Last litter of 2012

Our sow Betty farrowed yesterday. 11 piglets were born in one of the port-a-huts out in the pasture. I was a little concerned about these new younguns out there in the cold last night. Temperatures got down into the upper 20's. But that didn't seem to bother these piglets at all. I guess some credit has to go to Betty. She's proving herself to be a real good mother.

With much colder weather and snow just around the corner, we have not planned any more litters until April/May of 2013.

New Guinea Pigglets, Red Wattles and Muscovy ducklings

Newborn Guinea piglets



Spring is the time of the year when there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to be done. Posting on the blog gets put on hold while I attend to all the other chores. It's not that the blog isn't important. It's just that there are farm chores that must be done... new pens need to be built, electric fencing has to be moved and planting has to be done. The list of things to do is much, much longer than this, but you get the idea.  Spring is also the time when new  babies are born here on the farm. Last week, we had our first litter of American Guinea Hogs. 3 boys and 2 girls. Today, another litter of 4 were born (2 boys, 2 girls). Our small herd of guineas is growing fast!

runaway piglets

The red wattle piglets are  now almost a month old. They will be weaned in a couple weeks. Man, they grow fast! Lately, their favorite activity is to squeeze under the fence of their pen and go exploring. My wife, Jane, calls them the runaways. They walk around in a pack exploring the cow pasture and the machine shed. But if something frieghtens them--a loud noise or a curious holstien steer, they bee-line it back to momma sow and safety.

Muscovy family

Even the ducks are getting into the act. Yep, spring is here!

Breed them or eat them?

In the last couple months, four litters of red wattles were born here at Wickham Farm. In many ways, young piglets are like most other youngsters. They have an insatiable appetite and want nothing more than to eat (nurse), sleep and play. Over time, this can cause the sow to become wore down and loose body condition. To keep mama from getting too wore down, the piglets are weaned (separated) from their mother at around six to eight weeks of age. At this point, they are eating solid foods well and are more than able to make it on their own. They quickly adjust to their new life and grow very quickly. At this stage they are referred to as weaners and can gain nearly a pound of weight a day.

There are a couple of nice looking gilts (young females), one very nice boar (sexually intact male), and several barrows (castrated males) in the group. Most of these piglets will be raised to become hams, bacon, roasts and other tasty cuts of pork. Red wattle pigs are very rare animals with less than 2,000 of them known to exist worldwide. They are listed as critically endangered by the American Livestock Breed Conservancy. Because of this, you would think that every piglet would be saved to increase the breed's numbers. Frankly speaking, this just isn't practical. Most farmers, us included, can't afford to raise livestock without a market for them. As much as we enjoy them, they aren't pets. That's why we sell red wattle sausage, bacon, ham and other cuts of pork. For the long-term benefit of the breed, we follow the "breed the best and eat the rest" maxim of livestock breeding. Fortunately, pasture raised red wattle is some of the best tasting pork in the world. Once you've tried it, you'll never want grocery store pork again!

There are a couple very nice looking breeding quality piglets in the bunch. If you are looking for a nice red wattle piglet for breeding or just one or two to raise your own pork, drop us an email. We probably have just what you are looking for. Or see us this summer at the Clinton, Iowa farmers market and buy your pork by the package. Either way, your purchase will not only help to support our small farm, you'll also be helping to preserve a rare livestock breed.