Back in the spring of last year, we got our first pigs here on the farm-two Gloucester Old Spots. Yesterday morning, one of them gave birth to ten piglets. The ironic thing about newborn piglets is that they come out all together, encased in a birthing sac, like sausages. Then one by one, they pop out and separate. Once they start feeding, they each choose a teat from their mommy, and like a sippy cup marked in indelible ink, they use the same one for the rest of their nursing careers. They are incredibly organized animals.
I was at my son's rugby match when the actual birthing took place, so I don't have photos to share from yesterday's excitement, but I think mommy pig deserves a big round of applause for her amazing delivery. And a big thanks to our neighbors Kitty and James, who are lending us space in their barn for the happy new family to stay for a while, til they're big enough to move up to the pen in our field.
