Red Wattle piglets, Part 2

[catherine]

Ok, here we go, one more time with feeling! Please, pray for us?! lol. We've got two 7 week old pure Red Wattle gilts, and two 2-3 month old RW boars (one of them freezer bound) due to arrive in our pasture next Sunday. We couldn't find a RW boar to use on our crossbred gilts last time, so, since the only place we could find replacement Red Wattles was from Five Ponds Farm in Missouri (http://www.fivepondsfarm.com/), AND we had the opportunity to buy replacement stock, we jumped at the chance to get everyone at once! Collection has been an issue for us since we don't yet have a truck, but someone else is travelling up to Five Ponds Farm (about 12 hours north from us), and we're going to "piggy back" ( ) our little herd onto her 32' trailer. That means we just have to travel about 3 hours over to her place to collect our new babies.

So, we're busy building a much stronger initial training pen this weekend. We're using hog wire and T-posts to build a pair of pens against one wall of the Cow Barn, thinking that eventually they'll become farrowing pens. We'll train the piglets to electric fencing while they are in the new pens, and get busy running high tensile wire in a permanent fence around the pasture, itself...or at least that's our thinking at the moment Then, we can move the pigs around the pasture in our electified poultry netting pens, like before. Does anyone have any better ideas for controlling and moving pigs, while protecting them from roaming wild boars? Since our last two gilts were fine for 8 months until they went into heat without benefit of a resident boar, and seem to have been broken out of their electrified poultry netting pen by something BIG going INTO their pen, AND the fact that there was no blood or gore left in their passing, we're assuming that a wild boar sprang them loose and lured them away... . With better perimeter fencing and a resident boyfriend, we're hoping to avoid a recurrence of that problem by keeping everyone happy here at home . Any and all input is most welcome, as always! Also, if anyone is interested in Red Wattle piglets, do check in with us come next summer. We may be up to our eyebrows in piglets by that point! lol. ;D

[Mitra]

Excellent! Please don't make me beg for pictures of these new babes. After the six-hour roundtrip drive, just sit down and post some, ok?
I sure wish those other gals would come back. In my fantasy, they come back to farrow "at home".

[catherine]

Lol. Yep, that's your fantasy, and mine too! A neighbor up the street, who is a retired butcher that I keep trying to talk into teaching us how to slaughter and break down our own animals (Just fyi...he can't imagine WHY on earth I would want to do that, much less have my children present! Hahaha. We homeschool, and it seems to me that home butchering would be a MUCH more memorable and practical way to learn dissection and physiology than with a formaldehyde preserved fetal piglet, like I had back in school!) asked me what I'd do if the girls came home pregnant? I said I'd be thrilled beyond belief, and then I'd let them farrow and raise their babies before putting the lot of them in the freezer! Well, here's hoping it happens!

You know what else I'd do with a pair of those wild bred piglets? I'd give them to Liz in Conroe. Bless her heart, her DH told me the other day that their outdoor freezer had unexpedtedly died and they'd lost 150 lbs. from their last pig! Oh wow. It sure made me wish we had a couple of piglets to give them now, to help replace their loss. Well, maybe next summer we can help. We'll see!

[catherine]

Well, we got our little 5'x10' trailer retrofitted with cattle panels and lined with hay bales so we can head off in the morning to pick up our 4 little piggies! My DH was actually impressed that it all came together so nicely, as did the new pig pen. We're all so excited, and nervous...and determined not to lose any pigs this time around! A lady who lives just over the border into Louisiana from Texas was picking up 4 sheep from the same farm that raised our piglets, and they didn't come close to filling her 32' trailer. So, she's happy to have us contribute some money towards her gas cost, and were happy we don't have to drive 12 hours each way to Missouri! Win/win! She's lives "only" 3 hours of our farm...which is still a healthy drive, but WAY closer than driving to Missouri! She dropped us a text message this morning to let us know that the piglets were loaded up, and that they are SOOO CUTE! Apparently loading them was a snap as they'll do anything for a stale Krispy Kreme! OMG...piglets with a junk food habit! They are being a bad influence on my kids, already, as the kids now want to stop by and collect fresh donuts in the morning, and save the ones that don't get eaten as treats for the piglets! Ya RIGHT. I don't THINK so! LOL.

Yes, Yes Mitra...I promise to get some photos taken and posted, ASAP! Really, really! Please do keep us in your prayers for safe travel, ok? Also, please pray that Louisiana and Texas to have no damage from Hurricane Gustav, which is now a Catagory 4 storm and heading our way. We want to get the piglets all tucked into their new home before the storm arrives, on Monday or more likely on Tuesday. I'll be sure to post on everything as soon as I'm back to the computer. Thanks for sharing the excitement with us. C.

