Yup, that’s me carrying a pig.
The girls are now in charge of two young pigs as part of yet another 4-H project. The pig-delivery day was last Monday. That’s one of the reasons Chareva wanted us to buy a trailer sooner rather than later. She was convinced moving two frightened pigs in the back of her van wouldn’t turn out well for anyone involved, including the pigs.
The pigs were due to be delivered to a gang of 4-H kids at 5:00 PM. So we drove to the county ag center, trailer in tow, and waited. And waited some more. We were told the pig bus was running late, which normally wouldn’t be much of a concern, but the forecast was for high winds, thunderstorms, and tornado conditions — all moving in around 6:00 PM. I didn’t relish the idea of being on the road, pulling a trailer with live animals in it, when a tornado swept through.
The pig bus finally arrived around 5:45 PM. Unlike with the goats, there was no pick-your-pig queue. The kids all drew numbers, which corresponded to numbers on the pigs.
Some of the older kids carried their own pigs off the bus, but the pigs were squealing like crazy and fighting to get away, so I was nominated to carry the squirming loads for our girls.
Before we could put them in the trailer and drive home, the pigs had to be weighed. I’m guessing they found this a bit unpleasant.
The winds and the heavy rains hit when we were about halfway home. You know that slow-moving farm vehicle on the two-lane highway that drives you nuts because there’s no good stretch of road where you can safely pass? That was me during this trip … that is, if you can label a Toyota van pulling a trailer as a farm vehicle.
Chareva wanted us to move the pigs to their pen when we got home. I thought about that … let’s see, it’s raining, it’s dark, the winds are howling, we’re out in the sticks surrounded by miles of fields and forest, the pigs will be wet, they’ve already demonstrated that they’ll fight and squirm to get away.
I explained that I was having visions of me chasing two panicked piglets across our property in the dark with a tornado approaching, and it wasn’t a happy vision. All we needed to complete the picture was a little dog named Toto. She agreed that perhaps we’d best just leave the pigs in the trailer overnight. She put pig feed and water in the trailer, then we went inside to wait out the tornado that never came. The thunder and lightning were certainly impressive, however.
Among Bill Cosby’s many fabulous routines about growing up is one that goes something like this:
Every time my mom walked into my room, she became an expert on pigsties. “This room looks just like a pigsty! Just like a pigsty!”
Unlike Bill Cosby’s mom, my girls’ mom may actually be an expert on pigsties. Before the pig-delivery date, she spent some time converting the pen that previously held goats. She reinforced the fence so they can’t dig under it, and added straw and an extra tarp to the hoop-house. She also built her own trough.
I’ve read that pigs are as social as dogs. Well, maybe, but these two seem to have an anti-social streak. They spend rather a lot of time chasing each other around and biting each other’s ears. If that’s considered social behavior, I’m glad I’m the type who doesn’t enjoy parties.
The girls will show the pigs at a 4-H event in January. They’re supposed to demonstrate that they control the pigs by walking beside them with a stick. That should be interesting. Sara had to chase down and tackle one of her goats at the previous event. The pigs will weigh well over 200 pounds by January, so tackling one would be a bit of challenge.
After the event, we can either auction them off or keep them and send them to the slaughterhouse when we think they’re fat enough. The plan now is to keep at least one for bacon, ham, ribs, etc. It’ll depend on how much pig meat we can store in our deep-freezer. We’ll certainly be eating home-grown pork by spring.
I like pork, of course. But this bumper-sticker on a vehicle at the ag center rather nicely captures my feelings about another meat.
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What’s next? Cattle rustling?
Not unless I learn to rope and ride a horse.
Many animals will remain calm if blinders are placed over the eyes.
There’s a joke in there somewhere about a blind pig.
Anxiously awaiting some great pig stories in the next few months!
No disaster stories, I hope.
Not a pork-eater myself but best of luck to your girls on this project! They do make excellent organic garbage disposals and their manure is wonderful for a garden.
BTW, like how the beard is coming along. Keep up the good work!
The beard is pretty easy work, so I assume you mean the farm stuff.
Tom, the pigs are biting at each other to determine who is dominant. They aren’t litter mates so they will fight until one is clearly the alpha. One thing to be careful of if you get more than a few pigs in the future: if you put 1 new pig in with a group that already know each other, they will all pick on the new pig and may even wind up killing it. As I’m sure you know, pigs are omnivores and not squeamish about cannibalism.
I appreciate the tip.
Yeah, pigs may be “social” but they’re also vicious as all get out. I watched a documentary on pig farming where they discussed that raising the pigs in social pens as opposed to those really narrow stalls is actually LESS humane because the pigs savage each other and it leads to all kinds of medical problems and infections and so fort.
What’s next? Cattle rustling?
Not unless I learn to rope and ride a horse.
Many animals will remain calm if blinders are placed over the eyes.
There’s a joke in there somewhere about a blind pig.
Anxiously awaiting some great pig stories in the next few months!
No disaster stories, I hope.
Not a pork-eater myself but best of luck to your girls on this project! They do make excellent organic garbage disposals and their manure is wonderful for a garden.
BTW, like how the beard is coming along. Keep up the good work!
The beard is pretty easy work, so I assume you mean the farm stuff.
