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Authors: Jaclyn M. Hawkes
Tags: Romance
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on him and made jokes about getting piggy back rides to see the piggies and insisted Jamie get down and she'd give him a piggy back instead. Luke handed him to her with a grateful sigh. "Thanks, they're all getting so big they're gonna kill me."
"They kind of like you, apparently."
He reached up and tickled Elsa. "I kind of like them too. Don't I?" Elsa squealed and began to wiggle until he nearly dropped them both before they made it to the door of the barn.
Inside it didn't take long to notice that the littlest pig wasn't holding its own all that well. It was still active, but its little sides were sunken in and it rooted around hungrily while the others were fat and lazily nursing. Charlie looked up at Luke with concern, but he only shook his head in resignation.
On the way back up to the house when the kids ran ahead, she turned to him and asked, "Will it make it?"
Again he shook his head. "Probably not. It'll probably do okay for a day or two until the others get so big and strong that it can't compete at all. Then it'll starve."
Charlie was quiet for a minute and then asked, "Is there nothing that can be done? Can it really not be bottle fed?"
"Charlie, you'd have to feed it like every two hours and it'd probably still struggle. Not to mention that pigs aren't the sweetest smelling little beasts. It's not like you could keep it in a box in the house."
As they walked, Charlie had a thought. "What if we left it in there with its momma and supplemented it with a bottle? Would that work?"
He looked at her with a slow smile and a shake of his head. "It might. It would depend on how it took the bottle I guess. You could give it a try."
That morning she went to the farm and ranch supply once again and came back armed with piglet survival gear. She had two glass bottles with black rubber nipples and twenty five pounds of milk replacer. The kids thought it was a grand idea and they rushed out to the pig barn with the warm bottle with enthusiasm. They were so excited that Charlie worried about what would happen if her idea didn't work and the runt died after all. As they went, she prayed silently and then when the little pig began to suck hungrily on the bottle almost instantly she prayed again to say thank you.
Their little pig became the highlight of their day and Charlie had to admit Luke had been right. Caring for it was a time consuming project. Every few hours during the day they would take it a bottle and then just before she went to bed and first thing in the morning before her run, Charlie would take it one as well. She didn't give it one in the middle of the night, but it seemed to be doing fine anyway. As it got stronger it was able to compete better with its siblings and sometimes when they were out there she was glad to notice it nursed its mother as well.
They'd only been at it a couple of days when Charlie realized the children had begun to share the bottle with any of the little pigs that cared to stick their noses through the fence and try to reach the bottle. She smiled when eventually there was a whole group of little piglets trying to reach for the bottle at once.
The mother pig began to try to reach the bottle as well and Charlie was concerned with how aggressive she was to the children. The next morning Charlie brought a pair of wire cutters with them and carefully cut a neat hole in the fence that was barely big enough for the piglets to get out of. It worked beautifully and the little pigs could get clear out and away from the fence. Charlie no longer worried one of the children would be bitten by the mother during their bottle feeding sessions.
When they were through bottle feeding, the babies climbed back through the hole to their momma as if they'd been trained, and Charlie wedged a piece of wood into the hole to keep them in until they came back to feed again. Watching the littlest pig eat and grow alongside the three children so happily was very fulfilling actually, and she walked back up
"They kind of like you, apparently."
He reached up and tickled Elsa. "I kind of like them too. Don't I?" Elsa squealed and began to wiggle until he nearly dropped them both before they made it to the door of the barn.
Inside it didn't take long to notice that the littlest pig wasn't holding its own all that well. It was still active, but its little sides were sunken in and it rooted around hungrily while the others were fat and lazily nursing. Charlie looked up at Luke with concern, but he only shook his head in resignation.
On the way back up to the house when the kids ran ahead, she turned to him and asked, "Will it make it?"
Again he shook his head. "Probably not. It'll probably do okay for a day or two until the others get so big and strong that it can't compete at all. Then it'll starve."
Charlie was quiet for a minute and then asked, "Is there nothing that can be done? Can it really not be bottle fed?"
"Charlie, you'd have to feed it like every two hours and it'd probably still struggle. Not to mention that pigs aren't the sweetest smelling little beasts. It's not like you could keep it in a box in the house."
As they walked, Charlie had a thought. "What if we left it in there with its momma and supplemented it with a bottle? Would that work?"
He looked at her with a slow smile and a shake of his head. "It might. It would depend on how it took the bottle I guess. You could give it a try."
That morning she went to the farm and ranch supply once again and came back armed with piglet survival gear. She had two glass bottles with black rubber nipples and twenty five pounds of milk replacer. The kids thought it was a grand idea and they rushed out to the pig barn with the warm bottle with enthusiasm. They were so excited that Charlie worried about what would happen if her idea didn't work and the runt died after all. As they went, she prayed silently and then when the little pig began to suck hungrily on the bottle almost instantly she prayed again to say thank you.
Their little pig became the highlight of their day and Charlie had to admit Luke had been right. Caring for it was a time consuming project. Every few hours during the day they would take it a bottle and then just before she went to bed and first thing in the morning before her run, Charlie would take it one as well. She didn't give it one in the middle of the night, but it seemed to be doing fine anyway. As it got stronger it was able to compete better with its siblings and sometimes when they were out there she was glad to notice it nursed its mother as well.
They'd only been at it a couple of days when Charlie realized the children had begun to share the bottle with any of the little pigs that cared to stick their noses through the fence and try to reach the bottle. She smiled when eventually there was a whole group of little piglets trying to reach for the bottle at once.
The mother pig began to try to reach the bottle as well and Charlie was concerned with how aggressive she was to the children. The next morning Charlie brought a pair of wire cutters with them and carefully cut a neat hole in the fence that was barely big enough for the piglets to get out of. It worked beautifully and the little pigs could get clear out and away from the fence. Charlie no longer worried one of the children would be bitten by the mother during their bottle feeding sessions.
When they were through bottle feeding, the babies climbed back through the hole to their momma as if they'd been trained, and Charlie wedged a piece of wood into the hole to keep them in until they came back to feed again. Watching the littlest pig eat and grow alongside the three children so happily was very fulfilling actually, and she walked back up
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