I feel like I could fairly easily write a book on how NOT to farm. The way NOT to do things. The way NOT to try and keep pigs contained, for example. And still, here I am, talking about lessons in raising pigs.
Ladies and gentlemen – if you're looking for a fencing option that will allow your pigs to escape, tramp around the pasture like crazy teenagers at their first party with alcohol and cause a large pregnant lady to run around the hillside swearing and talking to herself like a madwoman, look no further! This is the blog for you.
A thousand articles assured me that they would become trained to the hot wire fence and would respect the boundaries of the acre pasture that we oh-so-lovingly fenced in for them. Welp. They didn't.
A thousand other articles assured me that should the hot wire fail, they would most assuredly respect four strands of barbed wire. Welp. They didn't do that either.
What they did do is plow through me, my husband, said barbed wire, and said hot wire fence so that they could eat the blades of grass on the opposite side of the fence versus the blades of grass on the correct (and much safer) side of the fence. I'll just say it. The dang animals don't know what's good for them.
So as I stared at those four hams, now cut up from barbed wire, running down the pasture hill – away from me – I contemplated an early weenie roast. After all, surely I could hit them with my rifle from this far. They weren't moving fast enough to escape a well placed bullet and after all, I'm sure that a small pig would taste just as delicious as a large pig. And then I wouldn't have to haul my pregnant self down that giant hill to try and push them back on up it. Plus, how does one even try and get a pig back into a pen that has no gate and is surrounded by four strands of barbed wire and electric fence? Not easily, that's how.
Lessons in Raising Pigs
Lesson #1: Electric fence isn't foolproof. And pigs aren't cows.
Being a bovine person myself, I am familiar with the characteristics and herding traits of cow. Sal has been in this hot-wired pasture loads of times and always lovingly respects the boundaries that the wires set. What a good ‘ol girl. Pigs on the other hand, I've learned, are far less sensitive towards pleasing their human counterparts. They're like fat ‘ol bullets aimed directly at wherever you don't want them fired. Looking back on preparing for the pigs, I realize how much I relied on (and expected) the hot wire fence to be foolproof. I expected the pigs to treat it like a cow would.
I stand horribly corrected.
I know many readers have had success with electric fences. We, however, did not.
By the way, have you ever tried to herd a pig?
It's sort of like trying to give a feral cat a bath in your kitchen sink. You can image the chaos that ensued. But if you can't, I'll paint a few images for you:
– Grown, holy people swore. It's amazing how escaped and non-cooperating livestock can make the expletives slip.
– A pig squeal sounds incredible close to a human being slaughtered (or what I image that would sound like) so as we breathlessly chased them back up to their shelter, the sound echoing from the farm was similar to that of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
– I was breathing so hard running up and down the hills attempting to gather the pigs up that I swear, you could have heard the wheezing from a space shuttle headed for Mars. My heart was pounding. My adrenaline was kicked in. And all I could think about was not vomiting from exhaustion. It's hard for a big-belled Mama like myself to sprint uphill. In fact, I shouldn't say it's hard. I should say it's humanly impossible.
Lesson #2: Barbed wire isn't foolproof. And it huuuuuurts.
As easily as the pigs managed to torpedo through the barbed wire fence that we'd just spent three and a half hours putting up, I assure you, human beings do not go through quite so easily. I've got a thrashed wind breaker, cut up thighs, and tattered pair of sweatpants to attest to that truth.
Apparently I was quite naive in thinking that these animals would respect a spiky wire. They could have cared less. They forced their way right through it – cutting slashes in their back and bellies in the process. Shouldn't physical pain stop them? One would think. But it certainly didn't deter them. That blade of grass on the other side of the fence was so tempting, after all. Because it's not like they didn't have the EXACT SAME GRASS ON THIS SIDE OF THE FENCE.
Don't smile at me like that Wallace. I'm not in the mood for your shenanigans.
The Result of My Lessons
The pigs have lost their pastured privileges. As much as I'd like for them to graze the hillside, I'd like them to remain on our property, out of neighbor's orchards, and alive much more. Thus, they've been confined to a 650 square foot “Pig Pen” which was made off of their existing shelter. Because we couldn't think of another way to contain them properly, we simply sunk new fence posts and ran rails down the sides at three different heights. Unless the pigs can plow through a 4″ round post and railroad nail, they should be stuck in there pretty well. I'm just praying that they continue to mind their remaining manners and keep from rooting too deep in the soil – essentially, building a tunnel under the fence. Luckily we keep a pretty close eye on them, so we can usually spot the holes before they amount to much.
