We have friends from Virginia visiting this week. Sweet Bear Farm has decided to show off all of it’s winter/spring tricks. Six more gallons of Vermont liquid gold were made at the sugar house. Our friends helped with the boiling and canning, and this morning with tasting!
And then pigs…Rosie started nesting last night, around 10 pm. Throughout the night, we checked on her with the barn camera. I checked at 5:20 am, Rosie was moving hay around, but still moving fast, not looking immanent. At 5:40 am we noted a piglet running around! Jeremiah hustled out there and found that Rosie had delivered more than 1/2 her litter unassisted, no stillborns! We woke our guests (who had stated clearly that they wanted to be woken, no matter what time, to see the farrowing), and everyone jumped out of bed to attend. Eleanor remains a farrowing superstar, and very good at helping newborn piglets to get on the teats.
Now comes the challenge of teaching the piglets to stay out of Rosie’s way to prevent crush losses.
And, on tap for tomorrow, 6-12 inches of snow!