Piglet Castration

Mission Piglet Castration was a success Thursday! The temperatures got above freezing and Thursday turned out to be a really nice day!

I thought I would post a brief summary of how the pig castrations take place, since it has been a couple of years since I have addressed it on the blog. It is a necessary evil if you are going to raise pigs. It can really be a pretty simple procedure, and this time, Mr. Kirk decided to do all the pigs at once instead of spreading the experience out among several classes. We brought 10 piglets to castrate and he had done all 10 in less than 45 minutes!

Mr. Kirk organized a pretty efficient crew of students to work with the piglets while most of the other students observed. One student would get a piglet out of the trailor and hand him down to another student who then carried the patient into the shop. There another student held the piglet up by the hind legs and Mr. Kirk did the cutting. A different student sprayed the incision with iodine while yet another one administered the antibiotic needle and someone else marked the piglet with a chalk marker to identify which piglets had been done. The piglet would be passed on to a student who carried it out to the trailor where the student in the trailor gingerly laid the patient down in the straw and caught the next victim, I mean patient, to repeat the whole process.

I decided to quote a bit about general pig castrations from the web here on this post. I will have my additional comments in brackets without being italisized.

"Hogs are castrated for a variety of reasons. Two of the primary reasons are to stop unwanted breeding and to improve the quality of the meat in animals raised for market. The process also improves the feed conversion rate, allowing a higher weight gain per pound of food consumed. Castrating hogs, especially when they are young, also helps to keep the males more docile and less likely to fight among themselves or pose a risk to the humans who come in contact with them.

Things You'll Need:
Iodine disinfectant
Sterile scalpel or razor blade

1) Time the castration so that you are performing this process while the hog is still very young. The best time to do this is when the piglet is about one to two weeks old. If it is older, the process is identical, except that holding the animal will require two or three additional people. When done early, you can easily complete a hog castration with the help of a single assistant.

2) Remove the hog from its pen, unless it is alone. If it is still with its mother, it is a good idea to take it to where she cannot see it while you perform the procedure. Restrain it. If it is small your assistant can turn the piglet on its back, holding all four legs, with its testicles toward you. If it is larger, roll it on its back on the ground. Have one person hold the front legs above the hog's head, and another person hold its rear legs stretched straight out horizontally. You may need one person for each hind leg, depending on the size of the hog. [Mr. Kirks preferred method is to just have the piglet held up vertically by it's hind legs, belly facing the one with the scalpel, who then cuts in similar manner to what is noted below.]

3) Clean the scrotum with disinfectant. Squeeze the scrotum so that the testicles are both pressed up against the bottom of it. Make a vertical cut in the sack over one testicle. Cut where the lowest part of the scrotum will be when the hog is standing, to promote drainage.

4) Squeeze the testicle in order to push it out through the cut. [Or you can here slit the testicle which causes it to "pop" out.] Grab it and pull it out completely. Cut the attached white cord. In a young pig, continue pulling on the testicle until the red cord (blood vessel) snaps. If the hog is older, cut this cord at an angle. [Mr. Kirk always cuts this cord with a scraping motion.]

5) Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for the other testicle. Check to make sure you have removed all tissue from the scrotum and that bleeding is minimal. Disinfect the area again, and spray with a livestock fly repellant if necessary.

6) If done right the procedure heals quickly and cleanly. Watch the hog for several days to make sure the scrotum heals properly. If signs of irritation or infection develop, contact a veterinarian for specific advice.

Read more: How to Castrate a Hog eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6553924_castrate-hog.html#ixzz18ELWgebC

Here are a few pictures of the event. There were so many students gathered around that it was difficult to get very good pictures. After all, it was supposed to be a learning experience for them, so I stayed out of the way.

Mmmmm.... Winter!

Our meteorological mages are mesmerized by the many models that make for a magnificent winter weather event coming for our area! The measurable snowfall may be majestic and the cold temperatures might be memorable, so they mutter! Our mighty winter weather this weekend will create many messes and be anything but meager, they muse.
(I may be missing some marbles, but I don't feel overly miserable about my meteorological message!)

