Heritage Farm welcomes third litter of piglets this year
The hog house at Spring Valley's Volkening Heritage Farm has new residents for the third time this year.
Schaumburg Park District's 1880s living history farm, located at 201 S. Plum Grove Road, welcomed 14 new piglets late October. The farm's Tamworth sow gave birth to spotted, pink and black, Berkshire-Tamworth piglets. They are her second litter this year with the Farm's resident Berkshire boar.
“The mother sow has had great success with her pregnancies,” said Farm Operations Coordinator Evan Zimmerman. “This time she gave birth to the maximum amount of piglets that can be born.”
The piglets keep busy running through the mud in their pen, napping under a heat lamp and nursing milk from their mother. Their pen is cared for by Farm volunteers and staff.
The new arrivals can be seen at From Hog House to Smokehouse, sponsored by Whole Foods Market, from noon to 4 p.m., Nov. 4. Visitors will learn how 1880s farm families put meat on their tables and preserved food for the long, cold winter at the event. Admission is $2 per person or $8 per family of six or fewer. Children ages 3 and under are free.
Heritage Farm's grounds are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Dec. 1. The interpretative program featuring authentically dressed interpreters will resume April 1. The piglets will be available for viewing at the Farm until the end of Nov.
For more information, call (847) 985-2102 or visit www.parkfun.com.