Though, let's face facts here, I've been wrong before.
On the up side, our acre of land will not be irrigated as pasture for the sheep and dairy cow. They'll make more use out of it anyway, since they are both grazers by nature. Grass is very important to them and I'm thankful to have more of it for them to munch on. Happy cow, happy farm.
As a small homesteader, the investment we've put into each animal represents a significant amount to our farm. Each of these pigs already has an initial purchasing cost and feed cost thus far and though they're far from harvest, it's still essential that we keep them alive and healthy until butchering. An escaped pig is not a safe pig and most likely won't stay alive for long out here, where coyotes and mountain lions roam freely. Containment, at this point, is for their own good. And I'm satisfied that they still have plenty of space to… ya know… do whatever it is that pigs do.
Besides run freely through the pasture like a streaker at a baseball game.
This pregnant lady can't take too many more pig-chasing-marathons.
Let's hope the madness stops here.
More posts on Pigs:
Ashley Housley
Oh I was laughing out loud! I’ve been worried the neighbors would call 911 when our pigs squeal when we try to catch them (they’ve escaped three times from their hotwire- but knock on wood- seem to be contained lately). Those pigs are really, really cute though! Glad you caught them!
Stephanie
They have to be trained to respect hotwire. Pigs, like goats, will barrel straight forward & through the pain instead of hitting reverse. We use cattle panel with hotwire inside for weeks before releasing them into hotwire only pasture. They learn to “hit reverse” and respect the fence instead of plowing forward. Very smart creatures.
Brooke
Great advice!
Cheryl
We took our gilt to be bred and the guy had electric fences…sweetpig ran right through them! It took her a couple of days before she learned not to do this. I think I will set up an electric system before I bring her home now that she has learned to respect them!
Michelle M. Losey
Yes that is how you do it! And I love watching pigs run around and play chase out in the pasture 🙂 My thoughts on reading this article were “its def operator error!”
Melissa @ York Zoo
Oh, no! Shaye, this is NOT what I wanted to hear as we finish putting up our soon-to-be hot, barbed wire fence and
just-planted pig pasture. Dear me, I sure hope we have better success keeping 9 little piggies and 1 sow in the fence! To top it off we live on a busy road! If our attempt to pasture pigs fails, my husband may never speak to me again! You know…wives and their big ideas! What height did you have your wires? Our two lowest wires are at 6 & 14 inches.
Shaye Elliott
Ha, yes. My husband contemplated the same thing 😉 We had our lowest wires LOW. They just didn’t care and ran right through them. Looks like all the tips from others say to train them to it BEFORE you release them into the pasture, if possible.
Robert
What you really need is not individual wire, but electro-net fencing from premier one. Please look into it. This is a much better option and is portable, moveable in about 10-15 minutes. Works very well for pigs, way better than individual tape or wires, but I would still recommend training them on it, i.e., using it within the confines of another fence until they get the idea.
Sharon
You have to put up a temporary and pretty strong physical barrier outside the electric fence before you put them on just electric fence. They’ll learn to respect the fence and then you won’t have a problem. In fact, when we opened a gate, our 400 lb boar wouldn’t walk through an area where the fence had been because he was so afraid of it!
Claire @ Finn Meadows Farm
If you want to put pigs on pasture, you have to make sure you buy pigs that have been trained to electric fence 🙂 We have had similar experiences, except we’re in the suburbs, and a 300 pound boar running around giant McMansion neighborhoods is even MORE terrifying that having them loose on your farm alone. If you want to put them on pasture eventually, set up your electrics strands in the enclosure where they are now. Keep them hot. Let the pigs learn how electric strands work before you put them on pasture! Still, it might not work perfectly, but they will at least know what electric is. I really highly suggest the pig netting from Premier One – works like a charm! Best wishes.
Emily
I feel for you, I really, really do. I have raised pigs two years now. We have had good luck with electric fences, but when it came time to butcher (the first year) we had so much trouble getting them where we wanted them to go! They were out on pasture and we had to get them into the barn (which was quite close). There were five adults chasing two pigs around and around the barn, and all over the property. It is nearly impossible to get a pig to do what you want it to. The neighbours would have had a lot of entertainment if they had been watching! Thankfully it was dark:)
That being said, I really enjoy raising pigs and am excited to get them again this year.
