Pig Tales, Volume 1

Guess what? I think I like our pigs. Really. They're funny and not one of them has tried to bite me or chew on my shoe or anything scary. You know what else? I'm a pig catcher. Yep. I can catch a little pig, but they are fast little buggers. I'll tell you more of my pig catching story in a minute.

We kept the pigs in the stock trailer in the barn for about three and a half days. That was a very good choice. They were enclosed, protected from the weather, and kind of in the middle of all of the barn activity. This gave them the opportunity to hear the other animals along with Frank and I when we were there doing chores. It also allowed us to observe them closely without worrying about escapees.

By day two, I was scratching everyone on the back while they ate. The largest boar likes touch the least, but he is finally coming around as well. The gilt had been handled much more than the boars and she doesn't mind being scratched at all. One of the smaller boars, which will probably be our breeder, is becoming quite friendly, too.

While they were in the stock trailer, the pigs were introduced to cabbage leaves, comfrey, carrot peels, green beans, goat milk and whey, canned okra and some old squash and tomato relish we need to replace from the garden this year. They weren't really sure about the leafy fare at first, but now seem to enjoy it. They don't attack it like they do the grain or whey, but 

they are eating them. We have also been giving them the corn and sunflowers we grew and dried last summer. They are really enjoying chewing the corn off of the cob. One thing we have already noticed is how quickly they put on weight. We weren't exactly sure how much to feed four little pigs, so we are cutting back on their portions. At first we    

gave them more grain to help tame them down, but now we will be giving them a green bean can full each day and that is all. We don't want them to be too fat, which can cause problems. I'll be talking more about that in a minute. Even in the stock trailer, I sprinkled the grain around on the hay for them to root around for.

By the end of day three, the stock trailer was getting rather stinky and the flies were getting thick, so it was time to move them into the pig pen. We have our doubts that our original pig pen will hold these small pigs. It is made of stock panels that have two rows of smaller openings, about 2" by 6", on the bottom rungs, but then it expands to 6" by 6" for the rest of the way. They can probably still squeeze through that third rung for now, so we chose to put together the other pig pen. You may be wondering why we have two pig pens, but no pigs. The original pen was built to house two feeder pigs about four years ago. They didn't even get large enough to produce bacon before we took them to the butcher. I hated them. I was afraid of them. But this was their pen. We never considered letting them out to graze like we are these pigs. So that's why we call this large pen the pig pen, even when we use it to wean baby goats.

 A number of years ago we bought a pig pen that was made by the students of one of the local agricultural programs. It is made of 2" by 4" heavy stock panels, welded to square metal tubing to create four panels, one of which has a gate on one end. Putting it together is kind of like a tinker toy puzzle. The puzzle is which ends fit together. Each end of each panel has a hinge of sorts that long metal rods fit through to hold them together and create a corner. The pictures will show you much better how this works than I can describe. After trying to put the first two panels together and realizing it was a little more complicated, Frank measured each end, had me write down the measurements, then we compared the numbers to determine which ends would fit together. The panels were a little heavy, but we maneuvered them into place without much trouble.

After we had the pen constructed, we hitched up the trailer and pulled it out into the pasture by the pig pen. We're glad we brush hogged the grass and weeds down by the pen, it is so thick and tall, it's hard to walk through. So, now it's time to catch the pigs in the trailer and move them into the pen.

Remember, up until this time I had only caught one pig in my life, four days earlier. Since I had that experience, I now knew to carry them by their back feet. Well, one little boar was nice enough to just walk up to me. That one was fairly easy. Next, the gilt, she wasn't difficult either. I had put a little feed in their pan to draw them together so I could grab a back leg. Of the two that were left, one of them kept trying to escape the pet carrier when we bought them. I wanted to try to catch him while he still had company, but they are fast little pigs and it took me a while. Frank recommended I catch the other boar first, since he 

would have been much easier to grab, but I kept trying until I finally got the one I was after. I had to stop and laugh a couple of times at my efforts and their speed. If you had been able to watch, I'm sure it would have been quite comical. But now, I am a pig catcher, since I have caught all of five pigs in my life. One of Frank's recommendations was to catch them by the front legs since they tended to face me to watch what I was doing. But that goes back to my fear of pigs. I was afraid they would try to bite me since I would be grabbing them. I opted to wait until a back leg presented itself.

 

 






After the pigs were placed in their new home, Frank backed the trailer up to turn around, and so we could clean out the hay and ick it contained. That tall, wet grass and weeds? Yep, he was stuck. The tires kept spinning on all that vegetation.

  
Now, out comes the tractor. We hadn't had to do this before, but with Frank's instructions and me behind the wheel of the truck, he had us out in no time. Ladies, this is one of those things I mentioned recently about having a good man by your side. Putting the pig pen together, I couldn't picture in my mind what Frank was seeing, and how it would work, so I just followed his directions and it went great. The same thing happened with pulling out the truck. We tweaked a few things according to his directions and everything went fine. There is no substitute for having a good man. None. It's the way God intended it.