Sorry, but I didn’t like the beard at all – it makes you look old ant tired.
The beard definitely makes me look older. The girls want me to grow it nice and long, so I will for awhile. But when we start shooting scenes for the DVD companion to go with our book, it’s coming off. Don’t want to scare the little kiddies I’m trying to persuade to eat better.
Tom, the pigs are biting at each other to determine who is dominant. They aren’t litter mates so they will fight until one is clearly the alpha. One thing to be careful of if you get more than a few pigs in the future: if you put 1 new pig in with a group that already know each other, they will all pick on the new pig and may even wind up killing it. As I’m sure you know, pigs are omnivores and not squeamish about cannibalism.
I appreciate the tip.
Yeah, pigs may be “social” but they’re also vicious as all get out. I watched a documentary on pig farming where they discussed that raising the pigs in social pens as opposed to those really narrow stalls is actually LESS humane because the pigs savage each other and it leads to all kinds of medical problems and infections and so fort.
Our pigs seem to have worked out their differences, for now at least.
Tom – Each year my husband and I get a pig from my best friends farm here in MD. They raise several each year but not for commercial sale. Their boys are in 4H and show the pigs before they go to slaughter. I recommend you get a freezer and keep one whole one for the family. The meat is unmatched to anything you can get in the store (with a good local butcher). We get bone in rib chops, spare ribs, ground pork, different types of sausages, bacon, ham and several roasts. We also get the hocks, the skin, the liver and kidneys and all that stuff. If the family is squeamish for that stuff the dogs will sure love it !!! The pig lasts a full year. We haven’t bought pork at the grocery store in many years now.
Thanks, Tammy. I suspected one hog would be more than enough to stock our freezer.
I remember reading that at medieval times people actually rented pigs from pig growers to do the job of digging on a kitchen garden land after a crop was harvested. So land was tilted and fertilized at the same time.I hope pigs also found some tasty bits of a harvest leftovers in a process of conditioning the land.
These pigs are definitely tilling the soil in their pen — in fact, we’re going to get more fencing soon and give them a pig run so they can till more of the land for us.
Tom – Each year my husband and I get a pig from my best friends farm here in MD. They raise several each year but not for commercial sale. Their boys are in 4H and show the pigs before they go to slaughter. I recommend you get a freezer and keep one whole one for the family. The meat is unmatched to anything you can get in the store (with a good local butcher). We get bone in rib chops, spare ribs, ground pork, different types of sausages, bacon, ham and several roasts. We also get the hocks, the skin, the liver and kidneys and all that stuff. If the family is squeamish for that stuff the dogs will sure love it !!! The pig lasts a full year. We haven’t bought pork at the grocery store in many years now.
Thanks, Tammy. I suspected one hog would be more than enough to stock our freezer.
I remember reading that at medieval times people actually rented pigs from pig growers to do the job of digging on a kitchen garden land after a crop was harvested. So land was tilted and fertilized at the same time.I hope pigs also found some tasty bits of a harvest leftovers in a process of conditioning the land.
These pigs are definitely tilling the soil in their pen — in fact, we’re going to get more fencing soon and give them a pig run so they can till more of the land for us.
Just think of all the home rendered lard and homemade pork rinds!
Most definitely.
Tom.
You should check out this web site.
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/
They raise pigs on pasture and sell several each week to be butchered.
Then they deliver the meat to several stores and restaurants. A VERY
interesting site. WARNING, Walter Jeffries has LOTS of web pages, I
will guess over several hundred and they all are VERY interesting !
Enjoy, Larry
Wow, that is quite an operation.
Just think of all the home rendered lard and homemade pork rinds!
Most definitely.
Tom.
You should check out this web site.
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/
They raise pigs on pasture and sell several each week to be butchered.
Then they deliver the meat to several stores and restaurants. A VERY
interesting site. WARNING, Walter Jeffries has LOTS of web pages, I
will guess over several hundred and they all are VERY interesting !
Enjoy, Larry
Wow, that is quite an operation.
If you are growing a beard, have you considered learning to play the banjo. Since you are a musician it should come easy enough and it would fit the look. You’re in the heart of Bluegrass country, so enjoy it.
I’ll settle for upgrading my guitar skills — nothing wrong with bluegrass guitar.
If you are growing a beard, have you considered learning to play the banjo. Since you are a musician it should come easy enough and it would fit the look. You’re in the heart of Bluegrass country, so enjoy it.
I’ll settle for upgrading my guitar skills — nothing wrong with bluegrass guitar.
Oooo, I want a pig too, I am jealous. I look forward to reading future blog entries about how it goes! I just smoked a big pile of pig skin yesterday and then tossed them in the crock pot to render – – voila, smokey fat for whatever you care to fry up in a cast iron skillet. I suppose you can make pork rinds too, but the cooking fat is always my top priority. 🙂 Anyway, good luck and happy eatin’!
Thank you.
Oooo, I want a pig too, I am jealous. I look forward to reading future blog entries about how it goes! I just smoked a big pile of pig skin yesterday and then tossed them in the crock pot to render – – voila, smokey fat for whatever you care to fry up in a cast iron skillet. I suppose you can make pork rinds too, but the cooking fat is always my top priority. 🙂 Anyway, good luck and happy eatin’!
Thank you.