We Have Piggies!

When we first brought Charlotte home we could only dream of the clitter clatter of little hooves. Especially since she has lost her first litter right after she came to us, probably from the extreme winter that we had last year. After all, there is not many instances of sows having an immaculate conception.
So having NO boar, we were in a pickle! But as luck would have it, a few months after bringing her home I noticed that her love Wilbur was also for sale! I was SO excited! So I quickly got in touch with Dawne, and a day was set to go pick him up and have the two lovebirds reunited.

Wilbur who?

At first, Charlotte was having NONE of that business! She wanted to know just where he had been!? What he had been doing these last few months! Had he been seeing any of the other sows back at Dawnes farm? As much as Wilbur tried to convince her that he had been a good pig, she was cold as ice! She was one biting sow!

And STAY OUT!

 But then her heart melted and we noticed that they were spending more and more time cuddling, they were nustling together in their hut. Then we knew, Charlotte had buns in her oven! We were so excited! Now we just had to wait. Three months, Three weeks, and three days! It seemed like forever! But them one day I went out to check on the every expanding mama and it was time! I could not believe the day was finally here, and we were gona have babies!

Of course I had to get the family rounded up to witness the event, and there we sat, in lawn chairs, squinting into the sun hoping to see a baby born in the dark piggy hut! We decided, we were going in!

Up and running in no time at all!

And before we knew it there were babies! Cute, wiggly squealing babies. Charlotte is an awesome mother. She shifts and checks every time one of her little bundles makes a noise.I keep worrying that she will lay on one, and she may, but I can say that she tries so hard to make sure that each little oinker is safe and sound at all times.
So far, it has been two days and she still has all eight babies. I called the vet today and they recommended an iron shot and also an antibiotic just to make sure that they stay healthy. It seems that there are quite a few things going around that are fatal for pigs these days. One is Parvo, yea, like for dogs. But his is for pigs! Not to mention the flu (PEDV) that has been killing so many little piglets. I was not sure if we had been having these issues in Tennessee, but the vet assured me that we were actually seeing both diseases, which is scary! If you wonder what PEDV is, and how it is effecting the piglets and the price of pork here is a link explaining the disease.( PEDV)
We went out to check at lunch and they are all having a blast rooting in the dirt and climbing all over their mother. It is hard not to stay out there way too much just watching them root around and be cute! Here are a few pictures I took today.

So much dirt! Must Root, but SO tired!

There's always those two that just will not listen!

Just grab one and HANG ON!

Trina checking on Charlotte and the babies

And, for your viewing pleasure, and so you can HEAR the cuteness, here is a video of the little  ones getting lunch!

Well, I am sure everyone is just sick to death of hearing about piggies! But I will say, they are so darn cute and it is so hard to leave them alone, lol But just in case you are still wanting more "pignews", I will keep you updated as they grow so that you can follow along with all the fun! Feel free to leave a word or two on here to let me know what you think about these little cuties!