While Frank had the tractor out, and I was cleaning out the stock trailer, he brought several loads of dirt into the corral to place in a low area under the gate that leads to the pig pasture. We will be adding some rocks to fill this area in, which will prevent the pigs from coming into the corral once they have free rein of the pasture.

Now, we have a pig pen within a pig pen. The pigs will stay in the smaller pen until the grass is gone, or we are comfortable letting them have access to the larger pen. We will eventually dismantle the interior pen, reassemble it next door to the original pen, and use it for farrowing when we have litters of piglets. This will prevent the boar from pestering the gilts when they birth. Well, that is the plan for now anyway.

Speaking of the gilt, her name is Liberty, by the way. The man we bought Liberty from had two sows give birth this spring. Liberty's mom had four piglets, but two of them were dead. The other sow had two piglets, but one of them was dead. The breeder has raised pigs most of his life, but didn't know why this happened. He was also disappointed with the low number of

piglets in the litter. This sounded a little odd to us, but we took him at his word. After we got home and had time to think about this and discuss it, we have come to the conclusion that we need another young gilt, just in case Liberty's genetics don't lend to becoming a healthy, productive sow. The vet was here this afternoon and we asked him what he thought about Liberty's probability of being a good sow. He told us that if a pig has less than four fertile eggs developing, it will reabsorb these eggs and breed again. A sow will always have a minimum of four piglets. So we have some questions about the gentleman's story. There is another breeder in a different area that we have been in contact with that has a litter of piglets that will be ready to wean around June 1st, so we will be adding one more piglet to our herd. By the way, I looked up the names for groups of pigs. When the pigs are grown, I can call them a passel of pigs. I like that one, it's funny. I hope five pigs will constitute a passel, because that many adult pigs is more than enough for us.

The vet and his wife work together which I think is great.

While the vet was here, he cut the piglets teeth. Because we are keeping three boars, two to eat and one breeder, we have chosen to have their teeth cut to prevent injury if they chose to fight over food or the gilt at some point. It may not have been an issue, but we would rather prevent a problem at this point until we know more and have more experience as pig herders.

 

This whole tooth came out. They are very small at this age.

 


















Of the three boars, we were planning to choose one of the two smaller ones to keep for a breeder. Lance, the largest boar that kept trying to escape the pet carrier when we were loading them up, was going to be the first to grace our dinner plates. But after we talked to the vet about growth rate for producing meat for the table, we chose to castrate the two smaller boars and kept Lance for our breeding boar. I will just have to work with him a little more to get him to be as tame as the others.

 

For now, our pigs are doing quite well. Once they calm back down and quit running away from me again since we have moved them, then cut their teeth, and castrated two of them, I think they will work out fine. We'll keep you updated with further tales from the pig pen. Now it's your turn. Not necessarily to get pigs, per se, but to seek out a new experience that will benefit you and yours in whatever situation you find yourself. Be it homestead, city lot, apartment, where ever you are, you can learn and develop skills that will increase your chances of survival in the coming days, weeks, months and years. We would have never even considered getting pigs if we didn't know that

great changes are upon us and that we will probably have to fend for ourselves. Pigs have never been part of our equation until now. Are we comfortable with this new venture? No. Are we working at it diligently? Yes. That is why I said in the previous article that I have decided to like, and not be afraid of pigs. It is a conscious decision I have made to increase our food supply. The article I wrote about women and survival indicated my belief that one of my major responsibilities in a collapse scenario will be to keep food on the table. These pigs are part of my efforts in that direction. Frank supports me and helps me when I need it, with anything at all, but his role when the time comes will be different. He will be our protector, community

communications leader, and will be working at making sure the infrastructure of our homestead is functioning well. All of these things will allow me to concentrate on food, clothing, and maintaining the hygiene we need to be healthy. We have been blessed with the natural inclinations of a man and a woman to perform those duties that will support a safe, productive home, and we chose to fulfill those roles. 

Until next time - Fern

Meet Bill

We want to introduce you to our new buck, Bill E Goat. Get it? I'm sorry, but we love to laugh and this is just one of those moments. But, really, his name is Bill.

After we read about the goat, we made contact with the folks that had him. These folks are very privacy oriented, as are we, so we met them at a big box hardware store a couple of hours away from our house. It sounds like something out of a spy novel, doesn't it? But, we respect people's privacy, and we're glad when people respect ours. They were nice folks and we appreciate their willingness to meet us and save us a few miles.

When we bring a new animal to our place they spend the first week in isolation. This is accomplished in our stock trailer, which is very convenient. We pull it into the barn to provide shade, protection from weather and have the new animal in close proximity to the herd.

Bill was not very happy to be alone for the first two nights. The second day he was here we wormed him with Cydectin, then the third day we used Safeguard which is fenbendazole. At this time, we are still using chemical wormers for the goats. We don't use them very often, usually no more than twice a year, and some day we hope to eliminate them altogether. We have honeysuckle, wormwood and garlic growing which will deter or cause worms to expel from the goats, but haven't learned enough to use them effectively yet. The key word there is yet. That will come in time.

