Piggies!

I kind of kept you hanging a couple weeks ago, I know.  Sorry about that.  I was so frustrated that day because Yadi was making me wait...something I'm not very good at.

Would you believe that I got to be there for six out of the eight deliveries?  I missed the first two.  I think Yadi was upset that I wasn't there so she waited a whole hour on me to get home...and then was so pooped out from the first two, she decided she was done.  Literally.  Or she wanted to see just how far Jay would go for her.  I'm not sure, but by 5:00, it was time to take action.

When I arrived home, Madolyn had had enough with assisting in the birth and clean-up of one and two.  She retreated to the house and came out periodically for check-ups.  Lane saw the first two and decided to circle the barn on his fourwheeler.  That quickly came to an end.  The noises and commotion were not very relaxing for Yadi...or Jay.  And then Lane left for football.

Numbers three through eight came via human hand express.  It was lovely, people.  I had the honors (barf) of being handed the goo-covered piglets as they came out and cleaned them up.  I got to the point where I was nearly dry-heaving.  Ugh.  The smell.  The site.  The whole experience.  We had called upon the expert hog mama, Mammie, to come evaluate the situation.  Sometimes it's just good to have someone there who has done this before to calm fears.

My mom came over to get in on the action and I can tell you she was super impressed.  Or not.  We were giving Jay lots of 'tips' on his gentleness...and how would you feel if...based on our own experiences with child birth, etc.  My mom may or may not be back next time-around.  

We had seven healthy piglets and couldn't decide if she was done or not.  Mammie's son, we'll call "Cook", came by and reached up in there and felt teeth.  Hmm, that's not something you would expect to hear when reaching in that end of a pig.  But, lo' and behold, number eight (I dubbed Husky) was stuck way up in there and had to be helped down the line too.  Again, what a lovely sight.

All eight piglets are healthy and happy.  Their teeth and tails have been cut...seems so cruel, but I'm told that's just how it is.  It's sort of interesting how you mark the babies with notches on their ear.  Each ear has meaning, one side means the litter number (which this is number two for Yadi) and the other side is the number in the litter (so we have one through eight).  The ear is divided into sections that are numbered, because obviously, you aren't going to make eight notches in an ear (or even twelve or thirteen).   Then you make a notch in the appropriate section to equal whatever number you're needing to show.  (I think)  That is the extent of my understanding of the ear notch process.  Madolyn drew a poster on how it works...maybe I need to study it a bit.

They are very active and are growing quickly.  I was a little perturbed with Yadi early on because she gave up pushing after the first two, but she has been a very good mama and seems attentive to the little ones.  They're so much like puppies right now, and watching them snort and play around is fun.  It's when they grow up and get super disgusting, that I lose interest.

First pig in the house...hope the last.

It may seem ridiculous, but with these low temperatures at night, we have had to have a heat lamp on...in August.  I told Jay the other day that I think the pigs are thick enough they don't need it.  They're pampered enough.  We'll feed them until about January and then off to the market they will go, and the circle of life will begin again. Hopefully by that time, Yadi will be ready to deliver litter number three...on time.