Winter Farrowing

Two new litters of piglets were born on the farm this month (so far). Much of what I have read on the internet says that newborn piglets need temperatures in the 85 - 90 degree F range. I think it is safe to say that our unheated sheds are much colder than this. Our temperatures have been a bit warmer than normal--global warming anyone? But night-time temperatures still dip down below 20 degrees F and the piglets seem to be doing fine. Plenty of dry bedding and a nice warm sow to cuddle up is all they need.

One of the litters was from our sow Helga (registration #1953) and our boar Herbert (#1957). There are 4 boars and three gilts in this litter. One of these gilts has already been spoken for! Helga and Herbert have produced some outstanding piglets for us in the past. So good in fact, that we kept two of the gilts back for our own breeding herd. Wilma (#3342, a Helga and Herbert daughter) and our boar Wilbur (#3339) recently had a litter of  10. Wanda (#3340, another Helga and Herbert daughter) is due anytime now. Can you say Christmas babies!

Breeding quality piglets are available for $250 each. If you would like a boar, please let us know asap--before they become barrows! A limited number of barrows will be sold for those wishing to raise their own pork at $80 each. The rest will be raised to supply our farmers market customers.

Piglets born April 8th

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million! Jane took this video today of Helga's piglets. These were born on April 8th. There are 4 gilts and 6 boars in this litter. They may look small now, but they grow very fast! If you are interested in buying a red wattle or two, please drop us an email. We are now taking deposits on these piglets. This litter will be ready to go to new homes around Memorial Day weekend.

New baby pigs

Helga had a litter of pigs in the wee hours of April 8th. We woke to find 10 piglets in the shed.  6 boys and 4 girls. This is Helga's second litter. In her first litter, she had 8 piglets and successfully raised all 8. This time, there were 12 born. One was found dead in the stall. It appeared to have been born dead. It was much smaller than the others. The other dead piglet was found outside in the mud wallow. I am really not sure how it got there. I found one in the mud with her last litter also, but was able to save that one. This piglet was not as lucky. Helga is a good mother, so we are hopeful that the remaining 10 will survive.

 

Pig Pile. 10 one day old red wattle piglets. 
Click on picture for larger view.

If you are interested in buying one of Helga's red wattle piglets, drop us an email at wickhamfarm@gmail.com and we can make arrangements to reserve a piglet for you!