Chapter 365 Follow the Herd
Just find a ceiling fan and go alone. I have been to the tourist area several times recently, and I have a clearer understanding of the situation along the way. At least there are no dangerous animals in the tourist area, so there will be no danger if I go alone.
When Zhao Yeqing got up, Mu Xi was about to leave and drove the car out of the backyard.
Mu Xi leaned out of the car window and saw Zhao Yeqing standing on the second-floor balcony, watching him go out with sleepy eyes. She was only wearing a summer nightgown, so he waved her hand and asked her to go back to her room.
"If you're sleepy, go back and sleep for a while. Get up and put on your pants. The sun isn't out yet. If you leave the room dressed like this, you'll get bitten by mosquitoes again."
Zhao Yeqing rubbed his eyes and before returning to his room, he gave another warning, "Then be careful, go early and come back early."
Hearing the sound of the car getting farther and farther away, Zhao Yeqing did not climb back into bed to sleep. He went downstairs, washed up, and checked the condition of the barn with a refreshed mind. Finding that Mu Xi had already fed the animals, he went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
There were steamed buns and dumplings in the pot, and two pots of iced soy milk in the refrigerator. Zhao Yeqing had a simple breakfast and then went to the pigpen to check on the piglets carefully. The weather was humid and hot, and it was easy for the piglets to get sick, so he had to check on them several times a day just in case.
Pigs are raised together, and once one gets sick, the disease will quickly spread to all. Piglets have relatively weak resistance, so the pig sty must be kept clean.
After looking at the piglets, you have to look at another sow that is about to give birth. Judging from the condition of her stomach, it will probably only take another day or two.
Unexpectedly, after she let the cattle and sheep out, the sow started to move.
When Mu Xi returned home and took the hanging fan he found into the pigpen to install it, he saw Zhao Yeqing feeding another sow with nutritious postpartum feed. The sow had ten piglets in her arms.
"She gave birth so soon? Was there any accident?"
When a sow is giving birth, if she feels uncomfortable, she will kick the person who is helping to deliver the baby. That's why the last time Mu Xi delivered a sow, she didn't let Zhao Yeqing help. But today, within two hours of leaving the house, all ten piglets were born.
"It's okay. Everything went smoothly. It's just that there are too many babies."
Zhao Yeqing sighed. In order to ensure enough food at home, it seemed that he would only be able to eat roast suckling pig next month.
In the past, we wanted to eat pork because there were no pigs. Now, there is so much pork that we can’t finish it. The freezer of our refrigerator is almost full of pork. All the beef and mutton have been eaten.
Mu Xi asked Zhao Yeqing to come out and rest, and he took the tools and went into the pigpen to start cleaning.
Zhao Yeqing recorded the time of delivery in a notebook. Piglets are weaned in about twenty days, and they have to start being fed after weaning. Castration is much earlier, and it is best to do it within a week or so.
I don’t know how much feed so many pigs need to eat.
Mu Xi finished cleaning, washed his hands and walked over to her. He looked down at the data on her notebook and thought for a moment before saying, "Just keep two and raise them. The pigs at home only give birth once a year. With the two of us and the dog, we can eat about the same amount of food as two pigs a year."
Zhao Yeqing closed the notebook and looked outside the yard, his ballpoint pen circling in between. "Actually, I have an idea. When the grain fields outside are harvested, we can let the pigs roam free outside the yard. There are many meadows now, and they are newly domesticated wild boars. They should be able to find grass roots to eat by themselves."
The quality of free-range pigs is definitely better than those raised in pens.
Mu Xi thought about the feasibility of Zhao Yeqing's idea. "It should be possible. The only worry is that they run away. Should we fence off the pasture near our home?"
Zhao Yeqing shook his head. "The area we have here for growing crops isn't that big, but if we need to fence it off, it's too big. Even if we use up all the wire, it'll probably just be enough. It's a waste. What I'm thinking is to feed the pigs normally every night, so they'll develop the habit of coming back at night and won't run around."
"Okay, then let's release two of them to test it out."
There is so much grass on the meadow now. If we don’t consume some of it, people who go out will be buried in the grass.
All the sows in the house have given birth safely, and the rest of the time I just need to take care of the ewes that are about to give birth.
The two ewes that had previously had a blind date with the wild goats should have given birth the first. Zhao Yeqing paid special attention to them and had kept them at home recently, not allowing them to go out with other sheep.
Goats are more active and lively than sheep. Even pregnant goats can't help but want to run outside.
Zhao Yeqing could only throw some fresh grass into the sheep pen every once in a while to coax them into quietness.
Mu Xi is not at home, he has gone out to herd the sheep. Recently, I have to go with the herd from time to time to avoid being caught by the unknown creatures that have appeared on the meadow.
As usual, after he arrived at the place, he sat on a high hill to guard it. Standing at a high place, he had a better view and could quickly spot danger.
The dogs take the sheep to graze, and every few days they will choose a place with abundant grass for the sheep to graze. Today they came to the grassland near the pine forest.
This place used to be the place with the largest animal populations. There is a lake in front, woods inside, and meadows outside. The geographical location is very advantageous, making it one of the favorite places for various animals to appear.
When they first came to the meadow, the rulers here were probably the wild boars. Later, the wild boars ran away, and the wolves also lived here for a short time.
Now there is a big yellow cat on the other side of the pine forest. No one knows whether it will come out of the forest to hunt. Mu Xi is guarding in the direction of the pine forest.
Perhaps it was because the big cat was so intimidating that there were not many animals eating the grass near this side, which was particularly lush compared to other places. The dogs might have smelled something, so once the sheep moved towards the pine forest, they would be driven back by the dogs.
Until the sun set, no animals appeared nearby, except for a few rabbits hopping by and birds passing by in the sky.
Zhao Yeqing's voice would occasionally ring through the intercom in his hand, asking him when he would be home. It was almost time now, so he stood up, brushed off the grass debris on his pants, picked up the intercom, pressed the button, and was about to speak...
A tiger's roar came from the pine forest behind me!
Mu Xi's pupils shrank and he turned around quickly, but there was nothing behind him. Zhao Yeqing's panicked voice came from the intercom: "Hey! Mu Xi, speak! What was that sound just now?"
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