Catch up

One of Ginger's Finest exploring the sunspots

Beautiful though life up here in The Wolds may be, there are times when one hankers for the trappings of a distant urban sprawl. Not many I hasten to add. However, when a well known internet & 'phone service provider fails to live up to expectations and one is thrust into the chasm of a communications black hole, one can be heard to mutter such moral obscenities! Which is a long winded way of saying we've been out of 

Delila's paddling piglets

touch for 14 days through no fault of our own.
In the intervening period life has obviously continued. The piglets have been free ranging for some time now. Delila's have been out and about from 7 or 8 days old so now know the territory like the back of their trotters. Ginger's 7 were a little slow to leave Mum's side but are making up for it now, rarely being seen 'at home' and frequently messing about with Delila's lot. As for Mrs Merkel's 6 bouncing babes, they are quite the bosses of the lot.

Gunner explaining the Rules of Engagement to the mini Merkels

When they appear, the others all run back to their respective territories. Being the offspring of a Maiden mum they were well protected for the first two weeks - kept in the ark and fed on what, looking at them, must have been a half hourly cycle - they have a bloom to them that I have never noticed on our piglets before.... and they are cocky with it. They even thought they could get away with telling Gunner what to do - but he was having none of that. He's taken his responsibilities as seriously as ever and has spent quite some time explaining the Rules of Engagement to them...... not that they have taken any of them on board ..... there is no way of making a piglet do anything other than what a piglet wants to do..... And that's what it'll be like for the next three or four weeks - until they are weaned. They'll be here, there and everywhere - much to the bemusement of visitors and passers by. I used to be concerned about the effect of lots of little trotters and snouts on the garden but now I just think it's a good excuse not to get on with the planting! There'll be plenty of summer (?!) left to catch up when they've been weaned....................

Gunner - the next generation ....

 "I know I shouldn't admit to this because people might think I'm big-headed but I am the apple of Her (being 'She who must be obeyed') eye. Even though - and I must admit to having given Her cause to say this - I may no longer be quite the Bestest Gundog in All the World (having developed the confidence to make an independent assessment of  situations under certain circumstances). Regardless of this, however, I am (and again, I hesitate to say this for fear you might think I am being big-headed) still the Bestest looking Gundog in all the world. Over the years I have grown accustomed to people saying: "Isn't he handsome?" and "Hasn't he got the most beautiful head?" so it must be true. Anyway, put those two things together and it's clear why She (wmbo) has always been keen for these traits to be handed down. Since I first entered the Field, owners of suitable (and possibly a few not quite so fitting) working bitches have asked Her if there was "any possibility" of said bitch and I 'getting it together'. Some potential matches even got her quite excited. But, for various reasons, all came to nothing.
Then came Meggie.

The Meg(a) pups

Three years ago she popped into the frame. The first year we never actually met - her 'seasons' coinciding either with her people's holidays or the shooting season! Last year we met and, joy of joys, 'did the deed'. All the people got jolly excited and put dates in their diaries and She Who must be Obeyed started thinking of names and strategies and the future and goodness knows what else. And what happened? Yep - you guessed. Nothin... Meg was just practisin - she had a trial run phantom pregnancy! Well, I suppose you can't blame her - lots of stuff for her to sort out in her mind before committin to being a mum..... But clearly she was not downhearted about it (unlike the Humans). This spring the call came again: "Meg's in season: can we bring her round to Gunner???" and She (wmbo) - trying not to sound too excited  - said "Yes". So round here Meggie came - quite often really since humans are stooopid about gettin the dates right. Me n Meggie got to know each other pretty well - and what a flirt and bossy boots she is too! Eventually, just when everyone (but humans are really stooopid about these things, havin no sense of smell at all) was about to give up on us, Meg n me persuaded them that "today was the day" - and it was! And we done the deed. And (can you believe how excitin it was?) she had to come back again....... Talk about all your Best Days comin at once!!!

 "Now look what you landed me with!"

Anyway, here we are 63 days and three weeks later and the 6 Meg(a) pups are alive and well and kicking their little legs about.... Meg maybe not quite so impressed now cos they givin her (and her mum) a hard time!!! But in 4 or 5 weeks' time one of those boys (the one nearest the camera and the one who's one from the end) will be comin to stay. Then we'll show the Understudy a thing or two..... Wahay - me and the boy gonna clean up the show... . Here we come people, Gunner and the next generation....................

Introducing................

Ginger & Mangal's 12th litter.............. It's many years since Ginger surprised us with her first litter..... November 2007 . We're surprised in a different way about this lot.  She's now a middle aged mum and we wonder how many more babies she'll be interested in caring for.
She started building her nest for this lot yesterday afternoon - there was a lot of banging and scraping as she set about demolishing certain bits of her house - crucial to the nest no doubt.... and then she went about salvaging as many bits of twigs and sticks as she could plus one very large piece of wood........ came out for her tea and parsnips and then went back indoors.

