Pig, chickens and garden

Lots going on since I last posted, the pig is growing rapidly!!!  He's probably nearly doubled in size since we picked him up.  He squeals when we bring him his food and he is all about belly rubs and ears being scratched.  Thankfully he is not dumping his water as much as he was when we first got him.  Before we were having to fill his bucket up several times a day after he would dump it over.  Now he may tip a little out but he's not dumping out the whole bucket.  The pen has held up nicely, he has pulled on some of the wire but that was to be expected but with as big as he is now, if all the wire came off he couldn't get through the panels.  Here are some pics of him I took the other day...

Little ear scratch

A little belly rub

And a little grub

Saying hello to the camera

And the chickens are growing nicely, there are 25 of them - 4 Bantams (3 Old English Game Bantams, 1 Black Cochin - the Cochin and 2 of the OEGB are cockerels, 1 pullet OEGB), 6 Red Sex-Link (all pullets), 8 White Leghorns (all pullets) and 7 Partridge Rocks (5 cockerels and 2 pullets), so we'll end up with 16 laying hens and 1 Bantam layer - the Partridge Rock cockerels will most likely visit the freezer in the future.  The Bantam cockerels will stick around so long as they behave themselves.  Here are a few pictures of them taken the other day...

Some of the chickens on their roosting poles, they fight over the top one at night! :) 

Teddy, our little Black Cochin cockerel - very sweet little guy

A Leghorn and Red Sex-Link pullet

A Partridge Rock cockerel

An Old English Game Bantam cockerel

A Porcelain Old English Game Bantam cockerel

Our only Bantam pullet (Old English Game Bantam) with a Leghorn & Partridge Rock pullet in the back

The garden is going well, though it's going in a bit late.  We still have lots of stuff to go in which will get done this week but we already have a bunch of stuff in the garden.  As far as herbs, I have a rosemary bush from last year that is going strong and I have basil, sage, peppermint, dill, oregano and thyme coming in (they will stay out front in pots instead of going in the garden this year).  In the garden right now we have...
Harvester (Green) Beans
Wax (Yellow) Beans
Lima Beans
Wando Peas
Field Peas (a ton of them!)
4 Purple Bell Peppers
3 Cayenne Peppers
5 California Bell Peppers
3 Sweet Banana Peppers
4 Grand Bell Mix Peppers
6 Better Boy Tomatoes
3 Big Boy Tomatoes
3 Whopper Tomatoes
3 Better Bush Tomatoes

3 Zucchini
2 Black Zucchini
3 Straight Neck Squash
6 Pickling Cucumbers
10 Asparagus (not ready to harvest until next year)

Still have MORE Peppers and Tomatoes to go in (lots of them), Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Eggplant, Beets, Radishes, Carrots, Turnips, Lettuce, Okra, Corn, still lots to come :)  Will take pics of the garden once I get a new SIM card for the camera :)  Hopefully I can take pictures this week.  Our grapes from last year are doing great, I have a picture of one of those from the other day...

Will have more updates for you soon!!!

The piglet is here!!!

We picked up our piglet yesterday.  He is a Berkshire barrow (castrated male), they had two barrows available and we picked this guy (he was bigger than his brother).  We got him in his new home, we will continue to reinforce his pen so that there is no chance of escape but right now he seems really content where he is.  We still have to build him a shelter which we will do this week, right now we have a dog house in there for him with lots of shavings which he can fit in but probably not for to much longer as they grow so quick.  He is probably a good 50 pounds already, he LOVES to be scratched and rubbed.  If you scratch his back just right and move down towards his belly, he will fall right over on his side so that you can rub his belly.  I know a lot of people don't like naming animals they are eventually going to eat, but I find it easier to call them something other than 'the pig', don't know what his name really is yet as everyone has been calling him all sorts of different things - Bacon, Maple, Wilbur and my sister even said last night that we should call him Belvadere - LOL  But it sounds like the name Wilbur is probably going to be the one that sticks. Although I might start calling him Porkchop myself ;)

Chickens have a new home

We got the chicken area 'mostly' done, still quite a bit to do but we got it done enough for them to move in this weekend.  We got the 8 x 10 building up, got a floor in and got their yard wired.  We plan on expanding their yard, we needed two rolls of wire and they only had one and haven't gotten anymore in yet.  So right now their yard is 10 foot wide and 20 foot long.  When we get more wire, we will add another 10 foot in width and go back 8 foot on the far side and back into the back corner of the building, so they will have about 480 square feet of yard.  But right now they are quite happy with what they got and are still working up the courage to explore the yard they have at the moment :)  Will take more pics as we get the shed finished up for them (hoping to get some of that done today) and as the chicks grow.