This Little Piggy Went to the Market

This whole herd of little piggies is going to the market. Soon. Very soon. As per the previous blogs addressing my concerns entering the pig pen, I no longer set foot in there. I did, however, manage to snap some pics of the beasts through the electric fence. (I did feel a little bad when the sweet little black one came wandering over to sniff me and got too close to the fence, got shocked and took off squealing. Little, tiny bit bad.)


They're monsterous! The pics don't do them justice! I bet the big boy weighs at least 250lbs. Maybe more. I hope he doesn't mind that when he turns away Todd and I stare at his rump thinking "Man. That's a good looking ham!"

Here's the little guys the day we brought them home:

...and here's the little hams now:

That's one lean, mean, organic cereal-eating machine!!

Pigs have been very intriging animals to raise. Judging by the above picture you can see they don't really care that they're wallowing in the mud. (Hence the term pig-sty.) The strange thing is that their house is clean. I'm talking immaculate. Not your everyday barnyard shelter. Organized, groomed, set up and...clean. Very strange. And although I find them aggressive and capable of knocking me down and disposing of the body, Todd finds them playful and intellegent. When they were smaller they loved being scratched on the head and ears. (They still do, but secretly I'm afraid to get that close to them.) The love their backs scratched and the oink and grunt when they see us.

I've heard that pigs are the most intelligent animal next to dolphins....and I'm kinda starting to believe it!

"What are you looking at, chump? Come in here and say that to my face."

Coop This!

Todd has been working on building our "hoop coops" for nearly a month now. They're a revolutionary design that allows the chickens to be on fresh grass every night. They are hoop shaped (hence the name), made with rigid square hog panels set on a light weight wooden frame. A tarp covers the hoop shape to provide protection from the weather.

The back end has two wheels mounted to the frame so that when the end with the door is lifted the coop can be wheeled to it's new location with fresh grass. They are totally enclosed and will serve as the chicken's house at night time, while they are allowed to free-range and forage during the day.

The bottom is wrapped in small mesh chicken wire to prevent anything from reaching in a grabbing the chickens.

This is Todd's patented design for their feeding system. It's a 3-inch PVC pipe the runs from outside the coop (near the door), down at a 45 degree angle and then flattens out and runs about 3 feet down the side of the coop. The top of the flat portion is cut out so the chickens can access their food from there. Genius, don't you think? The PVC cap is removable from outside and you just dump a scoop of food down the chute.

This particular hoop coop is designed for our broiler chickens - those are a breed of chicken we will be raising soley for meat. They mature in about 2 months and never lay eggs. We have 25 broiler chicks arriving next weekend and this summer will end up in the freezer.

The other coop is designed exactly like this one, only it has a roosting box with six roosts connected to the backside. It is for the laying hens, which have already arrived and are currently in their "brooders". They'll stay in the brooders under lights (to stay warm) until they are bigger and have feathers to keep them warm.

Cuties, aren't they?

...And Our Latest Addition...

Meet Mike.

Mike it the latest addition to our ever-expanding farm family. Because, really, who doesn't need a miniature donkey?

Now, before you go saying, "What in God's name does a person need a miniature donkey for?" let me tell you the story of Mike and then you'll see how you could end up with one too.
So, I always thought miniature donkeys were the stinking cutest things ever. And those who know me well know that I love all things small: animals, imitation fruit (you know, the kind you put in a dish on your coffee table), cars, toys....people. Anyway, I digress....
When I was living in Wyoming there was a couple that advertised "guard donkeys" for sale. I was thinking something that looks over your house, like a guard dog kinda. Todd informed me they probably meant guarding livestock. Whatev. I'm thinking "how cute would that be?" So, I go around saying how I want a miniature guard donkey....and Todd arranges for us to go look at one last week. I keep saying, "I really don't want one. Really. What are we going to do with a donkey? Really?"
However, when we get there I can obviously see he needs a new home. He's in a muddy pen, dirty and wet, with about 10 other miniature animals (now, she's probably a real nutcase, right? Not like me with more of a, um, fascination with all thing miniature). And Mike is being bullied around my these tiny horses. He's so passive, unassuming and patient. Obviously lowest on the food chain.
And then she tells us how she came across Mike. And it was over from there. Mike came to her from her friend, who's neighbor had lost their house. They moved out and left Mike behind without food or water. The neighbor couldn't care for him, so she called her friend with other small animals and he was rescued. The woman we got him from was unable to keep him long-term and needed to re-home him. So, that's the story of Mike. That, and he scares the crap out of my horse and the neighbor's horses. And he likes to bray (that's donkey for winnie) at 5:00am. Oh well.