It has been a quiet week here at Green Mountain Girls Farm. Statistics from Royal Butcher help us understand why…not only are the 13 “piglets” no longer with us, but they had a bigger presence than we knew. Our “piglets” had grown even bigger than we predicted producing over a ton of pork! Chores are […]
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Animal Love
February 15, 2010 – 12:54 pm
The week leading up to Valentine’s day was an eventful one. On Wednesday we orchestrated the great pig move: Doodle said goodbye to her piglets and took a ride in the trailer up to the barn, where she traded spaces with Tic and Toe. The juggling act of moving Tic and Toe into their holding […]
Doodle’s Piglets
December 29, 2009 – 5:56 pm
Yes, it may seem as if we are only pig farmers if you read this blog lately. We promise to share other farm stories, but it is true that with 3 sows farrowing in November and December, the pigs are quite prominent. Santa came early and Doodle delivered her piglets on Monday, Dec 21st, right […]
Here’s to Risks
November 20, 2009 – 10:22 pm
This evening Laura and I had a somber and somewhat soggy toast with dinner. “Here’s to Risks”. We were honoring little Risk-the-Runt who didn’t beat the 50/50 odds the books gave him. We were also celebrating risk-taking. Not the kind of risk that invites danger. We don’t think we caused the little guy acute suffering […]
Risk, the Runt
November 15, 2009 – 9:28 pm
Risk seemed like an appropriate name for our littlest, runty piglet as we took him away from his six rambunctious siblings and Fife this morning. Risk is 1/3 the size of the others, if that, and now that Fife’s other 6 piglets are scampering about, wrestling and chewing on each other, the runt was getting […]
Mis en Place*
November 10, 2009 – 11:16 pm
Fife, just 24 hours into motherhood, grunted to urge back the wandering piglet. Simultaneously she used her snout to toss some straw into the corner of her farrowing hut, where the pile of straw combined with heat lamps keep the squiggly bunch of eight piglets warm. We farmers worry if it is warm enough but […]
Piglets, Plants, and Lattes on the Hoof
June 10, 2009 – 10:07 pm
A lot has happened on GMG Farm in the past two weeks! After many days of anticipation, Doodle gave birth to her first litter of piglets. It was a small litter, and we are excited to welcome the three piglets, Tic, Tac, and Toe, to the farm! Doodle is doing a great job nursing and […]
Doodle is Back
March 13, 2009 – 9:53 pm
Doodle, our first sow, is back from breeding camp. We sent her off to Hogwash Farm, where we got her, to get pregnant since we don’t have any boars here. Boars can look a bit scary, they are big and they have tusks. When Mari saw Bruce the boar she noted, “we don’t need one […]
How much do those pigs weigh?
February 14, 2009 – 2:36 pm
The pigs’ weight is often a curiosity. Any guesses? We track their weight as a guide to how much to feed them, their overall health, estimated finishing date, and for fun. This batch is growing like weeds as they say. When we brought them home from Hogwash Farm, the Redcoats were 6 weeks old and […]