Somebody help me. I'm hungry!

No rest for the weary....

The runt

Our gilt had a litter of 12 and all are still with us.  A few were on the smaller side and a couple were born significantly bigger than the others, but there was one definite runt.  We were very doubtful he would make it.  

We tried holding him up to help him nurse with the others.  He was quite the fighter, but he was so much smaller he didn't really stand a chance.   

So....we've had him in the house in a cardboard box.  He has graduated from syringe to a bottle for his feedings.  We are feeling hopeful for the little guy.  We named him "Spock" for his extra pointy ears.

Here he is at 5 days.  He is still significantly smaller but he is spunky!

A sure sign.

If your pig starts acting restless, foams a little at the mouth,  and builds a next like this, it doesn't mean she has rabies.... it means you are about to have piglets.  

We put some hay out for our gilt thinking she needed extra material to build a nest and we were amazed at what she did with it!  First she built it.  Then....

She buried herself in it.  All we could see was her snout sticking out.   She did this for a couple of days.  Then....

The next thing we knew, the piglets were being born.  This little guy was the first one born.  Eventually 11 more joined him.  

Do you see the runt on the right?  He was too small to hang with the rest so he is being raised in a cardboard box in the house.

Piglets in our future....

Well, it looks like our little girl is pregnant.  She is starting to show signs that her piglets may be due very soon.  First the physical signs....

She is also quite active building a nest of sorts. 

Preparing to farrow

Surprise find in the chicken house today!

Our 3 yr. old grandson was out on an egg hunt this afternoon.  He peeked in the chicken house to see if he could find any hidden eggs and came walking out with this one.

Now that would be a giant chicken egg ~ but we are guessing our little duck made a visit to the chicken house.  We put the egg on a plate next to one of the chicken eggs to show the difference.  

Happy to report our first duck egg (well at least we think it is our first duck egg) made it to the refrigerator without a crack.  One of the other finds today wasn't so lucky.  : )

Kids can be like kids!

Our little pygmy goats believe they are part of the family.  Today they saw me leaving and tried to get in the car with me.