Crystal
We train our pigs to follow us if we are holding a bread bag, they love bread! A loaf of bread being shaken at them in the bag brings them all directly to us. Good luck.
Ian Reilly
Not sure if you are looking for some tips, but.. In their new paddock you need to wire the bottom, just like you would in the pasture. It is even good to have a wire running across, with food on one side and them on the other. It just takes a few times crossing the wire for them to respect it. You also need to get it low enough so that it hits their nose. If it hits too high and behind their ears it will cause them to bolt forward.
The electric wire is a psychological barrier. While they are learning to respect it they need a physical barrier to stop them.
All that is keeping my pigs in is 2 strands of wire at about 8 and 15 inches.
We’ve been there and done that with chasing pigs around, before we had ours trained too, or when we saw that they can climb or move gates.
Good luck and happy farming!
Helen
Oh my, I am so sorry! I have so many stories I can tell about pigs escaping. Our first two bolted as soon as we got home with them and were seen running about for almost a week before we got them contained. We were the talk of all the neighbors! We have found that you have to fence train them. We use the electric netting and line the inside of their small pen with it. They learn to respect it fairly quickly. They also need to be fairly big too — otherwise they run right through it. Ask me how I know.
Shaye Elliott
Ha!
Elisa
Hi Shaye,
I have been reading your blog for about a year and really enjoy your attempts at humor during farm disasters. 🙂 That being said, nothing is as stressful as an escaped pig. Have you looked into hog panels? They can be mounted with T-posts and we used them for small rotated pastures for our pigs last year. Here is a link to what they look like: http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/feedlot-panel-hog-16-ft-l-x-34-in-h?cm_vc=-10005 I was told nothing else would keep pigs in their mini pasture and I am so glad we went with these. They still escaped a couple times during pen transfers but couldn’t break out. Maybe you could set up a small area for them to graze and root near the “pig pen” with these? We scored ours and a bunch of T-posts on Craig’s List for a swinging deal. Best of luck!
-Elisa
Shaye Elliott
Thanks for the tip, Elisa!
Lorri
I could visualize every bit of your story! Mostly because we had to do it! I still feel sad that my pig is in piggy jail, but it’s better than the freezer (where the other one ended up)! I hope they stay safe and content, for your sakes 🙂
Kate Schat
We found that page wire was foolproof for us…until we decided tO breed and got a boar. Everytime we rented a boar the pigs were always getting out.
Emma
Just in case you thought you were alone, here is a blog post describing our first pig adventure http://95acresofsky.fernwoodfarm.ca/piggles/ which involved a lot of running and a LOT of swearing. Since then we’ve raised 8 pigs for slaughter and currently have a breeding pair and 3 piglets on the go, it does get easier. What we now do is keep the piglets inside for about a week, getting them used to where their food is and getting them settled, then we train them to the fence. We’ve done this with a hot wire against a page wire fence (not foolproof but it can work out if the fence is tight enough) and we’ve also just released them into the electric fenced area too. We’ve found the latter to the be the easier route. Once they get the idea that their food is nearby they won’t stray too far. We also use 4 strands of electric not just one and we make sure the fence is running at the highest voltage possible so that it’s enough to give them a sting when they touch it. Piglets will often shoot forward instead of back when they get a shock making it likely they’ll go through electric. Several strands also has the advantage of being more visible for them so that they can learn to respect the boundary. Get them settled in first (with lots of yummy milk!) and they will soon be very trustworthy : )
Marie
Electric wire works great IF you train them to it before turning them out in a large area. Run a strand snout height around the small pen they are in now, let them figure it out for a week or two, then let them out on pasture. Not that you probably ever want to try that again 🙂 But it’s worth it, my pigs are 100% grass fed right now, the clover and grass is booming and they are fat and healthy, plus them frolicking and nibbling clover is adorable. As pig feed is $20 a hundredweight it’s worth it. Oh, and build a gate first 🙂
Amanda
Oh, my. Your story brings me back to childhood in such a good way! My brother and I once accidentally let two of our young pigs out of thier pen and my Dad had to wade waist deep into a manure pile to keep them from drowning in it – we thought it was hilarous – he did not. Keep up the good work. Bacon is SOOOOO worth it!!!
Michelle
Please give us an update, when the piggies have been in their area for a while, I am insanely curious if they will “stink”, or if that smell is more of a result of TEENSY space and different feeds….
Shaye Elliott
I will – right now, they don’t smell at all.
