My pig, My July

Good evening to my hive family, Life they say will not give you what you crave for or deserves, but for us to get the best out of life, one must not rest on its oars, but to remain focused and diligent. When I saw this week prompt, I reminisced about my past months in this year 2024 and all I can see is a year full of events, ups and downs and lots more. My experience for the past months has been full of both good and bad ones but in all, I give thanks to the most high.

In the past months of the year, looking back from January through December, I realized I have made mistakes that cost me a lot , although, I have also made progress which has added to my existence as well. The month of July this year was one of my most eventful month, it's a month I can never forget in business journey so far this year. Though, everything started in the first month of the year which is January when I opted out of a local business I was into, which is the selling and refilling of gas to the end users and embrace livestock farming (pig farming) which was introduced to me as a lucrative business by a friend. Though, a dirty business just because you're not expected to put on ur best clothes to the pen but a dirty or even a tattered one due to the nature of the pig.

On the 26th of January 2024, the journey to my pig farming started with a friend introducing me to the business. Although, I would have love to start with atleast 3 sows and 1 boar, but I couldn't and this is because of my financial constraint during the time, but I was like, instead of not doing anything, let me start with what I have. So, I took the bull by the horn and invested my little resources into getting one out of my proposed four pigs which a friend who introduced me to the business helped me to get for as much as forty five thousand naira only. I also rented a pen to start the rearing of my pig that same January and the journey began. So, I started going to farm everyday looking after my sow. In march this year, my sow show heat, the showing of heat in sow means that it is ready for mating. So. Immediately my sow show the sign
for mating, I got a boar to mate my sow and my sow got mated and pregnant.

In pig farming, a sow get pregnant for 3months, 3weeks and 3days. So when my sow got pregnant I waited for the period of 3months, 3days and 3weeks and fortunately, my pig delivered safely on the 30th of June, 2024 and this is when my eventful month started.

My sow at birth gave birth to five piglet and out of the five, two were premature and died at delivery, remaining three. Although, I was not happy due to what happened to my piglets , but at the same time, not downcasted . I did everything within me to prevent the death of my remaining three piglet. I gave them the best treatment using various medications to prevent them from purging and another to make them strong but all to no avail. During the same week and on a particular tuesday in july, I went to the pen as usual to see to the well being of the remaining piglets and on getting there, I met one out of the three dead. The death of this one pained me to my marrow and instead of cleaning the pen, I couldn't, but just gave them and the sow( the mother pig) the feeds and left for home with a heavy heart. What is all these about? I was asking myself, is it that I av not tried my best in safeguarding these piglets, hmmm! What a loss. So, on getting home, I told my wife about what happened and I was consoled by her word of encouragement. On Wednesday, I went to the pen as usual and on getting there, the remaining two piglet were doing fine with the sow and I was happy not even minding what had happened to three out of the five piglets. On this particular day, I was able to clean the pen and feed them very which has always been my habitual deed. So after the cleaning and the feeding, I left for home happy.

Hmmm, on the following day which was on a Thursday, after closing from my place of work, I decided not to go home straight but to branch at the pen. On getting to the pen, i met another piglet dead, the fourth out of the five piglets. Hmmm, what a colossal loss? I was so sad and angry within me about all the losses, I smote my head again the wooden structure of the pen. Where do I start from? This is a setback to my piggery business. After all have spent to make sure it works not only even the money spent, but also my time which I have invested into doing this from January. Within me ,I was beginning to lose interest in this business, but immediately I remembered a saying which says, quitter never win and winner never quit, I gathered myself together and I threw away the dead piglet into a running stream. How do I tell my wife that another piglet is dead? I left for home as usual and when I got home, I didn't do as if anything happened but at night, when we are about to sleep, I called my wife and told her that we av lost the remaining two piglet which she took with a sad heart knowing fully well that I av invested everything within and without me into the business. Mind you it still remain one, but I have to tell her we've lost everything because I don't know what will happen next.
So, after all the losses, I decided not to be going there everyday, but people around me were encouraging me to be going there, telling me there similar experiences which has shaped their lives. What a terrible experience? Some even told me that maybe it's the rain and the season that affected the piglets as I was told piglets don't survive as supposed to be in the raining season.

So, afterwards, I got another female grower to making my pigs three because fortunately for me , the remaining one piglet survived and my wife got to know this when she followed me to the pen which was like a surprise to her and she was really happy. Although I learnt that in everything we should give thanks and this is because ab initio, when my sow gave birth to five and two out of the five died at birth, we were not happy at all, but when it now remains one, we were now thanking God for making one out of five to be alive.

Now, we now have three pigs and the sow that gave birth to the five piglets is now two month pregnant again. Also the grower I just bought is now showing heat, which means she's ready for mating and the piglets that I weaned two months after birth is now growing very fast. So, by next year, I will have something new to share about my pig business to the hive community.
Finally, the month of July has really been a busy and eventful month for me, although not on a good note, but I think I have been able to gain more experience that will be useful for me going forward.

All images are mine.

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