We are in the 3 - 5 inch, or the 4 - 7 inch snow range at the moment, depending on which magnificent meteorologist you want to meditate on!

The major bad news of all this is that we are planning on going to Erica's college choir Christmas concert coming up Sunday evening. (Am I changing from mmmm to cccs?) I hope we will still be able to make the hour and a half drive!
We will have to c.

A Cold Morning

It was a bone-chilling 12 degrees this morning as I went out to open up the chickens and give them water (which was up from 9 degrees before dqwn). I was surprised how quickly my moustache became rigid, frozen by the steam emanating from my nostrils! It has been cold this past week, but I don't think I felt it as severely as I did this morning! My toes are still numb, even now after an hour and a half. Of course my car did not get overly warm on my drive to work, and the room I am sitting in right now is not very warm either!

I am anticipating the temperatures getting above freezing today, even though the weatherman is now predicting a high of only 32. Pure Water Hollow often gets warmer than what the official forecast calls for, perhaps because of it's proximity to the river?

I hope it warms up soon, so it won't be too bad on Matthew, Simon, and Lisa as they get the piglets loaded up. They are supposed to be here to the school around noon for the castration procedures to commence. I feel badly that I am not there to help get the trailer ready and hooked up and the piglets loaded, but I know that Matthew and Simon can handle everything just fine!

I will try to take a picture or two of the piglets in the trailer after they are here, and maybe a couple shots of the procedure itself. It will depend on how busy I am with my other duties here. It has been a while since I have photographed this aspect of hog raising, so I will see what I can do.

Until then, stay warm! I know that is what I am going to try to accomplish!

Weather Wondering; Piglet Planning

We saw snow flying in each of the first 7 days of the month, but not today! Today was just plain cold, as has become the trend. We have not had temperatures above freezing since Friday! That's 5 straight days of staying below freezing, and this is the beginning of December! It has just about been too cold to really enjoy this early snow. I wonder what the rest of December will hold?

But today and yesterday we have had a lot of sun, so Timothy was able to escape from the confines of our house for a few moments. Here he is playing with a bit of snow that was still lingering around:



And here is the first snowman of the season, created by Simon:



Luna looks terrible in this picture because she must have run through some sort of burrs. She was so happy that her family had come out to play! I liked this picture of her, sitting on Timothy's lap. However, Timothy was not very happy about it!



Tomorrow, we are hoping to take the piglets on a field trip to our local high school. It will be a learning experience for them that they will not at all appreciate, I am afraid! I am once again going to lend our piglets to the Ag department in order for the teachers to demonstrate proper castration techniques. In the meanwhile, I get our piglets castrated for free!

Here are some pictures of them practicing loading themselves into our trailer:





We'll have straw in the wagon for them tomorrow, but I liked how agreeable they were loading into a snow covered wagon! (The corn helped a little bit!)


You can really tell how small the piglets still are in these next pictures with our ducks. They are about the same size as the ducks, and it was cute how the ducks would run the pigs away from them. These fowl bullies are not chickens! (You can also see our cat Sandy in this first one. He is often at the barn, especially when we go up to feed.)





It is good that the piglets are still small, because the operation is easier on them the smaller they are. Typically, our piglets have had no problems from being cut and are usually back to normal after just a day or two. They may squeal quite a bit at the moment, but afterwards they won't even notice!


Further plans for these playful piglets involve them pursuing plenty of precious corn in preparation of becoming pleasing pork or profit for our promising homestead! We will likely keep 3 to butcher ourselves for fresh pork, 1 to become our new boar, and we will try to sell the other 12 as soon as possible!

Pictures of First Snow of Season - More Snow Expected!

Woke up this morning to another winter weather advisory! They weren't calling for new snow yesterday, just cold. Now they say we may get 2-3 more inches today and tomorrow!



