|
web design by
EDJE
visit The
Pig Page |
|
Blog...
 |
| |
|
January 24, 2010
Well, I'm sure you have all heard by now that Southern
California was hit by unusual weather this past week. We
have had reports of way above average rainfall, snow in the
local hills and mountains, cold wind, flooding, mudslides
and even tornadoes. Yes, tornadoes in California! I'm sure
that a good deal of you are yawning right now, but consider
what I've said in the past about our boring weather of
constant sunshine....we are not used to weather!
The good news is that I've gotten to wear a sweater (and not
been too hot) and I have had the joy of building a fire in
the fireplace, baking a tomato pie and making homemade soup,
and have been enjoying evenings watching "All Creatures
Great and Small" with a hot cup of cocoa and a peppermint
swizzle stick. Now, that is what I call enjoying a So Cal
winter! Seriously, we need the water and so we have to look
at the bright side. I've been praying for rain and I would
say that my prayers have been answered, eh?
Thank you to all of you who thought of us when your own news
programs were telling of the crazy flooding near us and for
sending your well wishes and prayers for us and our pigs.
The pigs were a bit put off by the rain and flooded pens and
having to stay in their houses for so many days in a row.
It was cold (for us) and we did have to make sure to get
some of the houses and huts up off the ground. Jim was my
"lifesaver" by building some pallets (in the rain) to make
sure everyone was going to "weather the storm" and "be high
and dry". Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
Yesterday was a new day. After days of dark skies and rain,
it was so beautiful to wake up to puffy white clouds and
cool, crisp morning air. While driving to the property we
call "the farm", I was admiring the snow on the mountains
and all of the green fields and pastures when I noticed that
a flock of Canadian Geese had decided to take some
nourishment in one of the fields. I had my camera so I took
a couple of pictures. You will have to try hard to see them
in the photo, but they really are there. The hills and
clouds in the background looked so pretty with the green
field below. Once I got to the farm, I was excited to
realize that the rain had produced a green pasture for our
pigs to graze....something I had been looking forward to
since attending the "Pigs on Pasture" seminar at the
University of North Carolina a few summers ago. In Southern
California where rain is usually scarce, a pasture can only
be maintained with irrigation. We always hope for enough
rain to make the pastures green and this year was that
year! The pigs looked pretty happy, though muddy, to see
the sunshine. While walking the fence line between the
pasture and Thatcher's pen, I noticed he was following me
and "asking" to be turned out. I couldn't help but take a
few pics of him, too, and share them below. Thatcher is one
of the original boars that we imported from England in
2005. He is our largest boar weighing in at 230 pounds, is
a "brown and white" with both wattles, and has legs like
fire hydrants. He is an aggressive breeder, sweet as can
be, and very masculine. He is from the "Andrew" boar line
which is "Mako Mahia" in New Zealand.
Our hearts go out to Haiti and all of those who are touched
by the tragedy there. We pray that the Lord will use this
time to bring recovery, restoration, and a blessed future to
the people of Haiti. We pray that Haiti will become a
country who will love and serves the one and only Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ our God.
Thanks, as always, for checking in. Take care and God bless
you and yours, Lori
|
|
|
January 8, 2010
Happy New Year and I hope everyone is keeping to their 2010
resolutions. I am 'cause I haven't really made any, ha!
Yesterday, our Fancy girl was very accommodating and
starting to show signs of farrowing at about 9 am in the
morning (instead of in the middle of the night). As
mentioned in the previous blog, when gilts/sows begin to
scrape the ground with their front feet, piglets are on
their way. She didn't have the first piglet until about 1
pm, but two followed immediately with barely enough time to
clean the first one off. I believe that Fancy does not have
a very high tolerance for pain and seems to become
frightened of her piglets at first. She is one of our sows
that farrows (delivers her young) while standing. It
appears that she is too uncomfortable when she tries to lay
down and so gets right back up and walks around.
