Abigail has been moved out on the pasture:
Without Pumpkin Pie ….
It was time to wean her. Weaning is not for the wimpy. They both mooed and bellowed. All. Night. Long. For two nights. By night 3, everyone was settling down. Once Abigail’s milk has dried up, they will be together again. This will all help Abigail come back into heat for breeding.
The dozen piglets were also weaned. I think Bernice did the happy-dance back into her normal pen! The piglets are super playful:
The new pumpkin patch got tilled right before the rains moved in!
I also worked on planting flowers. Pictures of those will hopefully be beautifying this blog this summer!
Plus … we had a college graduation and Mother’s Day!
Congrats Chelsea!! Pig-Farmer sure cleans up well. 🙂
L to R: Me, Mom, my Sis
L to R: Dakota, me, Levi
Additionally … as though there wasn’t quite enough going on …. Ed finished the floor and wood work on the upstairs room.
Gorgeous!!
Plus, there is a goat story. The plan had been to take the four males to the Arthur Sale Barn early Monday morning. (Insert pouty face here.) Sunday night, I was tired, dirty, sweaty, smelly and hungry. While I had a little snack, I popped open my laptop. Lo & behold, my pastor had contacted me through Facebook … he happened to be driving with a friend that was interested in buying young Boer goats! The two young ‘uns will have a new home soon. Somehow, through that happening, Pig-Farmer softened his stance on selling my original two (Tim & Eric) … for now. They have a purpose for me – they are my “lead” goats. When I need to move them, call them in for feeding, etc. those two come running and the others follow suit. Goats are quite the herd-animals. Whew!
July 2013
Just Make the Coffee 
I can only imagine Bernice’s piggie glee at having her own room! Those little ones are so cute. Weaning Pumpkin Pie may be nearly as hard on you as them. Glad to hear of a new home for the young goats and the older two got a reprieve. Congrats to Chelsea! It looks like you were surrounded with loved ones on Mother’s Day. The floor looks fantastic.
When I posted it in pictures and words, I realized what a crazy weekend it was! We did have some R&R on the front porch Friday night. 🙂
oh the joys of weaning! We’ve had as many as 40 calves in the corral bawling! It’s about 3 days like you said that we get any sleep.
-Lori
I remembered from growing up on a farm how stressful (and noisy) weaning is! As I lay awake, I would think, I see the benefit of having the cattle on a farm not located so close to the house! 😉 But, I’m sure I would have still worried about it.
How old is Pumpkin Pie?
And those baby pigs grow fast!!!
I have to tell you a funny goat story that I know you’ll appreciate.
A few weeks ago we were at Wildlife Prairie Park near Peoria, IL. They are working on a new homestead exhibit, which will include some farm animals. We visited the exhibit, very excited about the goats they have now.
It was about lunch time, so we headed to the snack bar for to get something to eat and as the girls and I were sitting at the picnic table waiting on hubby to get our food, I spotted two volunteers walking goat kids on leash. The girls and I quickly headed over to see the baby goats and I asked the workers, “Are these Boers?” and one of the volunteers answered, “No, they are goats.” I couldn’t contain the laughter and then asked, “Are these Boer goats?” She then chuckled and said they didn’t know. Apparently, the volunteers aren’t provided a lot of information about the animals in their care 🙂 Of course I was 99% sure they were Boers and after another visitor and I talked about different goat breeds and their characteristics, we told the volunteers that they were in fact Boer goats. After giving the kids a few more pets, we went back to our picnic table, but I chuckled about that conversations for days afterwards.
LOL! She either thought you meant were they boring or male hogs! Well … that day was surely educating for ALL involved. 🙂
Pumpkin Pie is 6 months old.
The pigs do grow so quickly.
By-the-way, the floor looks awesome!!
Thanks! I’m glad I didn’t opt for just re-carpeting the room.
You did have a busy weekend! Growing up across the highway from a dairy barn, I can attest to the “sounds of weaning”!
You would think they would go hoarse, wouldn’t you?
Good! I’m glad you get to keep your lead goats!!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
At least for a while longer! 🙂