I took several pictures of the snow around our homestead the other day. Here are some of this rare, early December snow:

Snow, Simon, and Piano Playing

We went to a Christmas play tonight at the 1st Methodist Church in town. Simon's piano teacher goes to that church and asked Simon to help them out with some piano music! Simon played the opening two numbers before the play began. He did very well on Silent Night and Joy to the World. He also played twice during scene changes. One time was The First Noel and the last time he played Ode to Joy. I thought it was a great experience for him, and it was nice to see a Christmas play together!

We had snow again last night and more today. This morning we woke up to a fresh inch or two which was enough to cancel our morning church service and was also enough to have more snow cream this afternoon! Now we have snow 5 of 5 days thus far in December! Today has been sunny, but with off and on snow. The temperatures are forecasted to be very cold the next few days, for our neck of the woods. Low of 16 tonight, high of 22 tomorrow, low of 12 tomorrow night! The extended forecast has that pattern continuing until Thursday when they think it will get above freezing again! We don't usually have that cold of temperatures this early in December.

I'm going to leave this post for now, and go enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate!

But before I do, I'll post these pictures of this evenings pianist:

A Delicious Snowy Decorating Day

The snow was beautiful today, and made for the perfect atmosphere to get out some Christmas decorations and write a Christmas card! We arranged our Nativity Scenes along with some candles and music boxes. We've not decorated our tree yet, but that may be coming in the next week or so. I think this is the earliest in the season we have ever had Christmas decorations out! (Except for advent calendars which we have often used in years past at the first of December.)

We traditionally have tried to hold off all the festivities until closer to December 25th, with the thought that folks in the old days apparently did not really celebrate Christmas until Christmas Day! It seems the tradition of yesteryear was for the tree and decorations not to be around until Christmas Eve after the children went to bed! Before that and then immediately after that, I'm under the impression life went on business as usual. With all the work and chores just to stay alive, there was not much time for frivolities! Now a days, you start seeing Christmas decorations right after Halloween, which we think is a bit crazy.

I took some pictures of our decorations tonight, and I thought I would show some of them here. These are the advent calendars we are using this year:







Beginning December 1st, Simon, Christina, and Matthew each open one of the doors to see what is behind it. One of them has a bible verse, so we always read it and perhaps the passage it comes from.

We put out several Nativity scenes this year. Simon and Christina were doing our decorating and they really liked finding our various Nativities in the attic and setting them out.

These are from my childhood:





And this is from Lisa's childhood:



This one was a gift one of our first Christmases:




On this shelf, we have 4 different representations of the Nativity (the one in the top middle was painted by my brother), as well as some other Christmas mementos:




And lastly, here are some music boxes they put on one of the window sills:




Our nice snow today began around noon and stayed with us all day while we were decorating. It has been one of those wet snows with the temps staying above freezing all day. A lot of it was melting as soon as it fell, but we still ended up accumulating a couple of inches of the wonderful white stuff on the cars, and a good covering over the yard and trees. It was enough for a good helping of snow cream!

Snow cream is such a great tradition at our house, but I don't think I have ever posted about it. Generally speaking, we feel it is not best to use the very first snow of the season. Lisa's mother used to always say that the first snow caught all the impurities in the air, but after the first snow the air pollutants were not as bad and the snow was better. It makes some sense to me, and it has been snowing for a few days now. Today's snow was the first good accumulation when there was enough to make snow cream, anyway!

I guess everyone knows how to make snow cream, but I thought I would tell you anyway!

First you need to get a BIG bowl full of snow:




Then you mix in a can of sweet and condensed milk:


Add a cap full of vanilla:


Stir it all up real good, and serve:



I should have taken some pictures of us eating it in our individual bowls, but I was otherwise occupied. YUM!

It has been a nice Saturday! I am thankful for God's many small blessings and simple joys. The pretty falling snow, time with my family, reminders of the birth of our Savior in the form of decorations, sacred Christmas songs on the radio, and sweet snow cream all shout the fact that I am wonderfully blessed!

