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frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
I have piggies!!! And I am exhausted! I haven't worked this hard in months... but it's a good tired.
The babies are the cutest things I've seen in a long time! OMG! And the sow is really tolerant of me, or she was really tired from the ride. They had her loaded in a crate in the back of their truck when I got there so it was simple enough to back up to their truck, open both tailgates and 'invite' her to move from their crate to my crate and VOILA! Easy peasy! I put the babies in a small dog crate, money exchanged hands, and I was on the road in about 15 minutes.
I get home and backed up to her pen. I pulled about 8 hay bales out of the barn and stack them in layers right under and behind my tailgate. I open the tailgate and the door to her pen, took the crate with her babies and sat them on the ground fully expecting her to follow and nope, nothing, not gonna move... So, I get some grain... she's not hungry. I pick up the babies so they'll squeal... she barely looks up. What the heck am I gonna do now?
I grab a rope and put it around her neck. Did that work? Let me just say that she's got a real fat neck and a real pointy head, lol. Rope slips right off. So, I loop it around her butt and pull and whaddya know - she moves about 2 inches. Not under her own power of course - it was all me. By now I'm getting pretty annoyed and even my neighbors know it... So, I crawl up in that cage with her and start shoving. I pushed her out of the cage, she never stands up.... I get her shoved onto the tailgate...she's just laying there. By now I'm thinking this pig is gonna die or something...she doesn't get upset, she doesn't stand up, she just lays there... So I shoved her off of the tailgate and she plops down on a hay bale just as pretty as you please. But does she move - nope. So, I shoved her down on to the next layer of hay bales - does she move - nope! By now I'm huffing and puffing and getting more annoyed by the minute when Her Highness finally gets up and hops off the last hay bale just like it was her idea.
From there I got her herded right into her pen and she goes and lays down in the shade. I get all the hay bales back in the barn when I turn around and one of the little piglets is out of the pen running around. Now, their pen is a pen inside a pen - so he's not really loose or in any danger - but he's not where I put him. This pen is made out of 4x4 cattle panels and these little critters can walk right through it. I spent the rest of my day re-doing their pen and a couple others. I pulled down all the hog panels that I could find in other areas and moved them into the new pig pen. Little stinker can't get through those. I got 3/4 of the pen done and by now it's pitch dark.... so I quit.
I came inside.
I got a beer.
Made a plate...had short ribs in the crock pot -yum!.
And here I am.
Tired, exhausted, dirty, (not hungry anymore) and about to just veg for an hour or so.
I'll get pics up at some point.
Happy Friday ya'll.
The babies are the cutest things I've seen in a long time! OMG! And the sow is really tolerant of me, or she was really tired from the ride. They had her loaded in a crate in the back of their truck when I got there so it was simple enough to back up to their truck, open both tailgates and 'invite' her to move from their crate to my crate and VOILA! Easy peasy! I put the babies in a small dog crate, money exchanged hands, and I was on the road in about 15 minutes.
I get home and backed up to her pen. I pulled about 8 hay bales out of the barn and stack them in layers right under and behind my tailgate. I open the tailgate and the door to her pen, took the crate with her babies and sat them on the ground fully expecting her to follow and nope, nothing, not gonna move... So, I get some grain... she's not hungry. I pick up the babies so they'll squeal... she barely looks up. What the heck am I gonna do now?
I grab a rope and put it around her neck. Did that work? Let me just say that she's got a real fat neck and a real pointy head, lol. Rope slips right off. So, I loop it around her butt and pull and whaddya know - she moves about 2 inches. Not under her own power of course - it was all me. By now I'm getting pretty annoyed and even my neighbors know it... So, I crawl up in that cage with her and start shoving. I pushed her out of the cage, she never stands up.... I get her shoved onto the tailgate...she's just laying there. By now I'm thinking this pig is gonna die or something...she doesn't get upset, she doesn't stand up, she just lays there... So I shoved her off of the tailgate and she plops down on a hay bale just as pretty as you please. But does she move - nope. So, I shoved her down on to the next layer of hay bales - does she move - nope! By now I'm huffing and puffing and getting more annoyed by the minute when Her Highness finally gets up and hops off the last hay bale just like it was her idea.
From there I got her herded right into her pen and she goes and lays down in the shade. I get all the hay bales back in the barn when I turn around and one of the little piglets is out of the pen running around. Now, their pen is a pen inside a pen - so he's not really loose or in any danger - but he's not where I put him. This pen is made out of 4x4 cattle panels and these little critters can walk right through it. I spent the rest of my day re-doing their pen and a couple others. I pulled down all the hog panels that I could find in other areas and moved them into the new pig pen. Little stinker can't get through those. I got 3/4 of the pen done and by now it's pitch dark.... so I quit.
I came inside.
I got a beer.
Made a plate...had short ribs in the crock pot -yum!.
And here I am.
Tired, exhausted, dirty, (not hungry anymore) and about to just veg for an hour or so.
I'll get pics up at some point.
Happy Friday ya'll.
Last edited:
Betcha didn't ask how they loaded it.
