Pigs In My Kitchen! And I’m Not Talkin’ In The Freezer
I have been reading blog posts about how other gals hate it when their husbands go out of town. And I can honestly say, none of them had to deal with this:
Sorry about the quality of the photo.
Yes those are pigs.
And yes. That is my kitchen floor. (was my kitchen floor-we remodeled)
And those blue things…slippers.
It never fails. When he leaves, there is a disaster.
We used to raise registered Hampshire Show Pigs. At any given time we might have over a hundred pigs. That is a lot of bacon in the freezer, uh, pigs in the barn. It was a fun hobby. But, when my husband was away, it was a job. A big job. You see, I was not born and raised in the country with farm animals.
It is a learned behavior for me.
This particular time, we had a barn full of momma sows ready to have babies. A lot of babies.
He says, don’t worry, I’ll be home before anything happens. But, you should check them each evening, just in case. Oh boy.
And, of course, one momma couldn’t wait. I will spare you the gory details.
I had to bring theses babies to the house and try to bottle feed them until another momma had her babies.
Did you know piglets wake up to nurse every forty five minutes?
That made for a verrrryyyy long night. Finally, around 4:30 a.m., I went back to the barn, in my robe and mud boots-not a pretty sight I promise you. Thankfully, another momma was laying down nursing ten babies. I ran back to the house and gathered my babies in a laundry basket, and slipped them in on the new mamma. She already had ten piglets sucking on her, what’s a few more gonna hurt?
It all worked out perfectly. And my little kitchen friends went on to be fantastic show pigs for their new owners in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
There were other disasters, on his other trips.
Pigs on my porch. Pigs in my garden. Pigs everywhere they were not supposed to be.
Just a normal day at the office at the ranch.
8 Comments
Angie Cox
Awe!!! My #3 kiddo would love being at your house with the piglets. Me on the other hand? No thank you. I can handle lots of critters, but pigs are NOT on my list!
Megan (Best of Fates)
While that sounds insane and I would probably have a mental collapse after losing that much sleep all I can do is look at the picture and go "awww, the pigs are so cute!"
dkuroiwa
I'm sorry, but I'm cracking up here. I remember stories that Trenda and Trudy used to tell about calving and I'm going to say what I told them…"Better you than me!!" 😉
Amazing what we find ourselves doing that 20 (or 30!) years ago, we could never imagine!!!
Theta Mom
Welcome to TMC!!!
tickledred
Pigs in your kitchen Oh My!! My mom used to breed schnauzers and she did the same thing to me. Crash course in delivery and docking puppy tails over the phone. PS: Bacon is meat candy 🙂
littlebeachbum
I love your blog! You are too funny…I wouldn't even know what in the heck to do with PIGLETS! This is hilarious!
sheila @ Elements
Awwwww…they're adorable!!
When I was a kid we had two baby chickens (Pixie and Dixie) in our house…not for long though…just after they hatched. LOL! 🙂
And after our foal was born and got sick, my Mom put him in her bed with the electric blanket on to keep him warm.
For as long as I live I'll never forget seeing a horsie in my parents' bed! I'm sure the vet won't forget that either!!
Anyway, I can totally relate to little piglets in the house.
They're darling! 🙂
dcash
Hi Sheila-Thanks for stopping by! Love the stories about the chicks and the foal-thanks for sharing!