This is our first official big snow since starting this adventure in the summer. Fortunately for us the fences are holding, the shelters are strong, and the pigs are hardy! These particular piggies have brothers and sisters who scoff at -18 weather so they are no stranger to Canadian winters. We are pretty spoiled here on the island and can’t complain too much at a week of -5 every now and then. We are grateful the air doesn’t hurt our faces at this temperature, but it is still enough to cause infrastructure havoc everywhere.
The pigs cope by nesting to stay warm – we are talking big bird proportioned nests – and by eating some alfalfa hay instead of foraging through the day.
The ladies and barrows were sensible this morning and took a hard pass on getting their undercarriages cold in the snow. They waited more patiently than I have ever seen them as I poured all their dishes.
The boars were less bothered by the snow and cared a lot more about making sure I didn’t forget I was there to feed them. Those stinkers always toss a couple of feed pans into the field for me to hunt down in the morning and today it cost them in time. We found one pan quickly and I took a video of us on the prowl for the third… which eventually showed up tucked in their nest in the back of the shelter, ha!
I hope you can’t see how many times someone watches your videos! ha ha – their chatter is sooo fun !
I wish! I am glad you enjoy them too. I knew it would be fun to have pigs, but I didn’t count on how much I would enjoy them. It is a delight every time I go to the barn and it is still not getting old. Even in this weather!
They are hilarious!
The oinks and grunts get me every time. There isn’t a lot that motivates me to go outside in this weather, but that sure does 🙂