Ashley Browning
Welcome to my world! Some of ours respect it, others do not. So we use hog panels and rotate them manually every few weeks. Hard work but the only thing that works for us. I feel your pain. So frustrating! And the squealing…oh how terrible to hear!
Jess
Just keep your eyes on the prize …there’s BACON at the finish line 🙂
Shaye Elliott
True dat!
Erin @ Blue Yurt Farms
Oh man. Chasing ANY animal is stressful…but pigs are a force. And why is it always up a hill or through insanely thick thorny brambles? Sigh.
We trained our pigs to electric using a REALLY high powered solar charger while they were still enclosed by permanent fence. Then we let them out into their expanded electric only paddock. Well. Sure, they knew what the electric was…but we had placed those wires too high (even though it SEEMED low enough).
Luckily our loose pigs just headed to under the yurt and were fairly easy to herd back with two humans and two pig hating dogs coming after them. And we didn’t have barbed wire to contend with. As a farm girl growing up in Texas, I learned to hate that stuff…it’s 100% banned here. Just not worth it!
So on to our solution. Our lowest wire had to be dropped to it was almost hitting the ground so they’d hit it when rooting about. That was the problem before. It was snout height when they were looking straight, but when they were grazing/rooting, it hit their foreheads…they’d get zapped and then it was all forward movement from there.
But everyone has a different experience! Your new pig paddock should work great as long as you balance out the pig manure/mud with lots of straw, etc. Pig smell is not appealing. Looking forward to the next update! 🙂
Sarah Davis
We made a ‘paddock’ out of t-posts, pig panels, and radiator hose clamps (3 on each post). I showed pigs for 7 years and we never had one get through or under the fence 🙂
Shaye Elliott
Lucky!!!
Toni
I really enjoyed reading your pig adventures! We just picked up two porkers this past weekend – our first ever. It’s a big learning curve. Hope you have them contained.
jean in virginia
We’ve used hog panels, but we lost one pig last year to a bear.
He got out, didn’t think we’d see him again (we live at the edge of the world, betcha didn’t know there was one of those in Virginia, did ya?) and showed up 4 days later with major ham damage including still visible claw marks in the meat.
And gangrene. Did not go to freezer camp, just went away. (By the way, a 22 is much better than the 9 mm that I used as it was handy. Hey, it’ll work the same! Nope. Not as good. Just so y’all know.)
Katrina
Oh my goodness – I can picture it all! Sorry to be laughing, but so glad it wasn’t me!
We raised 2 Tams last year and (thankfully) didn’t have any issues. I know what you mean about the investment – not just the piglets and the feed, but the time and the preparation of the pens, etc.
We just picked up two piglets last week (gilts this time – to see if there is any difference in feed conversion, temperament, etc. than with the boars) and those gals look like trouble. We shall see.
jerri
I laughed out loud when I read your story. And I can feel your pain we too have had escaped pigs. We did fortunately train them to follow a feed bucket . Even my tiny 4’10” Mother could get our huge Duroc boar to follow her like a puppy back to the enclosure. I hope the escapades have ended.
Monte Turner
I really like these types of stories. So, in about 2 years hopefully I’ll remember about the pig chasing pregnant woman, wheezing up the hill. Just so you know I read that in the voice of an out of breath pregnant woman, that is really angry. Hopefully, I’ll ‘earn from your adventures. Love the blog.
Paige
Ditto to the training to the wire. If possible NEVER let a pig near an electric fence if it’s not hot, particularly if it’s not hot. They’re smart and will learn they can get right through it if they deal with the pain.
Also, they’re very easy to socialize and will quickly learn that people mean treats. Using a can and shaking it is an easy way to lure them into another part of a field or into a pig chute for loading in a trailer–especially if it’s been a while since they’ve had a treats. Animals don’t like going uphill for some reason. And the temptation of a treat always seems to work better than herding!
Best of luck!
Linda Nicholas
This made me laugh so hard!!! I too have experiences of chasing pigs. I used to say all my animals like to chase cars! they would always head for the highway! it was a rural highway but still we spent many times with traffic backed up waiting patiently for us to get the pigs or the cow off the road!
You do NOT herd pigs, you persuade them; that this is what they want to do.
To everyone who keeps pigs!! bright blessings! I learned to love pigs! They taught me the value of life and the huge debt that we own them for being a food source for us!
one of my great loves in all my life was a 900 lb spotted sow named Baby, she loved to have her picture taken and bolt to the fence when passing cars/tourist stopped to marvel at her!
