Sunday saw the arrival of two Sasso chicks from our own eggs which have been cooking under a broody Black Rock. Black Rocks are no way renowned for their broodyness, but this one was determined. Vicious really. Although I knew she was leaving the nest, I never actually saw her. The food and water were going down though and there was a wee dust bath in the broody run so she must have been. I turfed her off the nest a couple of times but she was pecking me furiously each time – grabbing the skin on the back of my hand!

Sunday also saw preparations to load the three Berkshire Boars ready to take to the abattoir on Monday.

I actually start the journey on Sunday night – they need to be at the abattoir very early in the morning and loading pigs at 5am is a no-go. They want to be sleeping at that time just as much as I do. We loaded them late on sunday evening, making a temporary race with electric fencing down though the garden, past the house to a pen at the stock trailer made with wooden gates. The pigs did not get their breakfast on Sunday morning so they were very keen to follow a shaken feed bucket down through the race to the pen. Once penned at the bottom of the trailer ramp, the bucket of feed was empited in the trailer and they scampered up the ramp and scoffed the lot.

My parents live 4 miles from the abattoir and it can take between 1 and 2 hours to get there depending on the traffic. 2 hours in the morning, annoying commuters who get stuck behind a slow Land Rover and heavy trailer or an hour and a quarter late on Sunday evening when the road was almost empty. Once at my parents, the pigs get a bucket of fresh water and they bed down in the straw in the trailer.

At 7am my Dad and I then drove the pigs to the abattoir and I was a bit worried because there was no sign of lairageman (the guy who books the animals in) and there were no other pigs in the holding pens. I definitely booked them in for the 16th! I did find Neil the lairageman and he said I was first in and there were 50 other pigs coming later in the morning. I have never actually seen the deed done at the abattoir, but in looking for Neil, I did get to stick my head through the door of death so at least I now know exactly how they are killed.

The pigs were unloaded easily and penned ready for the event. Paperwork was completed and then it was back to my parents for some breakfast. Afterwards, the stock trailer was scrubbed and disinfected ready to be returned to the farmer from whom I borrow it, but I needed to stop at the butcher to agree how they would cut the (by now dead) pigs up. Hopefully the meat will be ready to collect from the butcher early next week.

After returning the trailer and picking up some chick cumb feed for the new Sasso chicks, I went up to inspect the broody pen. There was Mum sitting in the sun all fluffed up with her brood underneath her. I lifted the lid off the broody box to clear out the old egg shells and was dismayed to see two intact eggs and three dead chicks. Mum had abandoned the nest with the early hatched chicks and left eggs which were hatching/still to hatch and by the time I got back from the abattoir they were stone cold.

I laid the dead chicks on a car tyre in the veg beds which have marrows, squashes and courgettes growing in them and started to clear the broody box out and make a new nest for the Mum and chicks. I turned round and spotted a ‘dead’ chick with it’s beak open! It was still alive, but only just. I think the warmth of the sun on the car tyre had given it a boost so I cupped it in my hands and made my way to the garage and one handedly rigged up my heat lamp. By the time I had managed this, the chick was coming round and breathing well. After a couple of hours under the heat lamp its down feathers were almost dry and it looked quite perky. At 10pm I slipped it under the broody and have her a lecture about leaving her bairns. She looked all apologetic and shoved the chick under her breast along with it’s siblings.

All seems to be well today – the abandoned chick is looking healthy – well I say that because I cannot tell it apart from it’s sibilings!