[Deleted]

can't wait to see baby pics. I've been toying with adding a couple piglets to our farm family. (I only live one town away from the folks at Five Pond Farms) Congrats.
susie, mo ozarks

[catherine]

Ok folks...here are the long awaited pig pics! lol. Sadly, we only had my daughter's camera, as mine is in the shop. Most of the shots didn't come out well at all, but these two were the best of the lot. As it turns out, we now have Hurricane Gustav Refugee Pigs! lol. We fixed up our little trailer with cattle panels and hay bales and drove INTO Louisiana as everyone else was trying to flee...and then when we'd loaded up and were heading out, we were in the middle of the throng of those getting out of "Dodge" while they could. We kept getting the oddest looks from people who were carrying all their treasured possessions, and there we were travelling very light, just saving our pigs! lol. We even had one policeman tell us in quite a deep drawl that if we'd wanted pork that bad, the woods were full of them thar wild hogs, but that we didn't need to haul our own! ;D

Anyway, everyone arrived at our Farm safe and sound and asleep, as pigs are early to bed and late to rise kinda folk. We left them in the trailer for the night, and introduced them to their new pen the next morning. I'll write more about that later, but here are some pics from the trailer! The two boars are the larger pigs pair and are about 3 1/2 months old, and the gilts are the little ones and about 7 weeks old. Aren't they the cutest little things? Everyone seems to get along splendidly, though they only met a few days ago. The gilts came from Bud Nichols and the boars from Marian Van Beever. Both have been wonderful folk to work with, and I would recommend their stock to anyone. The pigs are all very healthy and quite friendly, and will do ANYTHING for a donut or a dog buscuit, even sit up like a dog! I'll have to try to get you a photo of that, as soon as my camera is fixed.

We are now in a naming debate. Our DS wants to call the boar either Boaramir or Mmorpg, or maybe even both, with Mmorpg as the entire clan's last name (for those of you who aren't into computer games, Mmorpg is pronounced as "More Pig", and is an acronym for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game" lol). He likes the dual purpose of the name! The other boar, who's destined for the freezer has been known as "One Nut" for amazingly obvious reasons, and will now be known as "Pork Chop". The gilts...well...how about either Rosey and Ruby, or Peaches (one LOVED the old peaches we gave them) and Petunia, or...? For your information, despite the graininess of the photos, one of each pair is a brighter red and the other is darker. Do submit your suggestions, please?! Thanks. The Management.



P.S. For us, Hurricane Gustav was a non-event, thank you Lord. We prepared for the worst, and while we were pleased that the storm didn't come our way, it would have been nice to have a least gotten a bit of rain from it. I know...never happy. LOL.

[Tammy]

Wonderful story! Beautiful pigs!

I think you should name one Gustav! ;D

[Tim in NY]

Yes, your keeper boar should be named Gustav. And name one of the sows Hanna for symmetry.

[Liz]

Oh how adorable!!!!
I love the pic of the snuggle pile!!
Gustav for sure!
Peaches, Berry, Ruby, Rojo, Precious, Cutie pie, ok I quit! They are really great looking pigs, and I know you will pick great names to match!
Does your ds play WOW by any chance? That is our kids fav rpg.
Congrats!!

[catherine]

We're still fighting the lice we found on the boars, as the D.E. hasn't gotten rid of ALL the living lice. There do seem to be fewer eggs, but we saw a live one scurry through behind the Boar's ear today. YUCK! So...now I guess it's time to investigate the powers of essential oils! ROFL...I'm going to have some awfully sweet smelling piglets! Woohoo! As long as they become lice free, it's all good! Hmm...this could lead to some new potential names...like Lavender and Citronella! lol. Oh, I'm sooo confused!

Thanks for the sweet compliments. I love that pile 'o piggies pic, too, Liz! These little guys are getting the idea that we are maybe ok cuz we do bring the goodies. They've also become quite adept at avoiding that biting electric fence line! Smart kids. Next, they get to be introduced to the wonders of electrified poultry netting. That ought to be a rodeo! (evil grin...Mwahahaha!). More later. C.

P.S. Liz, the kids (and I) have mostly played Runescape, off and on over the past few years. I joke that they learned to type, spell and do practical math through the game, but actually, I think there's more truth than fiction there. Andrew has tried out a few other games, from time to time, but keeps coming back to RS. It's the friends we've made there that has kept us loyal, plus the fact that I don't have to learn a whole new game! lol. We have a deal that they can play IF either DH or I play along side. WOW is a very popular game and I gather that it's got an even more supportive community, which would be very nice. It's the cost factor for 4 of us to each have simultaneous accounts that stops us. However, it would be very interesting for our kids to be able to play together! Speaking of...have your guys ever played RS? One game or the other, maybe we can set up a gaming day...oh, wow...a "play date"! lol.

[amylynne]

I am interested in purchaseing a breeding pair of red wattle hogs but don't want to travel to far from Michigan. Can anyone help me? Amy

[catherine]

Hey Amy! Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. We've only just gotten our Internet service back again after Hurricane Ike, and I'm trying to catch up. Anyway, I'd recommend that you contact Marian Van Beever at Five Ponds Farm (www.fivepondsfarm.com/). She's an awesome lady, very fun and informative. She lives in Missouri, and represents 3 or 4 different breeders, but has contacts with RW people all over! Hopefully, she should be able to hook you up with someone closer to you. Do tell her I sent you, and tell her I said Hi! Good luck, and I look forward to welcoming you into the wonderful world of Red Wattles! Do post photos when you get them? We're all crazy for pictures, around here! lol. ;D