Shane
Haha so funny. But really pigs will stay in electric fencing they just have to be trained to it first. I raise pigs in a two strand electric fence with no problems.
Lindsay
We’ve had good luck with solar-powered portable hot fencing. But, that being said, before we even started, I read somewhere that pigs are different from other livestock in that they’ll charge a shock rather than back away at first. Sure enough, when we get our little piglets and they hit the fence, they go right through. After some very hilarious (not at the time) pursuits around our little 2 acre secondary fence, we know to expect it and I think the next batch of piglets will start in a very small holding pen with electric around it to get them trained to the shock.
As for digging out under the fences, well, our pigs decided to dig under our electric and chain-link fence. They carved out a pond bank back so far we’re going to have to bring a truck of dirt in to fix it.
Every year we say that pigs are SO much work, but when the freezer is full, it isn’t so bad in hindsight 🙂
Charity
I’ve only recently discovered your blog, but you have most definitely become my absolute favorite! I love your humor, your transparency, your spirit and attitude, and your beautiful photos! Not to mention the wealth of realistic knowledge and advice that you offer to a “dreaming of owning a homestead” girl like myself. I can’t wait to order your cookbook, and I look forward to following your homesteading journey:)
Joyce
This made me chuckle. I am on my second year of pigs, my SO has done it for several. These little cuties are VERY destructive and stubborn! I learned rather quickly why hog panels are a necessity.
Claudia
Loved reading your piggy story! I’ve just had my two Meishan Pigs for a month. And I’m hooked. Originally I bought them to work my garden that only work for a day. Now, they have worked the chicken yard (over and over) and now they are working on the Alpacas pen (which they have decided that will be home from now on.) Got to love them though now it is getting close to butchering time. Which leads me to my reason for my comment. What age is best to butcher? Pete and Re Pete are about 8 or 9 months. Anyone?
Shaye Elliott
I think it totally depends on what you’re going for (example, the amount of fat) and how fast they grow!
Claudia
ok thank you, sorry it has taking me so long to respond but I have a new problem. I’m thinking pigs are not for me. I have one that has lost his appetite. Can’t get him to eat anything and I have tried everything. From different grains to eggs and milk. No dice, I have gotten some electrolytes down him and that seems to perk him up enough to go to corner and do his business. If you have any suggestions? He has been down for about a week now.
Carm
I’m not the only one…whew!
Mine? Wasn’t even fed once at his new home. Taking his sister out of the wooden crate, he decided it sounded scary. Jumped up outta the crate, down out of the back of my car (yes car) and went on a 4 day adventure. 4 days!
Persuade not round up..true words. Hank is happily jumping and running inside the pen now with his sister Charlie.. and next June I’ll use a dog crate for transport. .or a lid on a wooden one.
Dean
Interesting and funny, I’m sure it happened too, been there, done that. Here is what I learned.
1. Teach them in a small escape-proof pen first what electric fence looks like and let them get the full jolt of it as many times as they need before moving them on to bigger pastures.
2. Never chase a pig to herd it or them. Grab your feed bucket or dinner bell and Call them in. Works “every” time. 😉
Enjoy! Loved your story, it brought back memories!
miraclemant
I am about to enclose about 2 acres for my 3 gilts and 1 boar. But before I do, I went and dug out my old (working) fence charger, to see what Joule rating it has. none stated. So then I went online and looked up the Joule rating for my charger, it is only 1.5 joules NOT ENOUGH….. So guess I will be buying a new charger rated at 6.0 Joules ($150 online), that way, I know they will get a really good jolt if they touch the hot wire, and hopefully it will be more of a deterrent to stay put.
On another note, I grew up with a dairy farm on both sides of us. The one dairy farm to the south, had a prize Holstein cow that kept walking thru electric fencing to get at the field peas next door, so after about 2 weeks of having to chase his prize cow back across the property line, and repair the fence. our neighbor got totally fed up with it. so….. one night he hot-wired the fence directly to 120 volts. and cured the cow of walking thru the electric fence line….. PERMANENTLY……
Cynthia
You had me at plow. My daughter has shown pigs since she was 7 (she’s 16 now) and we’ve chased our share of pigs, and this year for the first time ever, I got to chase a lamb (please don’t be fooled by the word. the beast was about as tall as me, heavier and a hell of a lot faster) and chased this lamb down a highway, through several neighborhoods, back up the highway and finally tackled the damn thing in a thicket of thorns. My daughter is a cross country runner. I. Am. Not. It was only my love for my girl and the $300 that were now hoofing it over the hill on Hwy 90 that kept me going. When the police showed up (yes, they were summoned, probably because of the crazy lady who was running across two lanes of highway traffic chasing a lamb OR because someone saw a middle age women with twigs in her hair tackle a screaming lamb) they really didn’t believe my daughter that her mother had her lamb in a headlock in said thicket. When they did finally find me I don’t know if my deranged look frightened them more than me yelling at them ‘well don’t just STAND there!’. Chasing livestock always leads to a great story, even if with every step you seriously consider just putting a bullet in them and having them for dinner. Stupid lamb is still here. He didn’t even go to the stock show after all. Sigh.
