Rosie started it all. She was the culmination of a little girls dream. Little SS had been suffering from daily tummy aches since October, had gone to numerous doctor and specialist appointments, undergone countless invasive and painful procedures, with little to no answers. In January, we went on a cruise and the idea of having a pig was not even a consideration for us. By the end of April, we had three little piglets and a whole bunch of other animals.
Little SS was crying one afternoon, as I was rocking her, with a hot rice pack on her tummy, and she says to me, "Momma, I really want a piggy", and it got me thinking. (Me thinking nearly always turns into a crazy idea!) Before long, we were planning and preparing for our 4H Club and ultimately our animals.
Fast forward to April and we have three beautiful little piglets. They are Yorkshire/Blue Boar Crosses and the have the most adorable little pink noses. At our first weigh-in on April 7th, little Rosie was the smallest at just 29lbs. And boy was the weigh-in an adventure! The little piggies squealed, and by squealed I mean screamed, at the tops of their little lungs. They brought the neighbors clear up the street, out to their deck to see what was going on. It sounded a little like we were killing small children in the backyard!
As Rosie grew, and Little SS worked with her every day, they grew to be fast friends. Little SS learned that piggys have hair and that Rosie loved her belly rubbed. Rosie learned that if she threw herself down and rolled over, Little SS would rub her tummy.
In July, our world came crashing down when the city informed us that we could not keep our animals and would have to move them immediately. We had two options, both long drives, but with no other options in sight, we picked the best option and began the move. The pigs were the most difficult to load and took 7 adults and a whole bunch of kids, to finally get them loaded up and headed to their new home. Thanks to Momma & Pappa P, we had a great place for them and Rosie absolutely loved her new home, complete with room to run, straw to sleep in and a nice, big food trough!
Once Rosie got too big, using the swing scale was no longer practical, so we moved to using the "tape measure" method. If you want to picture just how much fun this was, picture me, standing in ankle deep mud, holding a sewing tape measure, trying to get my arms all the way around the a 175lbs. pig who doesn't terribly desire a hug. Needless to say, it was a humorous event each and every time.
When the fair came, we loaded up our little piggy and headed to the fair grounds. Our little Rosie weighed in at just 222 lbs., just barely making weight by 2 pounds! Lets just say we heaved a huge sigh of relief. In Market Class, Rosie was first out of the arena and garnered a Red Ribbon. We definitely didn't have the prettiest, or biggest piggy at the fair, but Little SS was happy with her results. She had enjoyed raising Rosie and she is all ready to start again next year!
Monday, September 1, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Our Little 4H Club - 4H Wild Things
Our little 4H club started, almost as a joke, when my youngest daughter decided that she wanted a pig. She had been so ill for so long, that as a Mommy, I would have given her nearly anything she asked for. She asked for a pig.
Now, from my point of view, I had successfully raised four healthy, happy laying hens... why couldn't we raise a pig? And so it began. I rallied some friends with the same interests, and they brought their kids and before we knew it we had nearly twenty head of poultry, two of which were Turkeys, eight goats, two Mommy / Baby Nigerian Dwarf Pairs, three baby Pygmy Goats and a Lamancha / Fainting Goat cross and three, yes three, little piglets.
Our club included kids from 6 to 16 years old, guys and gals, from all walks of life. Getting everyone together was usually a chore, but when we did, we always had a great time. We started with grand plans! We were going to do so many things, tons of plans for indoor projects along with our animal projects. Boy were we surprised when the reality of raising that many animals hit! Were we every busy! Building animal enclosures, feed troughs, feeding and watering the animals and training, not to mention bathing, cleaning, and veterinary care! Had someone told me in March that I would be giving a goat a manicure in May, I would have told you that you were nuts! But our kids really dug in and got the job done.
When fair time finally came, it was a time of excitement and anxiety, but we all came out so much better for it. Not all of our animals placed well, one of our piggies was the smallest at the fair, made weight by just two pounds! The most nerve wracking weigh-in I have ever had to experience! Our goats were naughty in the arena and by Showmanship, the small piggy was in heat and picking a fight with every piggy in the place! But in the end, our youngest, and craziest, little goat took Grand Champion in the Dairy Goat Class, something we never expected, but absolutely cherish! It just goes to show, you don't have to come from a papered lineage to be amazing! Our kids all learned amazing lessons, responsibility and teamwork and each and every one of them came out better than we started. We are excited to get started on a new 4H year. Follow along with us, get to know our kids and our animals and follow us as we rock another County Fair!
Now, from my point of view, I had successfully raised four healthy, happy laying hens... why couldn't we raise a pig? And so it began. I rallied some friends with the same interests, and they brought their kids and before we knew it we had nearly twenty head of poultry, two of which were Turkeys, eight goats, two Mommy / Baby Nigerian Dwarf Pairs, three baby Pygmy Goats and a Lamancha / Fainting Goat cross and three, yes three, little piglets.
Our club included kids from 6 to 16 years old, guys and gals, from all walks of life. Getting everyone together was usually a chore, but when we did, we always had a great time. We started with grand plans! We were going to do so many things, tons of plans for indoor projects along with our animal projects. Boy were we surprised when the reality of raising that many animals hit! Were we every busy! Building animal enclosures, feed troughs, feeding and watering the animals and training, not to mention bathing, cleaning, and veterinary care! Had someone told me in March that I would be giving a goat a manicure in May, I would have told you that you were nuts! But our kids really dug in and got the job done.
When fair time finally came, it was a time of excitement and anxiety, but we all came out so much better for it. Not all of our animals placed well, one of our piggies was the smallest at the fair, made weight by just two pounds! The most nerve wracking weigh-in I have ever had to experience! Our goats were naughty in the arena and by Showmanship, the small piggy was in heat and picking a fight with every piggy in the place! But in the end, our youngest, and craziest, little goat took Grand Champion in the Dairy Goat Class, something we never expected, but absolutely cherish! It just goes to show, you don't have to come from a papered lineage to be amazing! Our kids all learned amazing lessons, responsibility and teamwork and each and every one of them came out better than we started. We are excited to get started on a new 4H year. Follow along with us, get to know our kids and our animals and follow us as we rock another County Fair!
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