In Loving Memory of Lil Nes

Today was a very sad day at our place.

This evening I went out to check the animals. As I approached the goat pen I realized something was "off". My little bottle baby, Nesbitt, wasn't running up to the gate, bleating and happy to see me. This was very unusual. I called and called and looked through the herd for him (it takes a while to find an all white goat in a herd of all white goats). He was no where to be found. I scanned the fence line and saw a goat down by the waterer. I ran over and found that it was Nes. He had gotten his horns tangled in the fence and was electrocuted by the electric fence. I was so devastated to find him. Poor little goat. He was such a dear, sweet little soul. He was born prematurely, pink with a soft sheen of thin fur and weak, bowed legs. He lived in our laundry room for a month while we bottle fed him. We splinted his legs so he could gain strength to stand and walk. Lil Peanut would push him around in his laundry basket. As he grew older we moved him outside where he grazed in the yard and took walks with us. We started to train him to work with the wagon with hopes that one day he would pull Will around the farm in it. He was a great friend to all of us. He had a wonderful temperament and loved people. When I saw him yesterday he bleated and followed me the entire length of the pasture as I walked home. I promised him that I would come back for him soon and take him back "home" once the apple trees were fenced off. I regret not taking him home sooner. I feel very guilty that he suffered the way he did.

We are very heartbroken and saddened tonight to say farewell to a great little goat. I will miss you Nes. You were one in a million.

Tam

Rhubard and Newt

The little piggies continue to grow and become more and more frisky and friendly by the day. The little female has been dubbed "Rhubarb". She is quite a bit bigger than her brother and is already sporting some lucious curves and the beginnings of a pot belly. She is quite proficient in the bottle feeding department and will down 1.5 TBSP in approx. 6 seconds. Wowsers!

The little male has been named "Newton" or "Newt" for short. He is darker than Rhubarb as he has black skin (and she has pink skin). He is quite small and not as voracious of an eater. But this little pig LOVES to snuggle.

The two of them are becoming quite the demanding house guests. Anytime we walk past the laundry room we are met with screeches and squeals. They will try to climb out of their laundry basket home if they don't get their grub every 2 hours around the clock. Very exhausting! We offered them a saucer of milk today with a little Cream of Wheat added in. They both promptly rolled in it, covering themselves from head to toe in sticky, glue-like oatmeal substance. Argh. I quickly bathed them in the kitchen sink and try to remove the crud from every orifice on their little piggy bodies.

Here is a picture of Daddy showing lil Peanut how to gently bottle feed the piglet.


Here wee Peanut tries it out for himself. He's a natural!! Notice wee Newt cruising around on the floor. Lino is slippery on lil piggy hooves (but it does make the cutest clickety-clack noise).


Here the lil cuties are tucked in for bed on their hot water bottle. Notice that they have already chosen one end of their "home" as the designated potty zone. Pigs are miraculously tidy critters. After they eat they trit-trot down to the one end, go potty then trit-trot back to the hot water bottle to snuggle up with each other.


I'm sure its unnatural to love pigs this much, but, geez, how cute are they!

Take care,
Tam

This Lil Piggy is WEE, WEE, WEE!

Excitement has graced our farm once again with the arrival of pot bellied piglet babies. Lulabelle and Vern are the proud parents of some tiny little tykes!


This is the little girl.

Here is the little boy!

Unfortunately big old Lulabelle laid on 4 other babies, so we have taken these two little bundles of squeals into our house to bottle raise. We have them nestled in a bed of towels on top of a hot water bottle and have been giving them fresh, rich Jersey milk from a kitten bottle every few hours. They are sure fiesty little fireballs and not afraid to tell you what they think about things. I've never heard such a big squeal out of something so tiny!

Take care,
Tam