The Downside

 Having Faith join the pig family after the passing of her sister, Hope, was a blessing for her.  She has  companionship... something all animals need (not just humans!)

Many mornings, as we arrive at the barn - Faith can be seen exiting the pig house.

There is one enormous downside to having Faith in the pig house, however.  As is the case with sheep in general... they are filthy.  They urinate and poop wherever they sleep.  This has caused the pig house to need constant cleaning.

Each morning after feeding the pigs, I try to clean out as much of the soiled hay as possible and give the pigs new hay - both for eating and for bedding.  It has become what feels like an uphill battle, though. 

So.... yesterday, we decided to strip out the pig house and get rid of all the bedding.  If you have ever seen the TV show "Dirty Jobs"... this would be a perfect episode!

 Now this is typically a job we need only do once yearly at the end of winter.  Pigs are generally much cleaner than sheep and will go outside to do their business unless the weather is awful.  And with such a mild winter, their house should have remained relatively clean.  Not so.  Not with dear old Faith around.

The term pigsty should really be changed to sheep-sty!

After all of the old, wet hay was removed, I replaced it with new, fresh hay - which brought our curious Daphne and Chloe over.  I watched them as they tried to figure out how to get to all of that fresh, yummy hay.

This, after having just finished their afternoon snack of hay, themselves.  Poor starving donkeys.  You can see just how skinny they are!  Poor starved animals.  Well, at least that is what they would have you believe!

Move along girls... there's nothing here for you!


As I am sure you have heard, Ole Phil saw his shadow... so, no early spring this year.  Luckily, he's not always right!  Our next couple of days are to be very very cold, and then we are to have another warm period.  It's the weirdest winter ever.

Have a wonderful weekend!  We'll chat again on Monday.

Comments

Jody Watts said…
Whew! after reading about your big job cleaning out the pig house, I'm glad three cats and daily cleaning 3 litterboes is the extent of my animal chores! But I do so enjoy your blog in the mornings...thanks for sharing.
Jeannie said…
Cleaning up after Faith sounds like a dirty job for sure. My hat is off to you and Hubbs for doing that messy clean out. I pity Ginger and Mary Anne for putting up with it, but then, maybe pigs are just very accepting animals. Cheeky donkeys! Seems they are always on the lookout for number one. Have a great weekend!
THE BEARDED ONE said…
HEART WARMNG AS USUAL...WE ARRE HAVING A WARMER DAY AFTER THE FREEZING ICE FOR 2 DAYS...IT IS STILL QUITE CHILLLY BUT MUCH BETTER THAN THE FREEZING RAIN...SLICK AND LOTS OF ACCIDENTS I SEVERAL AREAS...HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND SURE LOOKING FORWARD TO MONDAYS POST !!!!!
This N That said…
Ole Phil is only right 40%of the time and he's surrounded by spotlights..He has to see his shadow..LOL
I'm sure the piggies are enjoying their clean house..albeit short lived.
Stay warm the next 24!! Glad that will also be short lived...
Enjoy your weekend..Hugs
Oh dear, so sorry that Faith causes such a mess in the pig house. I wish sheep were as cleanly as pigs. I hope you won't boot her out as she need the companionship of those piggies! Our weather will start to warm up tomorrow after about 8 days of below zero. Have a great weekend. Take good care!