Well we where finally able to get the fence and the pig area expansion done. We where finally able to pick up our three feeder pigs, I know what you are thinking "three, didn't you just raise two last year?" Yes but this year we are raising a pig for a customer.
Last year we named our two pigs ham and bacon, easy enough right. This year we are drawing a blank, we have named one with floppy ears pork chop, but the other two we need help with. We would like to keep it food related. It's hard to process something called princess.
Our pigs will be in the old pen until they are trained to electric wire. Pigs are very smart and they learn to respect electric. You might think electric is inhumane, but actually it's the opposite. The electric is to keep them from rooting under the fence. Pigs have a front end loader for a snout and can really do some damage to a fence if its not electrified. It also keeps them contained so they don't get out and wreak havoc on our neighbors blueberry bushes or gardens. The only alternative is nose rings. Nose rings go against our husbandry philosophy that animals should be able to do what God created them to do in the environment He intended them to be in. Nose rings keep them from rooting, and pigs should be able to express their pigness by rooting to their hearts content, just not under the fence
