Circle M Farm

Day two for our little pigs, and though they are getting stronger by the minute, they are also starting to show the wear and tear of life on the outside.

They are born in a rather slippery, slimy birth sack, but piglets are expelled on the outside of the nest and by the time they complete the arduous journey around their mama’s rump and into the melee of pigs at the teats, they are just about perfectly clean. The nest itself is pretty tidy and dry, as all of the birth fluids and membranes are left on the perimeter. In fact, just hours after birth, the piglets themselves toddle out of the nest to pee and poop. So new piglets are shockingly fresh looking, like stuffed animal toys or watercolor drawings from a Beatrix Potter book.

But then life begins. By their first morning, the piglets have tiny red scratches on their ears and snouts where they’ve bitten each other in the frantic constant scramble for room at the teats. Several have bloody gashes where they’ve been stepped on by their mother’s terrifying pointed hooves. Three have now expired under her giant bulk. Two are limping, protecting squashed toes and possibly broken legs. Watching Pigabella shift her position, or worse yet, rise and turn around, is a harrowing experience and I when I see her, I find myself holding my breath until she lays back down, all ten babies safely corralled to one side of her monstrous body.

By day two, Pigabella is better at moving and they’re better at staying out of her way. She’s clearly got good instincts, and keeps her teats turned toward two heat lamps we’ve clipped to the fence over where she decided to farrow. The piglets are always lined up under the lamps either sucking or snuggling against her side, and since it’s started to rain we’ve set a big umbrella up over the nest.

This cabana set-up makes it look like the whole family is simply on vacation, when in reality they are in a desperate struggle for survival!