After much languishing by the gate Sauce suddenly woke up to her impending mission.
In a hysterical burst of movement she began rushing up and down the pig pen grabbing greenery of all kinds and dashing into her house to make a nest for the soon to be born babies. I meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief that at long last things were beginning to kick into action and I could release the guilt I felt for having enforced a separation on this dear and friendly family of pigs.
Even so, it wasn’t for another day until she finally popped out 11 little squeakers.
I arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning to discover the recently born babies quivering in their new home, dazed by the light and wobbling on their tiny trotters they negotiated the hay, each other and their mother to find a teat from which to suckle their first and vital drops of milk and colostrum.
Sauce, satisfied that all was well with her brood, looked at me with tired eyes and demanded to be fed! No problem, a bucket of sumptuous pig food was on hand and she wolfed it down.
The main difference to this birthing compared to her last time is the relaxed attitude Sauce is taking to the whole affair. I separated her earlier than possibly necessary because I had been worried that she was rather harassed by the others. Despite being severely displeased with me over the change in living arrangements, it has to be said that Sauce’s furrowed brow has eased in the days leading up to the birth and whilst last time, had been her first time, when she was beside herself with excitement, this time, she is taking a far more prosaic view of the whole affair. Whether this has anything to do with the fact I have been lacing her food with various homeopathic remedies to balance her hormones and subsequently her mood I have no idea but right now she is sincerely one chilled out pig!
She wanders in and out of the pig house almost nonchalantly taking care of the little trotters which follow her around the pig pen. At a mere three days old they were endeavouring to dig up the earth, eat cabbage leaves and fight one another just for fun.
So, soon it will be time to open up the gates and let Apple and Scoffers investigate the new arrivals – that is our next hurdle.
Watch this space…
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