Will this little piggy come home?
If you were to make a list of all-time worst impulse buys, piglets would be right up there.
Over the last six months or so, Kevin and I have talked, in a sober and responsible manner, about the possibility of raising a couple of pigs. Invariably, we focus on the two big difficulties. The first is building pig-proof housing and fencing. The second is taking an intelligent animal you’ve gotten attached to (and on whose housing and fencing you have expended great effort and expense), and killing it for food.
Invariably, I balk. I like pork, but I also like pigs. It’s a problem.
Today we went to Cape Feed and Supply to get chicken supplies, and there they were. Feeder piglets, probably about six weeks old, in a pen next to the parking lot. Next thing you know, I’ve taken Raising the Homestead Hog out of the library, and priced fencing wire.
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Raising pigs is lots of fun..”uta magoota the rooter and scooter” was an awesome creature..named after the runner Uta Pippig of course.
Pigs are easy to raise once you have given them a secure enclosure…three adults ended up flat on our faces trying to catch her when she decicded one day that the fence was not an obstacle even tho it was electric,, and it was Tiger, our Labrodor, who finally chased her back “home”. Great sport for sure.
And yes , it’s not easy to take them to the butcher.
Have fun, I’ll send you a
photo of Uta Magoota the rooter and scooter.
They can be a little smelly and noisy (take it from one who grew up around farms), but fascinating to watch, and they always seem so content…
I’m already excited about all the fabulous pork recipes you will post…quick, get the piglets!
“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
“Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable.
Gram — Uta Magoota the rooter and scooter, eh? Pigs seem to bring out the silly names in all of us.
It’s that “once you have a secure enclosure” that I worry about.
And, Ken, don’t you be Charlotte’s Webbing me. Pigs make excellent dinners but lousy pets. You just don’t want something that’s smart, bored, and 500 pounds hanging around the house.
Big talk. First rent “Killer of Sheep,” sit through it without covering your eyes, then tell me how you’re gonna kill a pig, let alone one you raised.
Aaron — I’m not gonna kill the pig. I’m gonna hire someone else to kill the pig, and I’m gonna go to the movies. It won’t be “Killer of Sheep.”
+1 to Gram’s “Secure Enclosure”
Grown pigs are fantastic escape artists – but also masters of timing. They wont escape, even if it means biding their time for weeks, until you’re dressed in your Sunday Best. Then they’re out having fun on a bid for freedom; or at least into the vegetable garden.
A 100kg (220lb) pig has it’s own mind and does pretty much whatever it likes … And it will thank you to keep your polished shoes and freshly dry-cleaned suit out of it.