Sometimes you just end up in the right place at the right time.  I guess that’s one way to look at it.  There have been times, though, in the last two weeks that I have thought otherwise.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

Now What Am I Going to Do With You?

Two weeks ago, I went out to get some pictures for the new website.  One of the sows was having babies, and I wanted some pictures of the little piggies.  Mama stood up while I was standing there, and one little squealer fell

Petunia in the Milk Crate

Tiny Little Piggy

into the hollow where she had been laying.  It was much smaller than the others and obviously very weak.  I knew it was going to get laid on and squished.  So what did I in all my brilliance do?  I grabbed it up and saved it.

Boy, oh boy.  That meant I was the proud new custodian of what was now an orphan pig.  There were 10 in the litter, and the rest were about twice her size, so she didn’t stand a chance, particularly being as weak as she was.  Here’s little Petunia when I first brought her home.  She fit into the corner of a milk crate.

OK, so what do I feed a newborn pig?  I wasn’t going to go milk the sow, that was for certain.  I did a little research and decided the neighbors’ goat milk would be the best option.  Thy are still waiting for their milk barn to be finished so they can get graded on.  Then we can buy milk from them to sell and make cheese (watch for updates).  For now they are just feeding baby goats, calves, dogs, whatever.  So I got permission to snag milk for my new pet.  First, though, we had a bottle of cow colostrum (the first milk with lots of antibodies and other good stuff).  That’s what I fed her the first 48 hours.  Every 2 HOURS.  The every 2 hours thing went on for about the first week until I finally figured out I could prop the bottle up at night and she could drink when she wanted to.

You will be hearing more about Petunia…