Fancy has acted aggressively toward her piglets soon after
they are born. There have been times when I have not been
present when she farrowed and she has had all of her piglets
survive and appear to be thriving. She is the only sow that
we have that has ever acted in an aggressive way toward her
piglets and it can be extremely stressful to watch. Once I
believe that she has delivered all of her piglets and the
afterbirth is coming, I wait for her to lay down to nurse
the piglets. As she's delivered them, I allowed her to talk
to them and then I cleaned them off and removed them from
her for safety's sake. Then, I usually place them under the
heat lamp and even put them in a laundry basket if they are
too interested in finding mom and don't stay put under the
lamp. When she seems to settle, I place them near her where
she talks to them and they explore her and find a teat or
teats. This can be an hour after the first one is born and
sometimes longer. With most sows, they are eager to have
the piglets nurse and they "tell" them where to go and "yes"
you are going the right way or "no" that's not it. With
Fancy, if they get near her rear, she will jump up and chase
them and bite at them. This all looks very scary. If they
get into her face and "complain", she will jump up and do
the same thing. I've tried to keep them away from her, but
at some point they need to eat. I've discovered, that it is
best with her to allow her to be the mom realizing that she
is not really hurting them...no one is bleeding or injured.
I've discovered that she is a very strong disciplinarian and
she has the quietest piglets of all. No one tells this mom
what to do!
In the end, Fancy has some of the most gorgeous piglets
we've produced at USA KuneKunes. The stress that her
farrowing causes in us, however, is reason for
consideration. I wonder if we're too involved in the
farrowing of our piglets, but then we all know that some of
our babies would not have survived had we not be present at
the time. It is something to really think about and work
through all of the pros and cons and evaluate the individual
sows and what is best for them and their offspring. Fancy
is a super mom, but it is not very comforting before she
"teaches" her piglets what she is expecting of them. Oh,
and she is NEVER aggressive toward us in any way which is
very typical of the KuneKune Pig breed.
Another thing I meant to mention is that Fancy seems to do
much better once ALL of afterbirth is delivered and labor
pains seem to subside. She has even delivered some of the
afterbirth and two hours later, had another piglet! She is
not a happy camper when she is in labor and you can see the
look of anticipation when a piglet is going to emerge. I've
attached some pix of her while in labor. Notice her ears
are facing backward as she knows what's about to happen.
She is laying or sitting in the pix, but stands up when the
piglet is born. Unfortunately, my camera battery needed
charging and that's all the pictures that I got until this
morning.
Some of our buyers are now having their first litters. We
are so happy for them and for us. Would love to see
pictures!
Until next time, Lori
|
|
|
December 17, 2009 New Litters, Hints about Farrowing
I hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving as we did. The
weather was just right for the "holiday feel" being cold and
even rainy. For those of you who know me well, you know that
I am really tired of living in So Cal with all of the "great
weather", 365 days a year. It's not that I don't appreciate
the sunshine....it's just that there is no changing of the
season in our area. It is nice to be able to wear a sweater
every now and then!
Anyway, we are happy to report that Carrington has farrowed
six beautiful piglets sired by Winston on Sunday, December
13, exactly as anticipated. Kunekunes are very predictable
when it comes to farrowing dates, but unusual in that their
gestation is 116 days rather than 114 as with other breeds
of swine. I want to mention here a couple of things that
have come up since some of our buyers are now getting
piglets on the ground.
One thing to note is that not all sows lay down to farrow
piglets. Our sows Carrington and Fancy stand to deliver
piglets. They will lay down intermittently and then stand
when the piglet is actually emerging. Once the piglet drops
to the ground, the sow will spin around and "talk" to the
piglet. It is a good idea to remove the piglet from the area
after cleaning it off and place it under the heat lamp for
safety as there will usually be another piglet following in
the next few minutes. The sow will "paw" or scrape the
ground, nesting materials, etc. when farrowing is imminent.
She does this in between piglets, but it is also the sure
sign that she is going to be giving birth soon. Look for
pawing or scraping behavior, (not moving nesting materials
by mouth) to determine if your gilt/sow is ready to farrow
in the next few hours or even sooner. Also, check her
underline for evidence of milk and a softening of the vulva.
When you see these things, make sure you're ready 'cause
those babies are on their way!
Once piglets are born, they will start to try and nurse.
This can be unnerving in that they sometimes take their time
finding a teat. The urge is to help them, but do not put
them to a teat. This time searching imprints them with the
mother and they are learning their environment with regard
to her body and which end is which. With most breeds of
swine, the piglets will "choose" a teat and stick with it
for the entire time they are nursing. This is not true with
the Kunekune Pig breed. Kune piglets will often "share"
teats and also use two or even three teats with one being
the primary teat that they have claimed. Sometimes, they
will use two teats that are not close together and spend
their time running from one to the other. This is normal for
Kunes so do not be alarmed or let folks tell you otherwise.
