Today I'm canning some pints of chicken to make room in the freezer for the cockerels we will cull tomorrow. This time around is difficult for me so DH is having a buddy come over to help - I incubated these myself, hand raised them, and despite my trying to remain objective & practical, some of them have turned out to be quite friendly and I'm a sucker for that.
I have a buyer for my Barred Rock Rooster, 3 year old hens & 3 BRX pullets - I'm excited. I always am when I think I'm making money raising animals. Deep down, I know how much I've spent raising these birds.
On January 10th we brought home a new pig. We have raised 3 so far, this is the 4th. He was farrowed on October 1st, or so they said. Sounds close enough to me.
We named him, and then we named him again. The second name didn't stick either. They were "D" names. He's our 4th pig. "D" is the 4th letter of the alphabet. Our first pig was Abby, the next 2 were Bonnie & Clyde. The Current pig is Pork Chop - so much for tradition, but I had to name him something that would remind me of his ultimate purpose. I should call him "Heartbreaker".
So back to day one - January 10, 2010 - we drove to Palominas, AZ to see some pigs. Quite a place they had there. I wish I would have taken some pictures. There were trailers and buses & vans everywhere. Broken down, but inhabited none the less,. The word "commune" comes to mind. They had Dogs & Pigs & mules & Horses & mini's, goats & I'm sure a chicken or two and probably some cats although I didn't actually see or hear any. Suprisingly, the conditions for the animals were makeshift but decent and remarkably clean. We bought the last two pigs we raised from a nicer place but their pigs were kept in deplorable conditions compared to this place. The fact that the pig we bought is a healthy &
happy pig, pretty much says it all.
So we bought the pig and brought it home. We set up the pig house with loads of warm, clean straw and we filled a waterer and loaded up the feeder while the pig waited in the trailer. I went in the house for something. DH came in to see what I was doing. He didn't say much, just said, "wondering what you're doing", and then he went back outside. Shortly after, I followed. I looked across the yard and there was Mark, on the ground, apparantly wrestling the pig.
Again, I wished I'd had my camera with me. But anyway, there they were. Suddenly the pig made a break for it and he was loose, running across the neighbors yard. Our dog (Scooby) nipping at his heels, DH chasing after them both. They got to almost the end of the street and the pig came to a fence he couldn't get through and stopped. I think Mark would've had him there but Scooby wanted the game to continue and he "encouraged" the pig to run somemore
. So there they went, back up the street and back across the neighbors yard and up to our horse pasture.
So, here was this pig, running to the pasture fence. Now the horses had been watching the whole episode unravel
and they became pretty curious so they ran to the fence as the pig frantically approached. The pig stopped in front of the horses, looked up at them through the fence
and started squealing like nobody's business. Now I'm not claiming to be a Dr. Doolittle - when an animal speaks or makes sound, I don't hear them in english. In fact, when they "speak", 99% of the time, I am actually only guessing what they might be thinking (I know, hard to believe) and I put it into my own words. That being said, I would swear in a court of law that that pig was begging those horses for sanctuary. "HELP! HELP! Please let me come in and hide in your pasture!!!!! They're after me!!!!!" Poor, poor pig.
While all this was going on, I went to the feed shed and grabbed a genuine ropin' rope. I approached the pig slowly & quietly. Oddly enough, the pig was not afraid of me and didn't run away until he saw DH again
. After a couple tries, I got that rope around that pig and was able to pretty much drag him to his new home. Oh but the story doesn't end here.
The pig seemed pretty depressed for a couple days. When he did come out to eat, he was skittish and seemed to prefer being in his house. His apetite wasn't great. I was alittle worried about the poor little guy. Perhaps the trauma was too much for him and we were going to lose him to the stress of the move. Then one morning, I went out to feed the pig and he was GONE. Gone as in NOT in his house, GONE as in NOT in his pen. Gone as in "moved, left no forwarding address" gone. Crap! We spent $75 and a tank of gas acquiring that little piggy. Gone was not a good thing. And then I saw him. He had moved into the pasture with the horses. They were biting him, kicking at him when he got underfoot, but they were NOT hurting him. They were merely showing him what his place in the herd would be. When they ran, HE ran. When they ate, he ate with them. When they laid down to bask in the sun and take in a nap, he did so with them, sometimes curled up against them between their legs. Amazing.
We tried to put him back in his pen, but he finds his way out and back up to the pasture he goes. It's normal now to see him wandering around the front yard when he's hungry. So far, he's only made his way over to the neighbors to visit once. Now that I've set him up a proper bed in the horse corral and gave him a nice store of grain & alfalfa, and his water, perhaps he will stay in there until he is no longer small enough to squeeze through the gate.
We shall see!
This morning I brought some pumpkin scraps out to the pig. It's interesting trying to find a place to feed him where the horses can't steal his food. On my way in, I must've dropped the wooden spoon but I hadn't noticed. I dumped the Pork Chops food into his feeder and turned to see where he was and here he comes, trotting up with my wooden spoon in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet and went on to eat his goodies.
I'm in Pig (I mean BIG) trouble! I really, really like this pig alot.
g
I got home late last night and before I could go to bed I had to stop in and see the new posts because it absolutely COULD NOT wait until morning! 
Today is an exciting day for me!!!
but I can't figure out how to get past the upload stage 
