Piggies

A few weeks ago Karen F. and I were talking. "Paul and I are going to be raising pigs again this year," she mentioned. "I want one!" I said. Paul and Karen built the fence last weekend, while we were away. "What can I do to help?" I asked. Karen asked me to buy some puppy food, which is higher in protein than adult dog food. She is looking into a source of organic hog chow, and we are trying to get food waste from restaurants and grocery stores. We asked at Peking, when we were eating lunch there with my Dad, and they are supposed to call us after they check with the health inspector.

Saturday night, I wrote a check for $50. Sunday afternoon, Karen called. "We'll be there in 20 minutes," she said. We finished up what we were doing and headed over to her house, where the pigs will live. There were three little coal-black piglets in the back of Paul's red truck, with a lot of straw. His truck has a cap on it. Shannon, Karen's daughter, and her husband, Steve, came from next door to help us. Steve crawled into the mucky straw to catch the pigs. They squealed like they were already being butchered and ran from him, but he caught them one by one and handed them out the back. Paul took one, then Ray, then I took the last one. They screamed, but didn't bite or kick, just squirmed. We held on for dear life, walking over the rough farmyard to set them down inside the electric fence Paul had strung, making sure not to get shocked as it was "live." The three terrified pigs ran around and right through the electrified fence! Potential disaster and much excitement. Karen's style of farming appears a little haphazard, but there was another fenced area around the pigs' enclosure. They crawled under that fence and into another fenced area. Ray and Steve and Paul waved sticks at them and tried to keep them from getting out into the woods. They would not be coming back, with plenty to eat and no desire for human companionship. And probably something would catch and eat them. So long, $50!

Paul is the pig whisperer; Ray carries a big stick

goats looking on

Paul and Shannon worked quickly to put up another wire, while Steve and Shannon and Karen and I carried logs to block some of the places they had crawled through, and Ray herded them back toward the pen. We encouraged them back into the pen with the additional string of wire and turned the power back on. We tried to be calm, so they would calm down. When they were riled up, they would run right through the electrified fence, but once quiet, they would notice the charge and avoid it. We watched for a long time. Karen brought the dog food we had bought and a pan of water as well. They stayed in the corner farthest away from us, contentedly rooting and learning about the fence. Yay! Hopefully they will stay in. As they get bigger, the fence will be more effective. But mostly, once they learn to avoid it, they will not try to get out. And we will bring them food and water and keep them happy.

The pigs are a combination of three heritage breeds, not the pink commercial pigs you think of. One is mulefoot, one is black something-or-other...

That was the most exciting part of my day, which also included pancakes and a walk in the woods, followed by singing at church. For supper, I made pork with peppers and onions and mashed potatoes (without any milk!). I thought about the baby piggies as I sliced the pig meat...

Enjoyed it and some TV before bed, as well as knitting.