Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

It was 22* last night.

Brrrrrr....we were 39. I'm ok with that, lol!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Wow! That's a good idea. I need more hot water than that though, lol.

My pigs had so much hay stashed in their house I don't know how they fit in there. I thought they were eating all the hay I've been throwing them. Apparently they've been relocating it into their tiny house and cramming themselves in there.

I know my first farm love is goats but these pigs are so darn smart!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Pigs have a pretty good self-preservation instinct! And - like you said - they're smart!

 

[NH Homesteader]

I'm just not convinced my goats are smart enough to take hay and make themselves warm. Especially my Nigies. Man they're not very bright.

How'd your piggies do in the "cold"?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

At 5:30 this morning (when it was 39) they were in their stall snuggling - when I got home this afternoon and it was about 45 - they were outside playing. This weekend I'm gonna kick the sow and the babies outside and let the gilt have the stall. There's shelter and lots of hay outside, so I think they'll be fine.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I was trying to remember if I'd told this story on here before - but if so - I'm gonna tell it again, lol. Years ago my dh had brought home some young-ish feral hogs. It was gonna get really cold one night and there was no good shelter where they were penned. I planned to make a "U" shaped shelter out of hay bales and cover it with a piece of plywood. I took three bales of hay to their pen and went back inside to warm up. A couple hours later I went out to finish building the shelter and was amazed at what they'd done. They had dug themselves a cave, basically. It was probably 4 x 4 ish and oval shaped. They had dug out the hole and took the dirt and banked it on the north side against the wind. They had also broke open the hay bales and used that to build up the north side a little higher and took the rest of the hay and lined their hole. The way they had constructed the side to the north gave it a little overhang that they got under. They were truly as snug as a bug in a rug, lol. I didn't worry about them for the rest of the winter. I just occasionally threw them another bale of hay to shore up their shelter with. Smart critters!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yeah they should be fine. People have winter babies here and they do surprisingly well. Mama has a heck of a lot of body heat!

That's too cool! Must have been neat to see! One of my ex colleagues raises feeder pigs every year and she insists pigs are dumb. I think hers come from CAFO mass production operations... The farther from wild they get, the less instinct they have.

 

[Mini Horses]

FEM mine have done that...a hole, a high edge, lined with whatever they find and they will harvest and carry it there! SMART!! I throw straw/hay in pen and the mom lines their hut, covering babes at night. It's so special.

Yesterday she took some tomatoes to them as I had thrown a lot to her. Ate some, crushed one and took right to them!! They were not enthused but she was.

Yep -- 21 here this AM. I have several gallon milk jugs and some 5 gal water canisters to haul hot water. "Bucket brigade"

 

[baymule]

I had a pot bellied pig that raked up the oak leaves in the back yard to build her nest--right under the dryer vent! Now how smart is that? I gave her hay to snuggle in and on cold nights I turned on the dryer for 30 minutes to get her toasty warm.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

LOL - that's funny! But, smart!