By the way, it is a good idea to tear the umbilical cords at
this time, too as they can get all tangled up when the
piglets are weaving up and down and back and forth getting
their bearings. Tear it with your fingernails which is
fairly easy to do at this stage (I use latex gloves). Once
the cord is dry, it can be very tough and will need to be
cut. DO NOT cut the umbilical cord prior to it drying out
completely. Be sure to tear is so that it is not cleanly
severed (as with cutting) leaving the opportunity for
bleeding or infection. Leave a length of the cord that
almost touches the ground when the piglet is standing on all
fours, about two inches.
The last thing to mention here is to always provide a safety
zone for your piglets. Mother pigs are very careful not to
step or lay on their piglets, but if there is too much
bedding creating a berm, the piglets can roll underneath
her. Some of the more energetic or adventurous piglets can
be rather impatient and move from side to side or underneath
mom and get stepped on or laid upon. The safety zone can be
created by placing a rail around the walls of her farrowing
area about six or eight inches from the floor and eight to
twelve inches out. This will create a "pocket" for the
piglets to get into should they be behind her when she goes
to lay down up against the wall. We sometimes use a panel
that we've fashioned for the purpose placed so that it cuts
off a corner in our sow stall. The piglets can get
underneath a rail that mom cannot get under. Make sure it is
not placed too high because we just had a small sow get into
and become trapped in the safety zone with the piglets and
heat lamp. Not good. We place a heat lamp in the safety zone
which the piglets soon learn is a good place to sleep and
will always retreat to should mom become agitated or should
any other trouble arise becoming a true safety zone in the
minds of the new born babies. It works wonderfully.
Our new little sow, Silhouette, surprised us with a litter
of two. I was wondering why she didn't seem to cycle and
wasn't at all interested in the boys and then realized on
December 15 that she was about to farrow. Hence, the tips
above! She had two very beautiful solid brown/black piglets,
a color new to us. It has been said to me (and I agree) that
the solid piglets are very appealing being without spots so
you can "see" them. While I love color, I also love the
solid cream, black and brown! Oh, and Silhouette is one of
our fabulous pigs that came from Cyndi Berry of Kunekune
Preserve USA whose pigs are out of the foundation stock
imported directly from New Zealand. We have her pedigree,
but are still researching bloodlines as the records are kept
by common name and not boar/sow line over there.
Well, looking forward to the Christmas holiday. Hope you
are, too. The Lord has certainly blessed us and you through
this wonderful, little pig breed. Don't you think so, too?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Lori
|
| |
|
|
November
20, 2009
We have been producing purebred KuneKune Pigs since our first litter
in June of 2006 and we love to hear from our buyers about how they
have discovered the superior temperament of the breed as well as the
other beautiful characteristics of their own kunekunes. Recently, we
received an update from Melody in PA on her little barrow, Tiki. She
reports that he weighs in at 148 pounds at almost three years of
age. He is kept in great condition as is apparent in the photos
attached. Thank you, Melody, for sharing with all of us!
In addition, new KuneKune enthusiasts, Brian and Alana Schoffstall
also of PA, have shared photos of their new piglets and intent to
become committed breeders registering their prefix with the American
KuneKune Breeders' Association. They purchased a gorgeous cream
colored boar from our buyers in Spring, Texas at TGR Exotics and a
sweet, brown and white gilt from breeders, Gary and Shelly Farris of
Rocky Mountain Kunekunes. We have really enjoyed getting to know
this wonderful couple. Photos below.
One of our very first buyers (another family from PA!) has a
breeding pair and are on pins and needles awaiting their first
litter of purebred piglets. Dave and Jodi Cronauer have their hands
full with three boys, being owners of their own chiropractic
offices, raising Buffalo, and now Kunekune Pigs. Wow, and I think
I'm busy!
We plan to be out of the office beginning tomorrow, November 21
through Thanksgiving weekend. The best news we could ever hear is
that we are going to have a grandchild. Our daughter and son-in-law
are expecting their first child to arrive in late June of 2010. We
will be spending the holiday with them up in Central California. We
praise the Lord for His blessing on us and our children. We do not
deserve such love!
Happy Thanksgiving to all and Give Thanks to God for His Son, Jesus
Christ!
Sincerely, Lori Enright
|
|
|