Weather Watching

We woke up to snow flurries and a nice half inch or so of snow on the ground this morning! So far, we've seen some snow each of these first 3 days of December. If the weather man is correct, we will be seeing snow for the next few days, as well.

The forecast calls for a possibility of 2 - 4 inches of snow over the weekend! It seems a bit early in the season to me. I wonder if this weather is foretelling another harsh winter for us here in eastern Kentucky? Whatever comes our way I know the Lord will be right there with us!

Which 23rd Will You Choose?

We all have choices to make everyday. Some are insignificant, but others will impact our lives for all eternity! Here are two contrasting philosophies that I wish everyone would consider:

The 23rd Psalm

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

OR:

The 23rd Channel

The TV is my shepherd, I shall not win.

It maketh me to lie down on the sofa: it leadeth me away from the scriptures.

It destroyeth my soul: it leadeth me into the paths of sex and violence for the sponsor's sake.

Yea, though I walk in the shadow of my Christian responsibility, there will be no interruption: for the TV is with me; its cable and its remote control, they comfort me.

It prepareth a commercial before me in the presence of my worldliness: it anointeth my head with humanism and consumerism; my coveting runneth over.

Surely ignorance and laziness shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house watching TV for ever.

As for me and my house, we will choose the Lord!

The reason this post is on my mind now, is that yesterday I re-took a drastic step for the betterment of my family. The TV is gone once more!

A little background is in order. Ever since I became a Christian in 1987 I knew that God wanted me to limit the TV use in my family. To that end, I have never subscribed to a cable or satellite TV service. I have allowed the family to view videos that we had chosen and approved of, and we did have Sky Angel, which was a Christian TV/Radio satellite service, from December 1998 until they discontinued in April 2008. Even with Sky Angel, we utilized the radio stations more than the TV, although we did catch some very good Christian movies on it.

During our entire time at Pure Water Hollow dating back to 1993, our family purposely did not have a permanent TV set located in our living room, until late last year when I moved an old floor model into the living room. Before that, I kept a portable TV in the closet and brought it out with the VCR every now and then for a family movie night.

For the past year, I decided that it would be nice to have a bigger set to watch our chosen shows on and also for Timothy to enjoy educational pre-school videos. I purchased some classic TV shows on DVD and we have really enjoyed viewing these good old programs. Some of our favorites have been series from the 50s like the Richard Greene Robin Hood series, the George Reeves Superman series, Ronald Howard's Sherlock Holmes series and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot starring William Russel. We also really enjoyed the Fess Parker Daniel Boone series and the early years of the Andy Griffith Show from the 60s. They are all clean shows with good morals and family values, and with entire seasons packaged together they were had at a great price! We also gradually broke out our huge collection of old movies and children shows on VHS.

It was all good for a good amount of time. But that time quickly grew, and grew, and grew, until the shows were still good, but the amount of time they were stealing from us each day was becoming very bad! It had become difficult to find time or energy for our family devotions until they disappeared completely. It was not all the fault of the TV, but I know it contributed. Ultimately, I am to blame, as the leader of my home, if we fail to have meaningful spiritual moments together as a family!

I decided that December 1st would be a perfect time to throw out the "23rd Channel" and focus on the "23rd Psalm"! So yesterday I put away all of the DVDs and VHSs and Matthew and I packed that big floor model TV out of the living room and up to the school house storage. In the place of the TV I put a nice collection of uplifting children's books, mostly for us to read aloud to Timothy and for him to look at by himself in lieu of a TV screen.

We will be completely TV free for the entire month of December as we focus on celebrating the birth of Jesus during our family time! In the past, we have utilized Christmas videos in our family, and that is nice sometimes. This year, however, we are going to be radically different! We have many good, Christ honoring TV specials on VHS, but they are not necessary for us to enjoy the holiday season. We will read and sing and listen to dramas together as a family, and we will talk more. We may find time to play a game or two. Perhaps there will be more time for cookies? I don't know exactly what our Christmas month celebration will be like this year, but I am looking forward to what God will show us during this time!

