Warming up in the Pig Pile

The cold days seem to be much brighter and warmer as long as the sun is out. The animals are all feeling the difference as they are eating less, soaking up the sun and seem to be getting sick of eating hay and dreaming of green grass. Jack and Pedro, the horse and donkey, seek the highest point in the pasture in the morning to catch the first rays of the sun coming up over the hill on our eastern side. During this cold weather, the farm is protected by the worst cold simply by being up on the hill. There was not alot of biting wind and the temperatures seem to rise as you get higher because the colder air sinks into the valleys by the rivers and streams. So when the river valley was below zero, we were in the single digits. The Vermont weather man said this morning that was the longest stretch of cold air in several decades. The lovely day Saturday was the warmest since late December. That one day has gotten us all thinking of spring, planting and growing things again. Today is another beauty with glorious sunshine with temperatures in the 30's.

The greatest thing for the pigs in cold weather is climbing into the pig piles! The base level is a row of cuddly piggies all lined up like sardines in the hay nest. The next pig to climb in thries to get in the middle by starting to climb on the hips of the resting pigs. There is a bit of groaning to fit and growling when it hurts until the new addition is cozily nestled in the bunch. The next few new bodies make a bigger disturbance and sometimes the whole pile is moving, groaning, and adjusting to make room for each other. If you have two bodies beside you and one partially on top of you, you are in the warmest position. Every so often, an outside pig moves and tries to get back in the middle to warm up his cold back. It makes for entertaining animal behavior watching while fussing around the pigs bedroom during chores.

Hopefully the winds will warm up consistently, and we'll all be shedding our layers.