New Farm Animals!

The intensity of the heat these last few weeks is only matched by the intensity of the schedule. Here in Northwestern PA it has been a roller coaster of weather; from cold to hot to cold to insanely HOT! And the RAIN! I keep saying the monsoon has got to stop soon right? In the midst though the work must go on, there is grass to mow, hay to bale, animals to feed and especially to water.

We have a number of new animals here, including the new layers, baby bantams, and broilers (all chickens if you are wondering). In addition, in the last two weeks ,we have added five new pigs! Our plan was for three but, well... instead we ended up with five.

What happened was we called a farmer friends at Solid Rock Farm in Ohio. Yes, they did have a sow that would work for us, good bloodlines and a good match for our new boar. However, would we also be interested in two little gilts at a great price? Well, sure why not. So last week we picked up Dolly Madison and her two daughters who we have named Angelina and Penelope (pictured above). Meanwhile, Mike had been surfing the web for Kune Kunes (a heritage breed from New Zealand) for breeding and meat. Lo and behold he found a breeder offering a pair for a great price just a few miles from his brother's house in Eastern PA. So this week, he and Riah jumped in the truck for a flying two day trip to the Quakertown area to pick up Arthur and Molly (pictured below, believe me better photos are to come!)

Laying on frozen bottles of ice water and with pans of ice cubes to munch on, they survived the trip in style and were installed in a palatial pen yesterday. They will stay in the pen for a week to learn the electric fence and then after that they will free range on pasture.

Dolly, Angelina, and Penelope have all learned to respect the fence and will be moving out of pens as soon as the daily threat of thunderstorms ease (with the power going out so much I don't want the pigs accidentally getting out)

Using dog crates and a wagon we got everyone where they needed to be with a minimum of chaos. Stay tuned for a chicken update soon.