Meet Spunk, our very own Wilbur, of sorts.

I have a story to share..... Last Friday, while doing a evening watering of our small herd of Duroc pigs, we found a piglet running around the pen aimlessly. We watched him for awhile, and he seemed hopelessly confused and out of sorts. I expected the mama pig, whoever she was, to call to him or come get him when he squealed for her, but it appeared he didn't belong to anybody in particular. I started scanning the potential mamas for sagging teats or other signs of recent birth, but wasn't able to find any obvious signs that any of them had had a piglet recently. I knew one of them had, but I didn't know who. I had been up at the pigpens just that morning and had not spotted this little newcomer. So, cautiously, I walked in and scooped up the little guy, expecting him to scream bloody murder and for his Mama to come running. He just grunted a bit, and none of the females even paid any attention. Well, night was fast approaching and I didn't like the idea of just leaving him out there to sort it out himself, so I decided to take him in and see what I could do. The Siffords were kind enough to let me have some of their goat milk, and I offered it to him in a bottle leftover from previous piglet experiences. He was very hungry, and after eating a hefty meal, settled down and went to sleep. We puzzled about who the mother might have been and why she didn't seem to care or even know about him. After closer examination, I found he had the same faint stripes down his back as had had an earlier set of piggies born here. I did the math and found that those piggies were approaching the age of being able to reproduce, and after much thought, decided it must have been an early pregnancy between brother and sister litter mates. The faint stripes were signs of a mating with a feral hog, and the little pig now asleep on my porch must be a grandchild of that union. So without further ado, may I introduce the little confused half-breed, Spunk. He is now something like a pet, drinks goat milk from a bottle whenever he so much as makes a peep, and sleeps in a box of straw by Sugar's crate on the porch. He is quite the spoiled brat.

Anyways, spring has sprung here on the Ranch, and as usual, the children are planting seeds everywhere, and we have containers of little sprouts in every windowsill. It is really nice to see the children succeed and to see their faces when the plants give forth produce in the summer.

I took some pictures of the seedlings that are scattered about the kitchen:

(On a bucket of Snap Pea sprouts. Hahaha, get it? ;) )

The first tomato of the season.

Well, Until Next Time,

Tracy Bunker