Little Pig, Little Pig, Let me OUT!

     It is so funny that when I had the thought of a Bartlett Funny Farm blog, I pictured writing about fresh veggies, delicious ways to prepare food, and garden tips... instead I find the overwhelming theme of farming animals for food- I guess right now for us this is what is new and happening on the farm.  So what now in relation to these pigs we are raising this year?  They are a whole new ball game our second time around, and a bit more "fun" too.  Although my husband would beg to differ. ;)
      So two years ago we raised our first pigs.  We used an old dog house for a shelter and built a wooden pen about 20x25ish...  It was an extremely rainy year, we had never raised pigs before, it was a mess, it was super muddy, and it kinda sucked.   We did end up with a freezer full of grain fed pork, had a rainy pig roast and after a year of eating it, all noticed what a number that pork did on our bellies after we ate it.  Gas station comes to mind... But this isn't about the experience of raising out first two pigs, this is about this year and the six pigs that spent some time on the funny farm.
     
     It was Spring, May actually, and it was about that time to think about filling the freezer again for this growing family that apparently are no longer vegetarians...  Pigs it was.  This time we new better and a much larger pen was in order.  We fenced in (with pig wire) a very large area, lets estimate at least 2500 square feet.  This area includes our totally cool old stone foundation that we found after we bought the place, currently in use as a giant compost pit and lots and lots of weeds and small trees.  First we took in two pigs that came from Paris Farmers Union.  I will admit I was a bit judgemental, they had had their tails cut and I felt awkward not buying directly from a pig farmer like we did last time.  Well I had judged for no reason because these pigs were super cool.  They even got names: Jeffrey & Jenna.

Jeffrey & Jenna- notice all the greenery 

     As far as feeding these piggies, they had a full field of forgaing to do and we just let them at it.  They were so happy and did amazing work on the ground.  They foraged thru the compost pit helping the breakdown process immensely, tore up eveything, dug up roots, rocks- you name it and it is gone. They even took down most of the trees!  We were also super blessed to have an incredible neighbor that donated five gallons of fresh cow milk almost daily to the feeding of these pigs.  So during their life and being the first pigs in the new pen, they were strictly milk and forage fed- it was AWESOME and it felt like a really great way to raise pigs.  When the cow in freezer had been gone for a couple of months and the little natives were getting hungry, instead of growing these piggies too fat, we decided to take them pretty lean.  We couldn't have a made a better decision.  Our pre-judged pigs turned out to be the best in temperment and taste that we could have ever asked for. They were a true pleasure to have here all around.  I believe they weighed in at about 120 hanging weight when taken to slaughter, so about 105 packaged up, but we haven't had to buy meat all summer.  But this story isn't really about them either, that was just bonus information.

notice the green disappearing

     So lets see, that was the end July that they went in, but before they left they were joined by three more at the beginning of the month.  This is where the fun starts.  We decided to be cool, and since we loved what Jenna & Jeffrey were doing to the land we thought we would offer the space to others and get a pig for our milk donating neighbor, as a thank you.  We had two other takers, so that is how we ended up with three more.  So now we are at five.  These pigs did come directly from a local farmer and so that felt nice from the start.  (There is totally a lesson in pre-judging here.)  All the pigs foraged together for about a month and tried to share the milk...but by now Jeffrey & Jenna came running when we stopped the truck at the pen and they saw that 5 gallon bucket and they really didn't want to share.  They also had the size not to have to ;-). But then it was their time...

the pig crate

       So now by August 1st we had just had three little pigs and had decided if we were going to feed them and take care of them, we should get another one for ourselves.  We found another local farmer and aquired the sixth pig of the year.  She was cute with white eyes and lashes that never changed- I liked her face.  The foraging was running low and the milk was just not enough to share between four pigs, scraps were plentiful, but still not enough for four hungry pigs.  Time to supplement with grain.  It is what it is, but I will hold fast to not really wanting to raise anymore animals if solely on grain. But that is another story and I am still so thankful for the meat it goes beyond words.  So now we are raising four pigs, only one of which is ours.  Thankfully, our next door neighbors took over watering, as one of the piggies in the pen is theirs.  They have a hose that reached the pen and a great well, so at least no more hauling water.

the three owneries

     But let me tell you, we now have three ownery pigs.  Notice I didn't say four, our white eyed sweetie, of course is innocent;-).  The super ownery one, the leader- well we know whose pig that one must be.  The neighbors claimed a girl- Lollipop I think, and the other girl being our mlik donators, that leaves the male and he takes after his owner for sure-not his legal guardians, we'll call that pig Steve.  We really like to tease Steve's owner about this, becasue this pig wanted OUT and was taking his two lady sisters with him.  So remember back when I said we put up a pig wire fence, don't let the name fool you, it doesn't look like pig and it surely doens't hold a pig in!  You can add learning how to round up pigs to my list of things learned this summer, and giggling at how annoyed my husband got;-).  His summer mission had, by no choice of his own,  become reinforcing the fence!

rounding them up, pig wrestling

      I must say I had the "joy" one day of coming home to find the pigs out and headed for the woods...by the time I reached them, they were down by the creek getting a drink.  It was a rather cool sight to see, and makes me think next time we should have free range pigs and just fence them in the whole yard and out of the gardens!  But then my pig insticts kicked in and I knew we had to get them back to their pen.  Nick had surfaced by then and  put his good ol' Kansas farming skills to use, I think even the neighbor came up and back in went Steve, Lollipop and Sister.  

our awesome new fence- notice now the lack of green

Notice no white eyed cutie;-) -hehehe.  I think the pigs were thirsty and knew just where to go.  So back to the fence reinforcing-  we are now proud owners of a very eclectic fence, and I LOVE it... Nick recycled pallets, doors, puppet theaters, signs, logs, stones- you name it, and it is barricading with that pig wire and super attempting to keep them in.       
     

 You can tell by my stellar foreshadowing that the reinforcement of the fence was not 100% all the time, if you missed a feeding it only worked 80%.  Ownery.  So 20% of the rest of Steve, Lollipop and Sister's stay, we were trying to get them back in!  

There is nothing like pulling in here to our two "attack' goats (one is really a unicorn), 30 chickens and three pigs in the driveway...  not to mention the barking, wood stove dane in the house and the sweet white eyed pig wonder in the pen.  Life is good here, nutty but good.  

      Well all judging aside, it turns out now that I know pigs are different in temperament and disposition, I will not judge, but will take more interest in learning about their different breeds, maybe that has something to do with it? And still where they come from,  it does seem to matter.  An example of nurture vs nature for K's psychology class.  Will we raise more pigs?  Not by the hair on my chinny, chin, chin.  Actually, I have no hair on my chin, so I will leave it up to Nick- I just thought that sounded good.  And truthfully I have bigger plans in mind...

     Katniss Everdeen, huntress, here I come...