breed often cartooned because of the long skinny snout and round body. Literally at this point she looks like someone stuck the bellows up her butt and blew her up! Tomorrow she will feel so much better. And I cannot wait to see those little gaffers. Sonia is black and white spotted and the boar is black. The dominant genes will be what colour the piglets are. They would be so adorable if they were black and white spotted. I wonder if they will have the round body or the potbelly style. Stay tuned for the news and pictures tomorrow. 
​

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? 

​