Sunday February 11, just wanted to give a quick update on the piglets. They are healthy and looking stronger. Little Scappy is doing well. You can tell he is still sore but he is moving around with the other piglets.
The cows stayed in their paddock! No cow roundup this morning. The rain is continuing on and making the farm a big mud pit. I really got to order those boots. Maybe after church I will get that done.
On a personal note, I used the rainy day yesterday (well the afternoon at least) to start building Kassy the Homesteading Momma her on kraft desk. I was able to finish the framing. Now I just have to put the top on it then she will take over and paint the legs and stain the top. I know it is a long way from the Studio/Farm store I want to build her but at last she will have a place she can keep her craft stuff out as she works on it. No more having to put up the supplies midway through a craft so we can eat dinner on the kitchen table.
Well, till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!
Kyle – a bearded farmer
Saturday February 10, this morning we had Piglets born. If you remember back in Day 2 of our “A Bearded Farm Journal,” we bred Penelope on October 18th and the pig math worked out to piglets arriving today. It worked. She had a litter of 7 piglets. Praise the Lord! It was dark this morning so we didn’t inspect them to close. It being Penelope’s first litter, we knew it would be a small one. Normally, pigs can have up to 12-15 piglets. Our old sow would have about 15 at a time. We went on to the rest of the chores.
After getting the cows put back up, we decided to do a closer inspection of the piglets since the sun was up. We found all the piglets are white(that’s the Landrace coming through). The sad thing is that we found one piglet that didn’t make it. We think Penelope might have laid on it by accident. This is typical with pigs, especially in first – time mothers, but we are hopeful that she is going to figure this mothering thing out! The other thing we found is that one had a pretty bad laceration on his shoulder. Fortunately, my brother who is a nurse by day (farmer by night) was able to get the shoulder sewed up and he seems to be doing okay. 
Wednesday February 7th, this morning was rainy and muddy plus I was running behind so I let Poppy get all the milk today. I have to milk tomorrow no question! We are about out of milk. Talking about the rain and mud, I still have not pulled the trigger on getting new boots. The grocery bags are still here for the time being. LOL. Maybe I will place the order today. 
Yesterday, we were able to get Penelope moved to her new spot. She was happy to get a nice roof and stall filled with hay to nest in. We are ready for those babies which should be due any day now. I know I feel a lot better this year having her in an actual barn stall for the birth. We typically let the pigs birth in the field which works out great because they build their nest and we put a little hut over them to keep them dry. This time though we a trying to get piglets for early spring and the temperature can get pretty cold so we wanted her to have the best stall possible, especially since this is her first litter. I want to say thank you to my brother Brandon who helped me move her yesterday. Also, a thank you to Elijah (my eldest) who helped me move her water barrel and feed pan. 
Well, till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!
One final note, our egg production is starting to go up. We don’t place any artificial light in the chicken mobile so winter time is there off season. The egg production was between 1-2 eggs daily but the days are getting longer and production has gone up to 4-7 eggs daily. As spring is quickly approaching, we hope production keeps going up.
Sunday February 4th, the past week has been very draining. On the farm we have a stomach bug that seems to be passing back and forth between the kids. It seems to be cycling through the kids, by the time one is starting to feel better the other kiddos are showing symptoms and then it repeats. It has been late nights, lots of essential oils, hot showers, and holding kids all night. Pray that the kids get better soon. With that said we have been happy just to get the basics done on the farm.
