February 24, 2016

Nine Piglets!

Polly farrowed early this morning, sometime right before chores. She had nine piglets!




Dan discovered them when he went out to feed the pigs. I hurried to finish my goat chores and got there as Polly delivered the placenta.


A typical American Guinea Hog litter is six to ten. Last time she had six, so we're increasing production!

I fed her treats, praised her, and gave her a good back rub, but didn't check sexes of the new babies. There will be time for that later. Just happy that all went well and is well.

And, because I can't resist, here are a couple of non-piglets.


Daphne's little guys are now one day old and getting the jumping bean feet. Their baby goat sweaters fit well, except I think for Kinders they don't need to be so long. I'll have a full blown fashion show soon.

Nine Piglets! © February 2016 by Leigh 

39 comments:

  1. Congrats again! Great start to what I am sure will be a busy spring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Perry! I get a break until April, then it's kidding again.

      Delete
  2. It looks like a fine litter of fat little pigs. In my experience of pig farming with other breeds, the first litter will typically be small in number. The subsequent litters will have more pigs. I have never figured out why that is other than perhaps natures way of breaking in a new sow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're probably right about that. Interesting how things work themselves out without our interference.

      Delete
  3. It's obviously spring time on your homestead, Leigh. Babies all over the place. Glad to hear all went without a hitch for Polly and the Piggly Wigglies!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All we need is a ark so we don't all float away. :)

      Delete
    2. For some reason I cant leave a comment so attaching it here. How wonderful they look so silky and gorgeous and do the little kids, dee

      Delete
    3. Delia, I've had several others tell me they have the same problem. Glad you figured out how to comment anyway!

      They do look healthy, don't they?

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. The wait seemed to be going on too long, but then, babies of all species don't worry about due dates.

      Delete
  5. Will you be selling the piglets? I'd be interested in buying a pair, this year or next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I'll be selling them and some will be for pork. They're ready to go at about 5 or 6 weeks old, which will be at the end of March. More will follow!

      Delete
  6. Oh my goodness! Look at those little black shiny piglets. They are simply adorable. So glad you have all these new babies and no problems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, it is such a relief to have event-free deliveries!

      Delete
  7. Congratulations Polly!!! Oh Leigh, I am a bit envious of you and Dan with all this baby-critterness :) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Leigh,

    Congratulations on your new piglets!!! They're adorable......and so are your baby goats.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yep, I'm taking all the credit for encouraging her on your last post. They are adorable! NINE! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  10. oh my goodness - those piglets are soooo cute! and those baby goats in their little sweaters - you must be having a blast watching all of the antics! congrats on lots of hard work and being so successful! do you plan on keeping all of the little piglets?

    your friend,
    kymber

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is my favorite time of year, and I make sure to get plenty of baby watching time in. :)

      Delete
  11. More babies!! Work but interesting! We are having a blizzard so it is a good thing they are born there! I have to shovel a path for Coco to go potty! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor Coco! Poor YOU! Sadly our temp just dropped after another inch of rain. Hopefully all the little 'uns are cozy with their mamas for the night.

      Delete
  12. Omgosh! How wonderful!! So happy to hear all is well and all are healthy!!
    And i just Adore the pics of those kids in their sweaters!! Too cute!!
    Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  13. Aww. So happy for you guys & Polly too!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Goodness sake! I leave for a couple days and there are babies everywhere!!! YAY !! So happy to see everything went smoothly

    ReplyDelete
  15. YAY!!!! I was right it was Daphne followed closely by Polly! Woo hoo babies everywhere. It's a tough call to know which is cuter though...that piglet closeup is pretty adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congrats!!!!! What a great way to start the day!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, I miss a few days and you've got babies EVERYWHERE! Congrats! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, how you warmed my heart! Perhaps if the goats had been full on Nubians, the sweaters would have fit a little better in the length department! The colors make them look so perky!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fantastic! Not sure why, but it surprised me to see them all the same color like that. Congratulations! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my, I'm way behind on responding to comments. :o Most American Guinea Hogs are black, so it would be a treat if she had another color. I think there are "red" and "blue" as official colors to the breed too, but black is the most common.

      Delete
  20. Nice work, Polly and Daphne! (and Leigh, too, of course!)

    Do the piglets get sweaters, too? ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to 5 Acres & A Dream The Blog! Thank you for taking the time to join in the conversation.