Of Prep Rooms and Piglets

The outbuildings attached to the house have seen many uses, from the initial stables and coach house, through to workshops, storage areas and in some cases living accommodation for casual land workers. Those days are long gone – the original coal house and woodshed now houses our biomass boiler, the coach house is now the office, and in its latest transformation, the old Dairy has now become our Prep Room. This room had all the original cold shelves which we have taken out to be relocated elsewhere, and has now been fitted out with white hygienic cladding as well as shelving, a commercial fridge and suitable washing facilities. The original flooring was made of old flagstones, which again have been lifted and now form the path at the rear of the house.

So now we are all ready for the Pork to arrive, and at the same time we will be saying farewell to some of the Large Black / OSB cross weaners who will be going to other people to grow on and finish. But the cycle begins again, as Apricot (one of our OSB sows) is about to give birth. She moved into the farrowing area last week, and is absolutely huge. She was a good mother for her first litter so we are hoping that she will continue in the same way. So in one week we have the full circle of pig farming – birth, growth and Pork production!