ohiofarmgirl
Sipping Bacon Martinis
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oh no!! did he ever come back!??!?
Free's piggie thread...new pics p 19
- Thread starter freemotion
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- #162
freemotion
Food Guru
Yes, but he was cranky ever after! 
- Thread starter
- #163
freemotion
Food Guru
Wow, almost four weeks later and them pigs are growing! I don't go in with them anymore. It has become challenging when they flip their water tub....I have to come up with a solution. I need to get to the tubs. Maybe something like a shepherd's hook to reach them (the tubs) through the fencing....or somehow secure them to the fence so they cannot be flipped. The pigs still nap in the bigger tub to cool off.
It has been so hot this summer, I finally got smart and secured the hose to the top of the fencing and leave it on, turning the water on at the spigot several hundred feet away from their pen, then strolling over there, communing with my goats and hens and turkeys while a mud wallow is replenished. Then I feed them by tossing whatever they are eating that day over the fence and onto the ground, and if I have whey or some other liquid, I can usually get a small tub near the fence and fill it from the outside while they greedily slurp it up.
They have been running into me and touching my legs with their snouts for some time, especially Bacon, the spotted girl pig. In the past 2-3 weeks or so, she has been...um...tasting my legs. It really creeps me out. This week, I reached in through the fence to right the small feed tub and I felt Porkchop's teeth on the back of my hand. He didn't leave a mark, but it was unmistakable.
I still think they see two skinny legs with feet and think that is all there is to me, that I am tiny and inconsequential and I need to deliver more goodies, and fast!
I tried using a stout stick to drive them back, and that worked for a few days. Then it didn't work at all. They shove and fight for food and the stick was nothing compared to what they do to each other, even flipping each other over at times. I don't want to get flipped over....
I'm thinking of making a "pig mover" out of a sheet of light plywood with handles so that my low profile is much bigger to them. And backing it up with a cattle prod. It is only August, and December is a long ways off. I don't think I can avoid going into their pen for 3-4 months! And what if they escape again? Yikes!
Will I get piglets again next year? At this point, my answer is a resounding YES! This is a challenge to figure out and overcome. I have been researching sausage casings and will get a sausage stuffer attachment for my stand mixer and practice making hotdogs, pepperoni, sausage, etc., so I will be ready for the big day!
It has been so hot this summer, I finally got smart and secured the hose to the top of the fencing and leave it on, turning the water on at the spigot several hundred feet away from their pen, then strolling over there, communing with my goats and hens and turkeys while a mud wallow is replenished. Then I feed them by tossing whatever they are eating that day over the fence and onto the ground, and if I have whey or some other liquid, I can usually get a small tub near the fence and fill it from the outside while they greedily slurp it up.
They have been running into me and touching my legs with their snouts for some time, especially Bacon, the spotted girl pig. In the past 2-3 weeks or so, she has been...um...tasting my legs. It really creeps me out. This week, I reached in through the fence to right the small feed tub and I felt Porkchop's teeth on the back of my hand. He didn't leave a mark, but it was unmistakable.
I still think they see two skinny legs with feet and think that is all there is to me, that I am tiny and inconsequential and I need to deliver more goodies, and fast!
I tried using a stout stick to drive them back, and that worked for a few days. Then it didn't work at all. They shove and fight for food and the stick was nothing compared to what they do to each other, even flipping each other over at times. I don't want to get flipped over....
I'm thinking of making a "pig mover" out of a sheet of light plywood with handles so that my low profile is much bigger to them. And backing it up with a cattle prod. It is only August, and December is a long ways off. I don't think I can avoid going into their pen for 3-4 months! And what if they escape again? Yikes!
Will I get piglets again next year? At this point, my answer is a resounding YES! This is a challenge to figure out and overcome. I have been researching sausage casings and will get a sausage stuffer attachment for my stand mixer and practice making hotdogs, pepperoni, sausage, etc., so I will be ready for the big day!
- Thread starter
- #164
freemotion
Food Guru
With the garden starting to come in, I have also been saving on feed costs. They get lots of zuchinni guts! And lots of peelings and trimmings, whatever we have. Lots of whey from cheesemaking. That really fills them up.