Later on when I went out to check the animals for the night all was quiet. No piglets yet. But by breakfast this morning there were seven healthy squiggling little things that were clearly born early in the night...... and Ginger came out for breakfast - admittedly not in a great hurry - as if to say "There they are, job done, no bother. I'm hungry". After breakfast she went straight back to her house, sorted out the bedding and settled down to suckle them........  later in the day one of them was already wandering about outside, obviously disoriented but otherwise strong and happy.
Clever Ginger.
The little ones don't have a name yet......

And the piglet was Where?

Such fun to stretch one's trotters...

On Tuesday we moved Truffle's girls from the Stalls to their field pen. Since there were just the two of them we decided to do it the easy way. No breakfast. Then when Linda arrived around lunchtime we filled a bowl with food, opened the door and invited them to follow - which they obligingly did (with a few minor transgressions) down the track to the field.Once there they ran around inspecting their new boundaries, house, neighbours, undertrotter conditions..... finally, exhausted, they settled down to eat.  Sensible girls.

and there's even food outdoors........

Later that evening when I went to check, they were still lying outside under the stars - clearly enjoying the fresh air after their period indoors. However, the next morning at breakfast they appeared from their ark so presumably the fresh air became a little too 'fresh'.

Since it is still dry and sunny we decided today to move Andromeda's four girls from the stalls, where they've been for a couple of weeks since weaning, to the playpen to join Truffle's girls..... but, in view of the number of them, we felt it would be safer to move them using the trailer. We managed to catch them up in the barn - not entirely hassle free; the first to be caught was quiet; the second was noisy enough for a whole herd! That meant the last two didn't want to make it too easy to be caught! But caught they were. And popped into the trailer. The Boss transported them down to the field. Linda and I lifted one out of the trailer and carried her to the pen. Con brought the second. By the time he put her down number one had done a bunk - shot out of her pen, under the fence out of the neighbouring pen and from there into the wide outside..... and away. We tried to herd her back with some food - but she was having none of it and ran in the opposite direction. "She'll come back" we all agreed and set about fixing the pen so the others couldn't so easily get out.

Grabbing a much needed gulp of water.....

Half and hour later..... We unloaded the other two without any problem and then went off in search of the missing weaner - who by now had completely disappeared. Back to the barn? No. Back to her mum? No. The searchparty set off.  Con went one way, Linda went another and the Big Boss drove up the drive. I went with him taking the Bestest Gundog. "Drop us off here" I said "and we'll go across the fields".  Giving him the instruction "Go find piglet" I sent Gunner on his way. Hither and thither he went, across the wheatfield, along the hedgerows, around the sandpit and, finally, back in the direction of home and the piggies. Suddenly he halted beside a large pile of brash beside the hedge and pointed at something: "What is it?" I said - and he pointed more emphatically (which he can do)  so I looked again - and saw nothing. "Get it" I instructed, at which he pounced in and --- out popped a piglet.... which then dashed off under cover of the hedge! Linda, on her knees, coaxed and scrabbled and eventually caught hold of the hapless piglet.... who was then unceremoniously returned to the pen with the others. Where, after little ado, they all settled down to eat.....

After the adventure --- food!

Gunner was exhausted. "Where was it?" asked Con when he caught up with us. We told him. "But I walked by there and saw nothing". "I saw nothing even when the dog pointed it out" I said.

Which just goes to prove a dog's nose is a lot sharper than human eyes. Clever boy.... what would we do without him....? Later when I went to look, all the weaners were lying down in a pile together...... aaahhhh I just hope they stay that way....

We've been blessed with mostly mild and sunny weather since the arrival of the latest piglets.
Delila's brood have been running around since day 3 or 4 but Mrs Merkel - new mother that she is - kept hers inside for well past the first week. Net result is that her Conmen (aka the Lovelies) now they are out and about are well grown and look quite literally 'polished'.... taking after their namesake in many ways!
Delila's brood on the other hand are much smaller and livelier - already today - just 9 days old - they have been running around the area outside their pen.Delila - seasoned sow that she

is - doesn't worry about them at all. A gently snort is all it takes to call them back to the home run!
Meanwhile, we are still waiting for Ginger to deliver - Linda reckons it could be 6 May. If she's right that'll make a record three litters on the trot(ter) born on her day off. She must be wrong...... I for one will be most surprised if ginger can hang on that long.....................
She said only this evening that she was getting just a little over-heated and ready to deliver.... we shall see