Vicky
Okay, this was hilarious as fuck to read. You are hilarious…and your pigs are asdholes, like they all are. Lolz i raised one pig for meat and loved it and he was delicious, i don’t have much experience but i can say, the uprooting part, our pig had nose rings in his nose. It helped with him not totally destroying his pen/dig underneath it. His fence….was pretty much needing to be replaced when we killed him but it lasted a year of jus regular farm fencing. The rectangular stuff. Sorry, I’m not good at names of things. I guess a lot and jus rename stuff lolz but that should help with the uprooting. Anx they do have actual hog wire fence…it’s not cheap however (i woulda had it long before if i bad more money..darrnit, where’s that winning lotto ticket at lolz) so maybe that would also help..cementing in the ground, while unpleasant looking, it works too. Also, don’t work too hard, your a mama to be (or already a mama, not sure how old I’m seeing this blog at lolz)
Erin F
What a good visual you gave! I was cracking up reading this! We have just started looking into raising pigs and there’s so much (as with any animal) to read up on. Some things say “they’re as easy as chickens..”. I’m finding out there’s a little more to raising pigs then changing their water and feeding. Thanks for the advice. This article was great!
Rachael Rasey
Thanks for sharing!!!! I was cracking up reading this as I was imagining it all unfold.
Sharla
I have to say we are new at this Homesteading thing but if every blog was this Fun to read! I was laughing so hard my poor husband was trying to figure out what was wrong with me!!! lol I will be keeping up with your Blog!!!
Shaye Elliott
Glad to have you here!
Tamara hampton
Just know you are not alone! I laughed so hard coffee came out my nose! We chase pigs weekly here but they are all very food motivated and know I represent food, so I just have to lead them back in as the guys fix the latest hole. I learned the hard way not to fall… I slipped in the mud at the gate one day, had a mama pig and 9 babies run straight over me to get to the bucket of feed that went flying when I fell!
Claudia
Yep, and when you think you have a secure fence, with hot wire all round the inside, they still manage to dig and cover the Hotwire, so making it short. Then dig under the fence. Our pig pen has had ply and corrugated iron put in the gaps to fill up the holes… and they have still started to dig out the corner posts. Big pigs not so much a problem, as they will stay in a paddock, and are too big to go through the fences. But the little ones always find a way out. Next time floor will be concrete so no digging!
Cathy
We had two pigs we called the “Houdini Sisters”
Amazingly they wouldn’t cross back over the fence unless it was covered. REALLY!
Diane
So funny! Brought back memories…. As my brother and I got off the school bus one day, we found out the sows were starting to have their piglets in the woods and ravine. Off we went–trying to get them up and headed to the barn in the midst of birthing. Well, you can imagine!
Kari
I know it’s been a while since this posting was written, but it’s a very entertaining read! Not many preggos would go chasing after a pig! Impressed! I’m hoping that when butcher day came, the eating was Devine! All that hard work. Excited to read more of what you have written. Thanks!
Shelby DeVore
Shaye,
We have pigs on our farm as well. I love our pigs, especially our big girl, Lucille. I’m the ag. teacher at our local high school. Last year, the ag students did a loaves and fishes drive. In order to get more items donated, we turned it into a kiss the pig contest. Students voted on three teachers/administrators that would be eligible to kiss the pig at the end of the week. The kids used nonperishable food items to vote for the winner of the contest. At the end of the week, our assistant principal ‘won’ and had to kiss the pig. So I took our big sow Lucille up to our high school gym so that he could kiss her. She is extremely sweet and of course curious, so she decided that she wanted to check out the kids that were sitting in the bleachers in the gym. At this point, Lucille weighed about 425 lbs. Nothing beats a massive sow trying to make friends with kids that have never seen a live pig before! Great post about what NOT to do! I’ve definitely been there chasing hogs around our neighborhood before!