A few days ago, the green acorns started dropping, many with squirrel teeth marks on them. Their appetite reduced at the same time, so they must be eating the drops from the half dozen oak trees that overhang or are in their pasture.
There is one gigantic oak in the middle of my pasture and in good acorn years, Te'a, one of my fat pigmy-cross goaties, will get sick from eating too many. So I have been patrolling underneath that tree daily and picking up a handful or two and tossing them into the pig pasture.
Today I had to race five of the goats for almost-full-size green acorns and got at least two pounds for the piggies! They were not interested in their evening meal today, due to extra whey (made mozzarella today) and lots of acorns. I love free food!
A few days ago, the green acorns started dropping, many with squirrel teeth marks on them. Their appetite reduced at the same time, so they must be eating the drops from the half dozen oak trees that overhang or are in their pasture.
There is one gigantic oak in the middle of my pasture and in good acorn years, Te'a, one of my fat pigmy-cross goaties, will get sick from eating too many. So I have been patrolling underneath that tree daily and picking up a handful or two and tossing them into the pig pasture.
Today I had to race five of the goats for almost-full-size green acorns and got at least two pounds for the piggies! They were not interested in their evening meal today, due to extra whey (made mozzarella today) and lots of acorns. I love free food!
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
Free food is definitely great! We get lots of acorns too, but most of my critters don't care for them. Sometimes I break them open and into small pieces and then some of the chickens will eat them. One year I collected them and it ended up that they had some kind of maggot in them. The chickens and the lizards liked those, those ended up being a good thing that year.
ohiofarmgirl
Sipping Bacon Martinis
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hang in there, baby!
but dont take any chances - make sure you are safe and always have some kind of stick when you go near them. the dogs have been going with me to throw the weeds to the pigs. Dog#1 would love to get him a bit of that big pig.. just one bite. and that pig would love to get a bite of me!
;-)
and if they get on your nerves, remember that the first year i called Bourbon Red and BEGGED him to come and kill these horrible pigs. that was only september and he wouldnt! he said to wait - and of course he was right. but that's when i realized i'd never love them pigs. ever.
focus on the bacon.
but dont take any chances - make sure you are safe and always have some kind of stick when you go near them. the dogs have been going with me to throw the weeds to the pigs. Dog#1 would love to get him a bit of that big pig.. just one bite. and that pig would love to get a bite of me!
;-)
and if they get on your nerves, remember that the first year i called Bourbon Red and BEGGED him to come and kill these horrible pigs. that was only september and he wouldnt! he said to wait - and of course he was right. but that's when i realized i'd never love them pigs. ever.
focus on the bacon.
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
That sounds like good advice. Real bacon is certainly something to look forward too, made without stuff we can't pronounce
Yummy, REAL bacon....
Heck anything pig, is good eatin' , 'cept I don't know about pigs' feet. Never had those. My dog likes the ear
- Thread starter
- #168
freemotion
Food Guru
I plan to "become one" with the bacon!
justusnak
Almost Self-Reliant
Just be very carefull out there with them piggies. Last year our two were the meanest one we have had. I tried to tame them as piglets, scratching them, talking softly to them...didn't work! I had to get in there with those darned hogs one day...they had picked up some sort of lice, and I needed to spray them. Well, the biggest gal came runnning to me. Stupid me...I thought " awww, she loves me and wants scratching" NOPE! Oh, she loved me alright...she latched on to my knee cap and wouldn't let go!!!! I had to knock her in the head with a 2x4 several times before she finally let go. She didn't break the skin...but I was bruised, and very sore! Getting them off to the butcher was the BEST day of my pig raiseing.
ohiofarmgirl
Sipping Bacon Martinis
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hee hee hee nope, she don't love you that is for sure.
has any/everyone seen Deadwood (the cable series)? the bad guys throw the murder victims to the pigs. eeek! btw - my fav character is (Calamity) Jane. my hubby said - hey look its YOU? oh ha ha ha
anyway. yep. butcher day is the best day of pig raising.
Bourbon Red uses the trotters to make stock, but i cant bring myself to do it.
