farm girl

winter hasn't chilled my desire for farm life at all. i look forward to braving the icy path out to the pigs everyday. they enjoy the occasional veggie treats i bring from home, they are eating the whole corn that we've shelled from our corn maze, pumpkins and squash and they enjoy the extra eggs from the hens. you would think that winter would slow the ladies down laying... granted they are young pullets who just started their laying years. i'm getting on average a dozen a day between the new ladies on my bantams. my little emma bantam has gone broody over the last week and is tending to two eggs. she is sharing broody responsibilities with another little lady and i am itching to let them hatch fertile eggs. perhaps in february i'll see if i can find some day old chicks for them to mother. i'm told it's less expensive than shipping fertile eggs and more reliable, plus you swap the eggs out and give the ladies some babies. my heart just bursts at the thought of baby chicks running around with my little bantams. before christmas i discovered the pigs had some intestinal worms {gross} and ordered some de-wormer.... i finally got around to wrangling them down with chase and giving them their shots last week. next round of pigs, i'm determined to do it when they are younger and easier to handle. not that i 'enjoy' learning how to administer shots for livestock, but i'm proud to learn something new and know i can take care of things. this round was less traumatic for chase.... i'm better with a needle. speaking of shots, it's time to give jake and cezar their vaccines and rabies shots. we discovered it's less traumatic for them at home than dragging them to the vet. plus it is less expensive. i've learned a lot over the last five months. i'm still researching and trying to decide which meat company i will trust with the pigs this spring. hopefully in march they will be ready size wise... einstein will be for sure. little miss avocado is half his size right now. i'm hopeful with the de-wormer that she will start putting more weight on in the next month or two. granted it's male vs female and males reach market size quicker. it will be bittersweet when the time comes, but i will be proud to have taken this full circle and know where my meat comes from.