Meet the two new additions

This is Beryl who is a Welsh pig.  She is the Mum to the two weaners that we went to fetch yesterday.

She is a feisty old girl and the two offspring that she has produced in her last litter are very confident and are already showing similar traits to their Mum. Normally if a sow only produces two in her litter she is off to be made into sausages but her owner Tom has decided to give her one last try,

They are crossed with a Hampshire, the boar looks like dad and the gilt is similar to Mum. This is a picture of dad Gerald.

Once we had got the weaners into the trailer they quickly snuggled down into the straw and went to sleep.

In England once there lived a big
A wonderfully clever pig.
To everybody it was plain
That Piggy had a massive brain.
He worked out sums inside his head,
There was no book he hadn't read.
He knew what made an airplane fly,
He knew how engines worked and why.
He knew all this, but in the end
One question drove him round the bend:
He simply couldn't puzzle out
What LIFE was really all about.
What was the reason for his birth?
Why was he placed upon this earth?
His giant brain went round and round.
Alas, no answer could be found.
Till suddenly one wondrous night.
All in a flash he saw the light.
He jumped up like a ballet dancer
And yelled, "By gum, I've got the answer!"
"They want my bacon slice by slice
"To sell at a tremendous price!
"They want my tender juicy chops
"To put in all the butcher's shops!
"They want my pork to make a roast
"And that's the part'll cost the most!
"They want my sausages in strings!
"They even want my chitterlings!
"The butcher's shop! The carving knife!
"That is the reason for my life!"
Such thoughts as these are not designed
To give a pig great piece of mind.
Next morning, in comes Farmer Bland,
A pail of pigswill in his hand,
And piggy with a mighty roar,
Bashes the farmer to the floor…
Now comes the rather grizzly bit
So let's not make too much of it,
Except that you must understand
That Piggy did eat Farmer Bland,
He ate him up from head to toe,
Chewing the pieces nice and slow.
It took an hour to reach the feet,
Because there was so much to eat,
And when he finished, Pig, of course,
Felt absolutely no remorse.
Slowly he scratched his brainy head
And with a little smile he said,
"I had a fairly powerful hunch
"That he might have me for his lunch.
"And so, because I feared the worst,
"I thought I'd better eat him first."

Roald Dahl

Some History...

Having raised three batches of pigs successfully, we thought it was time to get another batch of pigs. The first batch of pigs were Large White X Welsh...

the second batch were Middle White X Hampshire...

and the last but not least, batch three, Oxford Sandy and Blacks which are a rare breed.

The Oxfords were nearly extinct twenty years ago but they have come a long way from that now although still a minority breed on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust list. These lovely pigs have got a good temperament and are a pleasure to own. We were particularly pleased with the rare breeds and have decided that we would like to continue to do our bit for the heritage of our pigs.

We have recently seen some Large Blacks in Kings Lynn, which are the rarest breed of all in this country. They fell out of  favour in the 60s and declined in numbers.