Checking In With Ginger and MaryAnn

These days if we want to see the porcine princesses,
we have to visit them in their winter palace.


It's been way too cold for pigs this past week.


They have been staying in their house,
nestled snugly in a bed of hay with a warm heat lamp radiating from above.


They leave on occasion by this little door...


but quickly return to their warm bed.


Their front door remains closed except for feeding time,
when I scale the fenced entrance and pick up piggy poop.


Normally these two are exceptionally clean,
however during the cold winter
manners go out the door....
and pooping in warm comfort wins over pooping outside in the frigid winds.
(So, twice a day I clean it all up for them.... spoiled girls!)


A note on Kunekune manure...
there is no bad odor as these gals are herbivores and eat nothing but hay and grass
and pelleted feed...
their manure is much like horse manure.


It must be tough for them during these wintry months.
These two are very social animals,
and the snowy weather keeps them from interacting with the other animals.


They do enjoy our visits at feeding time...
happily accepting not only the chow but the affection as well.

It snowed all day yesterday,
replaced last night by sleet and freezing rain.
Warmer temperatures are supposed to turn this precipitation to rain today.
And weirdly, it is to be 50 degrees this coming weekend.
(This past weekend it was 5 degrees!)


It's been a strange winter indeed.
I can hardly wait for my garden (above) to come back to life!
Spring is not that far away!

Comments

Suzan said…
Poor Babies!! But they have it made!!! Spring should be around the corner!!! Such cuties!!
Portia said…
Do they designate one corner of their palace as the latrine area? I bet they are considerate that way!
Bee Haven Bev said…
They usually use the front of their stall for their potty business....and leave the bedding area for eating and sleeping. Yes, they are considerate!!!
This N That said…
Thanks for the tutorial on piggy poop!! They are as spoiled as all the four legged critters at BHA..I want to come back as a BHA critter...can't get rid of me that easily ;) Stay Dry today..guess there's not much chance of that.
Very nice article!Thanks for sharing!!
Lisa said…
We used to have pigs(not for pets and that's all I have to say about that.) And the mom was very considerate in her poop behaviour. She would go outside 90% of the time.

You should talk more about your bees! We are thinking of getting some. But it's so confusing. Langsthroth vs top bar. Extracting the honey, queens, supers, brood boxes. AHHHH!!!!