Friday, February 28, 2014

Try taking a selfie with a pig...

First off, I would just like to say that I have no idea what happened to this week. Yeesh.

And now...pig selfies!


NOT EASY!

And rescue hen LeMay was fascinated with my iPhone...



Totally photo-bombing my pig portrait!

Let's try another pig selfie..


I used part of an apple as enticement. Ha!


Isn't LeMay a pretty girl?


She is one of our five new rescue hens from the OSPCA. The five of them are super sweet, very friendly, nice birds. Bonnie lets me pick her up and cuddle her!

How about another pig selfie?


I do need to wash Ophelia's filthy face! The pig vet came yesterday and said Ophelia is doing great. Apparently pigs tend to have runny eyes, particularly a barn pig who's always burrowing into straw. I will take a warm washcloth down sometime and spruce her up. Her hooves are a little long but the vet thought they would wear down on the concrete floor of the barn. If not, we'll do a trim! Her weight is good and she only needs deworming around the start of May.

The vet is used to looking after large herds of pigs on bigger farms than ours. He seemed quite pleased to see our happy, spoiled swine. He said her pen is palatial, a veritable "piggy heaven." I got the sense that he really likes pigs and was chuffed to see one living the good life.

When the vet arrived, Ophelia was completely buried in straw, so he put his hand under it and gave her a scratch until she poked her head out. He wasn't going to disturb her (it is really cold right now!) but all of a sudden she popped up out of her nest. He felt her over and said her weight is just fine, and that we are feeding her the correct amount of miniature pig chow. He thought she weighed about 70 lbs.

I really liked the vet! He's living a James Herriott sort of life, doing his farm rounds. It's a relief to know that he's there should Ophelia ever have a problem.

It is super cute the way Ophelia completely buries herself in straw when she sleeps. We are having another cold spell (already -20C here at suppertime) and I always worry about the animals when it's like this, but she seems cozy in her pen, with her straw and blanket.

Pigs, as I've heard, are very clean animals. Ophelia only does her business in one corner of the pen, which we clean out every day.

The vet told me that she'd be better than a rototiller in my vegetable garden, and that I could set her up in there with a "hot wire" (one strand of electric fencing) and a little shelter and let her go at it. (They can and do dig right under fences.)

I'm looking forward to spring now and warmer weather. I think all the animals will be happy to spend more time outdoors!

Meanwhile, in the barn...


LeMay and Ophelia eat some spilled grain together. It is so cute the way the five rescue hens seem to remember their friend Ophelia, and happily hang out with her. She seems to like them too!

The guinea fowl are not as impressed. There has been a lot of their screeching going on lately!


The two fluffy butts in the front are LeMay and Debbie. The two in the back are Bonnie and Carol. I named all five of the new hens after women who work at our OSPCA shelter. :)

Let's try another selfie!


I just love this pig! Whenever I come in the barn, she grunts hello (or she might be saying "WHERE'S THE FOOD?!") As the vet said, if you gave a pig a mountain of food, she'd stand on it and eat it all. They really are completely obsessed with eating.

Case in point...



Helping Debbie and Carol clean up some feed!



ANd cutie LeMay!



This one cracked me up.

Have a great weekend!

32 comments:

  1. LeMay and Ophelia remind me of Laverne and Shirley...so stinking cute!
    Jane x

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  2. Cute selfies lol ! Love all the photos . Good to hear LeMay is doing well as is Ophelia . Oh Some Creatures Great and Small love the series both books and show ! I have a question ?? If you take in animals from the OSPCA who pays all the vet bills do they get split or do you pay for them all plus the cost of looking after the animals ! Thanks for sharing . Have a good weekend !

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    1. Ah, we pay for everything now because we've adopted them just like a dog or cat! :) THey're here permanently. At least I'm getting a few eggs from the hens as compensation! Hee hee!

      I LOVED all of James Herriott's books. Our pig vet is basically living that life around her.

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  3. Natalie that pic of LeMay photo bombing is soooo funny....she's gorgeous.
    Nice to know there's a great vet nearby if needed.
    Stay warm and have a great weekend.

    CLaire Xx
    P.S. It's raining here woohoo.....:)

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    1. You needed rain as I recall? Hot and dry this year?

      Yes, these chickens are such camera hogs!

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  4. LeMay is so cute sticking her head every where :)
    There are some ducks there in the mix too :)

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  5. Love he pics. Happy that Ophelia (BACONette) is doing fine. Hope spring will come to you soon.

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    1. It's not looking promising for spring anytime soon! But Ophelia sends kisses to Germany.

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  6. All hens are equal, but some are more equal than others!

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    1. Oh boy, that took me back to high school English classes!

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  7. Great selfie! I've heard that pigs are very close to having a dog and it looks like Ophelia is on her way to being one spoiled little lady! The hens are gorgeous and even though we don't have any, I'm so enjoying a friend being generous with sharing the fresh eggs with us. I'm in baking heaven:-D XOXO

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    1. That's GREAT you can get eggs from your friend. I love baking with duck eggs! I swear the stuff rises higher.

      I am pretty sure Ophelia is smarter than my dogs...

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  8. Every day I drive by a Little House on the Prairie farm (a National Park lease :-() where a young couple are attempting to cultivate 40 acres by hand. I often see pigs rooting around, behind a single wire, and moved to different parts of the field. All the animals are housed in the fields, and moved. The pigs, the turkeys, the chickens. No sheep, yet. A matched pair of blacks plow. They are beautiful. I keep telling myself to stop and ask permission to take pictures.

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    1. Wow, that's really impressive!! I love seeing horses working a field; pretty rare these days! Good for them for taking that on. Suunds just beautiful.

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  9. What fun!! I wish I could meet them all!

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  10. Anonymous10:11 am

    Love all the selfies. I'm sorry to say it, but I think Ophelia looks a bit like Rob Ford. Only with charm! I'm so glad to hear she's doing well, and the chickens too. Your vet sounds like a real find. Not many James Herriots out there these days.

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    1. Sigh, I can completely see the resemblance. Let's just hope she NEVER acts like him!!

      The vet was such a nice guy. I think he really likes what he does!

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  11. That last photo is just so cute :-)

    They used pigs to turn over the ground in the Attingham park walled garden (it is near to me). The space hadn't been used as a garden for many years so before the planted each section the put pigs onto the ground to turn it over.

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    1. I had never thought of using pigs to turn over ground but I'm going to try it in my veg garden this spring!!

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  12. Love the photo bombing hen!
    It's great that Ophelia is doing well, she's one cute pig.

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    1. She seems quite content but I really need to wash that face of hers!

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  13. Ophelia looks content and gentle-spirited. She and her chicken friends have clearly found a good home.

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    1. She is really sweet! SO gentle when she takes food from your hand. Someone brought her up well. I love it when she wags her tail!

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  14. This was so much fun to read. I smiled all the way through it. I know how much fun pigs can be. They are way more fun than cattle and smarter too. If Barack Obama can play with doing selfies I see no reason why you can't. Go girl go...

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    1. We are just besotted with her!! :)

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  15. There has never been a "rescue hen" flying in to help when I have been in need of rescue, but I like the concept.

    As for looking like Ophelia and being told your weight is fine... many a lady would love a man like your vet.

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  16. I have looked at these photos over and over again. Ophelia is adorable. LeMay is hilarious. Yes, she knows she's all that!

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  17. Wonderful post! You really do bring out the animals' personalities, with words and pictures.

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!