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The piglets are pink and chubby, and look no different from ordinary piglets. You can't tell at all that they are piglets of a sheep-pig.
Perhaps because they are so small, their fur hasn't grown in yet, so they look somewhat like piglets of other breeds.
Sikewell stood outside the pigpen watching the piglets and couldn't help but remark, "The piglets are doing very well; they're big, lively, and healthy."
Shi Wen nodded. "Yes, so far, all the piglets born have survived."
"That's great." Sikewell looked at the piglets inside, his eyes filled with admiration. "You've got almost no problems here. As long as you pay attention to cleaning and keeping them warm, the piglets should survive."
Shi Wen, "Even in this season, shouldn't we be careful to keep warm?"
Sikewell nodded. "We still need some. It's been raining these past few days, hasn't it? When it rains, the temperature drops to the teens Celsius at night. Even if you put dry hay underneath them, the piglets will still get cold since they're naked. You should keep an eye on them; it wouldn't be good if they got diarrhea."
Shi Wen thought about it and agreed, "Then I'll start the boiler and provide some warmth."
The birthing process for sows is quite long, especially in their family, where ten sows are going into labor at the same time, making it an even longer process.
Faced with this situation, they were unable to induce labor with medication and could only continue to wait.
While waiting, Sikewell asked, "You said you wanted to improve the qualities of the local livestock, are you still going to do it?"
Shi Wen laughed, "I've made changes, I haven't forgotten. I was planning to start improving the livestock in the village when I have some free time. I've already told Brother Fu, and several families have already arranged to bring their livestock over for breeding in a while."
Sikewell: "Which livestock should we improve first, cattle or sheep?"
Shi Wen, "Sheep, our sheep are all genuine fat-tailed sheep, and the breeding sheep are very healthy. We don't need breeding sheep now, so I'd like to take them out to mate with other people's sheep."
Sikewell: "That's good. If they mate during this time, the lambs will be spring lambs."
Shi Wen, "That's what we think too."
Sikewell has worked locally for many years and places great importance on breeding.
He inquired about many details, indicating that he intended to finalize the breeding arrangements.
Shi Wen his condition, Shi Wen agreed to proceed with the breeding process once the piglets were a little older.
Shi Wen's family currently has ten sheep and sows, which have given birth to a total of one hundred and four piglets.
This number is normal for sows.
To Shi Wen's delight, every piglet was lively and healthy, and he estimated that the survival rate was 100%.
After the sow gave birth, Sikewell checked on the piglets and said, "I'll come back in a few days to vaccinate them and then tag their ears. Are these piglets going to be raised for meat?"
Shi Wen: "All sows are used as breeding pigs, about ten boars are kept for breeding, and the rest are used as meat pigs."
Sikewell nodded. "Then we'll consider castration after the piglets are a month old."
Shi Wen smiled and said, "Okay, I'll call you then. Castrating piglets is a little different from castrating lambs, and I'm a bit worried about how to do it."
Sikewell: "I'm not very familiar with this either. I'll practice when I get back."
The piglets are chubby and have quite a big appetite.
Shi Wen went to check, they were nestled under the sow's belly, nursing very happily.
The sow can manage now, but in the long run, it will definitely deplete her nutrients.
It seems he needs to improve the sows' nutrition; he should prepare more cooked food for them during this period.
Shi Wen came out of the pigsty and saw a snow leopard, White Tiger, and a little fox lying in ambush outside the pigsty.
Upon seeing Shi Wen them, these guys immediately made their escape.
Shi Wen someone shouting at their retreating backs, "Why are you running? Stand there!"
The creatures froze for a moment, then tried to move forward again.
Shi Wen said, "I know you can hear me, stop right there."
These guys finally stopped obediently and dared not run any further.
Shi Wen walked up to them, grabbed the snow leopard's round ears, and said, "You lot, are you craving the sow's milk?"
The snow leopard remained silent, only sticking out its pink tongue to lick its nose.
The other creatures didn't dare to make a sound either, all looking guilty, with the White Tiger's guilty expression being the most obvious.
Shi Wen gave them each a light tap on the head. "You're even craving the sow's milk? How can you be so shameless? Especially you, little snow leopard, you're almost at the park, and you're still so greedy."
The snow leopard is no longer a cub, but a semi-adult, Shi Wen still can't seem to shake the habit of calling it that.
The little snow leopard was scolded and lay meekly at Shi Wen's feet, making soft whimpering sounds, just like the male snow leopard that had brought it to him.
It seems this is a family tradition of snow leopards; they are quite adept at acting cute.
Shi Wen scolded them, and seeing their behavior, waved them away.
Heiwa walked over.
Compared to the lively little snow leopard and its companions, Heiwa and the others seemed exceptionally reliable.
Shi Wen patted Heiwa's head and said, "Heiwa, can you keep an eye on the snow leopard cubs for me? If they get close to the sow, tell me."
Heiwa opened his big, round eyes, looked up, Shi Wen, "Woof!"
Shi Wen then patted Heiwa's head again.
At this moment, the Wolf King, displeased from behind, barked, "Woof!"
The Wolf King's howl was very loud, startling the piglets in the sty, and the sow even stood up on the spot.
The piglets were nursing when suddenly they couldn't get any more milk. They started squealing in dissatisfaction in the pigpen and tried to chase after their mother.
Shi Wen into the pigpen and saw that the piglets were nursing again before turning back and flicking the Wolf King's ear. "Talk things out calmly, don't suddenly yell so loudly and scare the pigs."
The Wolf King let out a deep "Awoo."