Time to move the boars into a new pasture and also move Clover (big Mama kunekune) away from her piglets. This is to give her more grass to graze and to wean the piglets. The extra pen I fenced in for the piglets worked perfectly. Clover and Lavendar fight for dominance once they get together and I think Clover came out on top. Rut season is starting so I move Romeo in with the bucks and away from his mom and half sister because things can happen. Ringo smells the does on him and starts acting really bucky. My daughter demonstrates with a piglet how loud they squeal and how soon they stop when they are put down. The piglets get her instantly muddy. The piglets are doing well with their newfound independence. My tenacious goats injured a tree I was trying to protect. I put up a new barrier and hope the tree survives. My metal buckets that I use for the goats so that I can put a heating element in them during the winter can deteriorate and get holes in the bottom.
Every day my family and I are learning what it means to run a hobby farm. We started with chickens then added myotonic, or fainting, goats, and eventually kunekune (kune kune) pigs. Throw in some Guinea fowl and turkeys and cats and dogs with a creek and tons of wildlife and you start to get an idea of what our hobby farm is like. Hobby farming is time consuming and hard, but rewarding and fulfilling. There are daily chores that never stop. The animals need to be fed and watered. Pastures and pens need to be fenced and built. Goats and pigs need to be rotated in their pastures to give them fresh food and to rejuvenate the land. Food is planted and grown for the animals. Medicines are given orally and injected to prevent and cure sickness and combat parasites. Hooves need to be trimmed. Babies need to be raised. At any given time we have gilts, sows, boars, piglets, bucks, does, kids, chicks, chickens, keets, guineas, turkeys, etc. that need our attention, love and care. Follow along and we’ll learn and grow on this adventure together!