Spring brings babies and bacon

Sadly, the three not-so-little pigs went to market (Larry's Custom Meats) on Tuesday. I just found out the hanging weights (less than the actual weight) were 216 and 222 for the girls, and 268 for Irving! He would be the big boy who jumped the gate when we were trying to coax him up onto the truck. He would be the big boy who gave me a big ugly bruise on my leg when he made his temporary escape.

Even so, we were sad to see them go. We've been getting pigs for 3 years now with the intention of raising them for meat, but knowing that doesn't make it any easier. Especially when they are smart enough to know that going on the truck is not a good thing...when they do their 200+ lb best to avoid the truck...

Tuesday was also the day the new baby chicks were born. I picked up 7 Araucanas (blue-eggers) and 3 Buff Orpingtons (brown eggers) yesterday. A local store just happened to have 2 of the breeds I was interested in getting.

I took the 3 photos on the right when I had the red heat lamp turned on. I took most of the color out of the photo so they wouldn't be all flame red. In the color photo, the Buffs are the 3 blondes with no spots, and they will be a pretty buff/tan color when they get older. The rest are all Araucanas and will be all different colors when they get their big girl feathers. It will be interesting to see them change.

It's a lot of work raising them from chicks, but we are guaranteed that they are all hens. Better than buying them on Craig's List and ending up with 5 roosters like we did last year, or trying to beat those odds if one of our hens manages to hatch her own babes.

Woody is very interested in the peeping fluffballs who are, for now, in the bathtub downstairs. I have no other good places to close them up in a warm place, away from interested dogs and cats. So we go in there a few times a day and introduce him to the pleasures of fatherhood. I tell him it is his job to keep his babies safe, and to make sure they don't become dinner for him or anyone else.

He's a work in progress, as a father and in every other way.