After December I have no plans to move a permanent TV back into the living room. Sometime in the future, I probably will get another portable TV that I will bring out periodically for a family TV time, but it will go away when that particular show is over!

We have been having our family devotion time more consistently since before Thanksgiving, and I'm definitely going to continue it throughout the Christmas season, and beyond. I won't be legalistic about it, but we should be able to have devotions more evenings than not! At least the TV will no longer be competing for that precious time!

I have a wonderful family! As for me and my house, it is a clear choice of which 23rd we desire! I am thankful that Lisa and the children are supportive of this choice as well. (Timothy is not too sure, yet.)

I suspect that most families try to merge both 23rds together into their experience. I can't help but think how difficult it is to serve two masters! Actually, Jesus was a bit more direct: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." I know He was teaching about wealth, but I think I can apply it to our modern TV. It could also apply to the internet...

Well, how about you? Are you choosing the 23rd Psalm or the 23rd Channel? Or do you think you are successfully straddling the fence between the two? It's something to think about this Christmas season..... and always.

December Is Here

I lingered for several extra moments sitting at our dining room table this morning just watching the soft flakes of snow drift carelessly to the ground while "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" played on the radio. It was a pretty scene and one that I could have meditated on for hours, I think. But the day had to get started...

We had some snow flurries the day after Thanksgiving, as well as some cold temperatures. Yesterday was a contrast in weather, however. November closed out with a 55 degree morning and rain. (I spooked some turkeys as I went out to the chicken coop yesterday at 7:00am. I guess they were roosting so low in the hollow because of the rain?)It rained all day, in fact, and pretty much all night until the temperature dropped enough for it to change into this lovely snow to open up December with.

It feels like Christmas.

I usually enjoy the Christmas season as we celebrate Jesus coming into this fallen world in order to become the supreme sacrifice for all mankind and to be the Savior for those who accept Him! And that is what this season is all about. It's about Jesus and God's love for us. Jesus is love. Christmas is about that love!

It's not really about the gift buying and presents. We always enjoy giving and receiving presents during this celebration of love, but it should not really be necessary to spend a lot of money.

This Christmas finds me with very little extra money for presents, it seems. For the past couple of years we've donated $200 worth of toys to our volunteer fire department for their "Santa run". They take Santa around on the back of the fire truck throughout our community and he usually gives out candy, fruit and toys to the children. I think my children always liked seeing the fire truck with it's lights and siren more than seeing Santa Claus, but there is something pretty special about the Santa/fire truck combination. This year, Santa will not be getting any help from us...

I also enjoy buying nice Christmas gifts for my own children and family. I'm not sure what they will be getting this year, however.

My children are generally happy and content with what they already have and with using their own resourcefulness to have fun. I am grateful that they are not selfish and spoiled as so many children seem to be.

With as much fun as Timothy has with his old Tonka truck and soccer ball, I can't imagine him enjoying a new toy any better. Here's a couple pictures of him from earlier last month, having good old fashioned fun:






And Simon can have more fun climbing trees than any boy I have ever known! We are constantly telling him he should not climb any higher, for fear of him falling. When he is grounded, he is a very creative boy in making his own toys. He has been making parachutes that allow action figures to descend softly to the ground, boats with sails that really float across the pond, and he has been perfecting his homemade bow and arrows that can shoot pretty straight. One evening last month I got a couple pictures of Simon demonstrating his Robin Hood skills:

I'm sure they would like new fancy "stuff", but my point is that they will be happy without an extravagant pile of presents. Christina, Matthew and Erica are each similarly content and un-spoiled.

I'm sure we will be able to give them some nice gifts, but they really do understand that the Christmas season is all about God's love and the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Snow and gifts just add to the season.