babies on board

her and i took the newborn piglet’s back to our house this week, while the ivy’s are out of town, so we can keep a close eye on the lil’ oinkers.  when the ivy’s first pulled the piglet’s, the day before oprah passed, they started emergency bottle feeding with a generic livestock milk replacement—baby formula.  the piglet’s have gone from scrawny, starving, guinea pig looking little creatures to pudgy, happy piglets.  the formula saved their lives.

just like mother’s milk is best for a human child, the milk of a wet nurse is usually preferred to the milk of a formula.  with this theory in mind, we have begun the transition from formula to fresh goat’s we have access to.  the enzymes and natural antibodies in the raw unpasturized goat’s milk will hopefully move the piglet’s along more healthfully than the formula could achieve on its own.  just like factory chicken’s who double in size at rapid pace, growth does not necesaricly imply health.  cancer’s grow pretty well too.  despite these early successes of the formula, the knowledge that mother nature knows best has persuaded me to put faith in the goat’s milk instead.

  

two days ago they were drinking {one cup of water + the powdered milk replacement} every four hours.  after day one on the goat’s milk they are already drinking about double that, and their appetite show’s no signs of waning. 

i want to thank those of you who sent their regards over oprah’s loss.  the thing to keep in focus, however, is that these pigs are only here on pch to ultimately be slain.  while we try to provide the safest and most comfortable life for each of our pigs, the death of one individual should only be viewed in the context of the whole.  this incident has motivated us to rethink our management style, and in the end this one loss will generate many, many successes.  with so many moving parts, living things, and high priorities to tend to, dwelling on oprah is not an option.