'Mornin' Pig! How's that bacon coming along?
The pigz are happy!
Them's some nice long pigz - the bacon is coming along just fine.
Check out how big they are. Remember when we first got them and they were so small? See the feeder and compare how big they are already! That's only been about a month ago that we moved them to their new spot.
And they are doing a great job of clearing their new area. The Impenetrable Forest has met its match.
In other news... we have a hatch going on! Charlie's eggs are finally hatching. I went down to the incubator and found 3 or 4 little pips trying to bust out of their pods... I mean, eggs. The bad news was that I took one of the pippers out to put under her momma...and I smelled a bad egg. When I gently lifted Charlie up I saw disaster. There was a couple of bad eggs and even worse - maggots.
So we sprung to action. We took the eggs out from under her and in a swift motion I picked her up and The Big Man scooped up all the bad gunk and hay. We quickly reformulated a new straw nest for her and sat her back down. We put some of her eggs back and also gave her the pippers. She immediately started talking to them. Hopefully she'll just assume those are her babies that have been under her the whole time. We'll sneak the rest of the incubator hatchlings under her later this afternoon if she accepts them.
We put the non-ruined eggs (as far as we could tell) into the incubator. This way they can have a chance and if they are bad (ruined from the bad eggs in the nest) they won't do much damage. There is always a chance that your hen could get infested with maggots if her nest goes bad. While I was holding her I turned her over and checked her skin - so far so good. Best practices would be to sprinkle some DE on her to kill off any mites or such - but since she's on eggs that are currently hatching we'll just let her be. In a few days I'll take some wood ashes in near her so she can get a dust bath in them.
Hopefully there will be pix of little cuties tomorrow. Anybody else hatching? Do you have the windows open and the air conditioning off? We do - such a relief!
Happy Wednesday!
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10 comments:
Those pigs are looking real good! Too bad about the hatchlings that didn't make it..I don't like maggots :o( makes me sick to think she might have tried to eat them as bugs yuck!...Today is supposed to be a scorcher here in NC the kids are flying in and I'll be cooking in it.
Your pigs are looking fine and it sounds like your momma bird will be quite busy pretty soon. Our hen gave up trying to hatch golf balls...so no baby golf balls for us. Someday I will have to get another rooster and increase the flock, but geeze, 15 hens are all the trouble I need right now. Enjoy your day!
I'm having my first hatch today too! One pipped last night and was out when I woke up. I'm doing lavender Orpingtons and Black Copper Marans. It's soo exciting. Oh, and I'm doing a Campine to send to you since you don't have one any more. LOL, just kidding.
That bacon is definitely coming along nicely!
The weather is breaking here as well!!! Yippeee, no humity and oppresive heat!
It's a good thing that you found the bad eggs and maggots under Charlie!
Isn't it amazing how fast the pigs come along? We had our first pig this year, and I really liked him. But he is now in our freezer.
Wow - great news about your kids coming in, Ginny. I'd love to be at your table tonite! Enjoy every second!
Thanks Mr. H! Only 15? Ha! I gave up counting - she's doing great and I think there are 2 or 3 little ones under her right now. Baby golf balls... hee hee hee.
JEFF! Ha! I spit my drink out - oh no you dont! You might as well throw your tv out the window - "peepin' tv" is much more entertaining. Isnt it a hoot to watch them?
Hey Robin! I hope you are outside enjoying every minute of this blue sky day. Tomorrow morning will be glorious. I'll be up early for sure.
Hi VGC! I love pigs best when they are in the freezer! Great work - did you butcher him yourself? Ours are going to be monsters by the time fall rolls around.
Wow those pigs are lookin' good. If only the guy notching their ears would have been able to find his small notcher...
Checking for bad eggs is good to know, I didn't think of it and haven't done this yet for either the hen or guinea.
The pigz are doing a great job clearing the area, I have to compare it to how my sheep are doing.
Hey David! Yeah that guy was nuts? Whats with that?? HA!
Does everyone know Spring Hill Farms?
http://springhillfarms.us/spring-hill-farms-blog.html
These are the best pigz we've ever had - thanks!!!
CC - some folks even candle each egg to make sure only the viable ones are under the hen. This freaks me out so we dont do it.
Huh, I though I left a note about them fine long pigz. Must be going soft in the head. Everything looks grand! Reminds me to thaw out some of my bacon for the weekend
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