A new chapter in the pig adventures

You might remember last year when AR bought a bred gilt, well he(we) enjoyed it so much that we have decided to raise pigs for show.  Since making this decision we have learned quite a lot about breeding pigs, for instance they are fed 4-7lbs of grain per day so that they don't get too fat.  Turns out that if they get too fat it can make it hard for them to get pregnant and if they do get pregnant it can make the birth difficult.  I cannot tell you how many questions we've asked over the last few days to breeders from Indiana to Texas.  I am impressed by how friendly and willing to help most seem and it really is heart warming to see  how passionate they all are about their pigs.  A great resource we have also found is showpig.com oh and WOW the AI world of pigs is amazing, people pay a small fortune for the "right" genetics.   Well, right now we're playing the waiting game since we lost our boar we will be looking to see if the sows come into heat over these next couple days.  They were AI'd last month but she was not certain if it took.  We have a line on several boars at this point and we are looking at some options for the pork side of the business too.  Ahh, so much to do, so little time.

The heat

The worse part of this life is when conditions outside of your control take the life of the animals in your care. For the past week temperatures have spiked hitting 104 and feeling even hotter, my poor pigs could hardly cool down fast enough to keep up, the ground drank the water rather than making mud. By the end of the weekend we had lost 1 sow and the boar and with temperatures continuing to rise and winds high, all we could do was move them away from the other animals. 


 Dh contacted the rendering plant yesterday but we discovered that they do not take pigs, only cattle and horses. Today I began to search for options and thankfully the Farm Bureau came through with options. It's something you ever really want to think about but it is part of this life and knowing your options sure helps. Dh and AR are working on a fire pit of sorts and we will incinerate the bodies. I pray it goes well and that we will never have to do it again. :( Thankfully we have been able to keep the other 2 sows comfortable and Praise the Lord, the temperatures this week are much milder.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY :)