Misfitmorgan's Journal - That Summer Dust

CntryBoy777

Herd Master
Joined
Sep 14, 2016
Messages
8,088
Reaction score
18,455
Points
603
Location
Wstrn Cent Florida
Awww!!.....they have that available all the time....same taste, same consistency, same content....so, they are just wanting a different taste in their mouth than the same ol', same ol'....goats are suppose to be picky about their water, but ours will go to a bucket that has algae and leaves and dead bugs in it....than to drink the water in the buckets that I fill out of the well in a sanitary bucket and put in their pen in 3 different places....but, I still offer them clean fresh water.....:)
 

misfitmorgan

Herd Master
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
7,002
Points
423
Location
Northern Lower Michigan
This post is mostly all sad news so you may want to skip it.

We found our Llama dead inside the shed/car port thing yesterday. Really unsure what happened to him at this point. He was thin but not die in a matter of 12hrs thin, his eyes were clear and bright, he was wormed even though he has never had a problem with worms. Rather dumb founded on this one. I was literally petting him 10hrs before we found him dead and cold. He was oddly in a spot he has never laid before and laying out flat, rather then leaning against the wall as usual. We are really upset because we dont know what could have caused his death, he has been rather sad since his wifey passed but i don't think that was the problem. DH does not want to do a necropsy on him, i would feel better if he did. Worst part is there is no way we can dig a hole big enough to bury him because the ground is frozen and we have no machinery to dig.:(

Helga had 8 mini piglets as i mentioned, Friday night they were gone. We have no idea what happened to them, they are just gone from their pen, no bodies nothing. Her pen set-up was not ideal by any means and she had to much bedding so may have over nested them. Her pen is also not brightly lit so she may have laid or stepped on some. The mini piglets are soooo tiny it doesnt take much for them to be injured and die in the first week or two.

Yesterday morning DH took our little doeling outside to spend the day with her mother. He found the doelings twin brother dead. He very clearly looked to have been laid on or rolled on.

I love lambing/kidding/farrowing season but the good always seems to so easily be out weighed by the bad at this time of year. I find myself kidding myself for not having figured out how to set things up better. I didn't imagine i would have to worry about a kid being laid on and killed with so much space in their shelter :hit

It's been a rough weekend, there has been some good though which i will tell you about in my next post.
 
Last edited:

misfitmorgan

Herd Master
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
7,002
Points
423
Location
Northern Lower Michigan
Thank you Bay :hugs

Sara also had her piglets. Yesterday afternoon Sara had 11 piglets, DH assisted for the last 6 piglets. He basiically just made sure their mouth/nose was cleaned off and split the sack down their back then shoved them towards the right direction aka the milk bar.
Sara is a our 75% duroc sow and this is her 3rd farrow, the boar is our registred hereford boar. So this litter makes him a proven boar. All the piglets came out red and white. Best count so far is 6 girls/ 5 boys...there is a little runt and a bigger runt so we shall see how they do.

We did make a temporary pen for Sarah until we can get the big pen split, she seems pleased.

Sooo....here are some pictures because i know how you all are....

Rosie
20180225_161457.jpg

Rosie was very very interested in those new piglets.....hopefully not because she eats so much pork.

Here are the 11 piglets and Sara
20180225_163906.jpg
20180225_163919.jpg

That piglet to the right of Sara on the hay pile is an adventurous one....she was all over that pen and she isnt more then an hour old. The last piglet was born 10 minutes before these pictures.

20180225_161429.jpg
20180225_161435.jpg
20180225_161404.jpg

Can you spot our little runt piglet? They are all so stinking cute, today i will start sitting in the pen with them so they know people. I would not sit in the pen with Spot or Laverne, Sara is a very gentle mild mannered sow. She is one of the few sows that is calm enough to let you cut the male piglets inside the pen with her.

DH is talking about selling Sara back to the guy we bought her from, because we have 5-6 replacements for her now. I really want to keep her though, her personality is just to good.

Here is a picture of Backfire our hereford boar.
20180225_161610.jpg


After Sara got put into her farrowing pen, Backfire got moved into the big pen with Spot and Laverne so he can breed them. Our hereford girls should already be bred.

The piglets from this litter will likely be sold a barrows for $100 or as boars for $200, we should be retaining all gilts.
 

misfitmorgan

Herd Master
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
7,002
Points
423
Location
Northern Lower Michigan
So sorry for the losses.... one heartbreak after another is hard to bear. :hugs

Thank you FEM it is hard. Really makes us feel like poor owners, it also shows us where we need to make some major changes when we get our permanent fencing put up and design our permanent shelters.
 
Top