Pig Day

That's what Joel is calling today.   Pig Day.   A day to be marked on the calendar and to be celebrated for years to come.   You see, we got "the call" yesterday that one of our leads finally resulted in our ability to acquire 2 weaner pigs.....little pigs that have been weaned from their mama and were now ready for us to fatten them up. 

But first let me tell you about yesterday.   Even though Joel and Jeremy built the pig pen 2 months ago, they somehow never got around to building the pig shelter.   Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike procrastination?   Hmmmm, I belong to the "get it done now and relax later" train of thought.   Not my guys.   They belong to the "why should we waste energy doing it today when we don't know when we're going to need it" crowd.   Can you see the ever present conflict here?   giggle....

So this week when I finally (after trying to vain for 2 months) tracked down some weaners for us to purchase we realized we needed to get this shelter done pronto.   One problem, it's been raining all day everyday since Sunday.   And then 24 hours ago we got the call that a lady 20 minutes away from us had 2 pigs that we could come and get.......this morning at 8:30.  Yikes!    Guess what Joel and I did in the rain yesterday?   Yup.  We built the pig shelter.   But Joel calls it the Pig Palace.   Seriously?    Here are some pics of our process building the Palace.

 Three sides are almost up.   Man, that treated wood was really heavy.

 "Do you think this will be big enough?"

 Only 40 more screws to go.   Do we have enough daylight to get this done?

 Whew!    All done.   And it even has a cozy bed of straw all ready for the little porkers.

 

As we both woke up this morning, groaning from our newest aches and pains, I rolled over.....looked at my husband of 28 years and asked him,"So, what does one wear to pick up weaners?"   We both dissolved into fits of giggles, making the bed shake.   He replied, "Better take your boots in case we have to wade through some messy muck."  Good thought.   Sometimes he's pretty smart, you know?

Off we went in my Tahoe, towing the little trailer behind us.   We found the farm without any problem, it was only about 20 minutes away from ours.   The lady selling us the pigs was outside with her 2 children standing by an old beat up pick-up truck as we drove down her lane.    Her husband had put the pigs inside small dog carriers, one pig in each carrier, and she seemed a bit anxious about having them confined in such close quarters.   She graciously showed us her pig operation and answered Joel's questions about raising hogs for meat and to sell.  

A few minutes later we paid her and loaded the dog crates onto the back of my trailer and off we went.   The pigs were so quiet the whole way home that we wondered what was going on back there, but they were fine.   They were almost lulled to sleep by the time we pulled into our lane and drove under the trees toward their new home.

We really have no idea what we are doing.   I guess we just carry the crates into the pen, right?   Yup.   And that's what we did.

Drumroll, please.    The poor piggies were facing inward and didn't have a clue how to back out of the crates which forced Joel to sorta "dump" them out.   They sure didn't seem to mind and started oinking and exploring immediately.

And yes, they were very happy to finally get their breakfast.   We have named the black pig Princess Bacon and the pink one is Princess Pork Chop.   Don't look at me......this was all Joel's idea.   

Speaking of Joel.......he's having too much fun with this, wouldn't you say?   He is truly in his element here and can hardly wait to add more critters to our farm.   Who would have known the good doctor was a natural at this lifestyle?

Alrighty now, that's what we did before breakfast today.   The rest of the day should be a breeze after this.....unless the chicken guy calls to say our baby chicks have hatched this morning!

Proud new parents,
Debbie & Joel