Circle M Farm

The kids and I stealthily snatched up all of the babies from Piggy Lou’s teats tonight and tucked them, before they set up squealing, in a laundry bucket. Then, while Piggy Lou was still just confused about where the babies had gone, we debated the relative merits of taking them in the house for the night or somehow getting shelter and heat over them out in the middle of the garden.

Piggy Lou busily tossed the hay out of her nest looking for the piglets, and we made the snap decision to take the runt inside and leave the rest in the shelter with their mom. Then we just had to get Piggy Lou to come away from the open-air nest and into the shelter so the whole family would be protected from the thunderstorms predicted tonight and tomorrow.

Piggy Lou seemed to have bonded as much to the spot where she birthed them, as she had to the piglets themselves. She was clearly nervous to leave the fluffy nest, but we just couldn’t see any way to rig a stable tent or tarp over the spot, at least not one that would hold in a windy thunderstorm.

Finally, Eli and I picked up a piglet each and turned it feet-up in our hands. That made them squeal in a most terrifying, piercing manner, which at long last brought Piggy Lou over at a run. We gently tipped the piglet-filled laundry bucket into the cozy shelter, watched while Mama followed them in, then quietly left to allow them to settle down. The peace in the shelter, with grunting Piggy Lou stretched on her side while tired and warm piglets snuggled close to sleep, was a nice change from the worry and anxiety of the day.

I came back later with a heat lamp that I shined into the house from a spot where I hoped Piggy Lou couldn’t knock it down. Our little house pig took a bottle like an expert, so that was another welcome bit of peace. I should sleep well tonight, with all of the previous days’ worries about the pigs laid to rest. I hope they sleep well, too, and stay warm and dry through the night.