Piglets

We moved Latesha closer to the house,  into a pen that has water laid on and a decent shelter and a floor above the ground if it rains. We thought that she may have been a little bit protective, as sows can be quite agressive if someone comes between her and her babies. Not Latesha. We loaded the 3 little pigs (sounds like a good title to a rhyme!) into a carry box on the quad and thought she'd either follow or we might have to lead her up with a bucket of feed. Well, she was so happy to be out and able to eat some fresh grass, roll in her favourite mud wallow, eat some more fresh grass, have another roll and just generally enjoy being unconfined for a little while. She obviously trusted us completely to look after her little ones. In the end, when we couldn't persaude her to follow us, even with us holding onto the piglets so that they would squeal, we left her and put the piglets in their new home. An hour or so later, she waddles up to the shed and you could almost understand her pig talk, mumbling "well, I suppose you better show me where they are". Have a look at the photos of them if you like.

Trust is an interesting thing when you consider it in relation to farm animals. Latesha trusted us to look after her piglets, which makes it a little uncomfortable to think about the fact that one day we will take them off her for good to wean them, and then eventually when they are big enough, we will take them away to be slaughtered. But, that is just part of eating meat. If we want to eat meat, we must kill the animal first. One of the advantages in raising meat like this, is that at least you know that they have been raised humanely and in a healthy environment. This is what farm friendly food is all about - healthy nutritious food, and where there is a connection between the farmer and the consumer. I like to know where my food has been grown and I think that the more people that want to know this too, then we will see a shift in the way food is grown and produced.