The third evening Bill was joined in the stock trailer by One Stripe's two adopted nine week old boys, which began their weaning process. Now we had three crying babies in the trailer. But at least Bill had company now. We continued to watch Bill for any signs of ill health. The previous owners provided us with a bag of feed for him. We gradually used this up while getting him accustomed to our feed ration. He had a good appetite for the hay, grain and water we gave him and appears to be a strong, healthy animal.

One week later, Bill and the boys joined the older wethers out in the 'boys' pasture. Bill seems small now, but we expect him to grow and fill out quickly since he is already four months old. We will feed him, and the other boys, everyday for a while. Bill's first breeding duties will come about mid June when we plan to breed One Stripe. We would like for her to have babies about Thanksgiving to keep us in milk through the winter. We will breed the other does around November 1st for April babies next spring. So Bill will not be full grown before he will be put to work. He still calls for his mom and his old herd sometimes, but he is enjoying all of the new growth of the pasture. He should work out just fine.

Until next time - Fern

The Versatile Stock Trailer

Hello, Frank here.

When Fern and I returned to Oklahoma from Alaska, we were nine years older than we were before we left. Our last dealings with goats and sheep, had been using a nice metal cage that slid into the back of a pickup truck. While this worked fairly well at that time for transporting animals, which didn't happen often, a couple of times a year maybe, it was still difficult to lift a 200 pound ram, that was not at all interested in cooperating into that little cage. We have lots of funny stories about loading lambs and kids. You lift one up and put it in while three escape.

So, when we returned here, we decided to invest in a small stock trailer. In our area, you see brand new aluminum ultralights that are 30 feet long. You also see old, rusted, about to fall apart pull behind trailers. If you wanted to shop for a trailer, you could go down to the livestock sale barn any day, and there are the great big fancy ones, and the not so big not so fancy ones. Well, we decided on a 10 foot, pull behind, general stock trailer. Nothing fancy, no bells and whistles, a nice white color to match our vehicles. In this part of the country, most vehicles are white for solar reasons.

This little stock trailer will haul all the goats we want to haul, ever. It has a step up from the ground into the trailer of about 8 inches, which means one person can step in the trailer and encourage the goat to jump in while another person stands behind the goat and encourages it to jump in. I won't discuss these techniques here, but they work. So, on that rare occasion we buy a new billy, the stock trailer comes in very handy.

We've also transported a few pigs in it, too. Shortly after we moved here we decided to raise a couple of baby pigs. To make the story short, they were easy to load. Just park the little trailer inside their area, put their food and water inside of it for a few nights and one morning we would slide the gate behind them. And a few days later, we would have pork chops and sausage. If this wasn't a trailer story, I would tell you the pig story, but it's not, it's a trailer story.

So, here are some of the ways we use the trailer. When we pick up new animals to bring home, which is seldom, maybe once a year. When we pick up the animals, we give them all the medications they will need at that time, which is a general vaccination, heavy doses of Safeguard (fenbendazole), which is a wormer, and sometimes a big shot of LA200, which is an all purpose antibiotic. The next day, I give them a healthy dose of another type of wormer, Cydectin. I watch these animals closely for three or four days while they are still in the trailer with food, water and hay. This whole process has been done with the trailer in the barn, out of the sun, and near the other goats. When I feel the animal is relatively safe, I will move it to an isolated pen. I put a wether with the goat for companionship. If it's a female I will leave it isolated for a couple of weeks, then put her in with the other does. If it's a billy, we keep him separate with the wethers until it's time for breeding.

Back to the trailer. After we let the animals out, the trailer is cleaned inside and out, put back outside to dry in the sun. We also use the trailer for an occasional hospital. Again, we put the trailer in the barn, and if the animal needs to be confined, we do food, water, hay and whatever appropriate medications are needed. We've only had to do this a few times, but we have had a couple of down animals. It gives them a nice safe place out of the weather, and still around the other goats. After the hospital stay is over, the trailer is again cleaned, inside and out, and left to dry in the sun.

Now this next part may surprise a few people. My stock trailer is clean. I can go out tomorrow and hook it up, pull it to one of the big box stores, like Sam's Club or Costco, and it will haul a tremendous amount of supplies. Now, it's not water
tight by any means, so it has to be on a nice day, but it works great for that purpose. I have two padlocks on my trailer, one for the back gate/sliding gate and one for the side entrance, which will keep out just about anybody. I know sometimes it surprises people to see a stock trailer at the big box store. It's clean, it's tidy and it's secure. More than once, I have parked my truck and trailer in front of the house, and unloaded it the next day.

When we bought this trailer this was part of the original purpose. It also comes in handy when I want to go to a store like Lowe's and buy multiple heavy items. If need be, I can haul two or three large cows. If need be, I can haul two good sized horses, but I doubt if either one of these ever occur. But I can haul 7000 pounds of assorted supplies, 10 foot in length, and sometimes longer sticking out of the top of the gate in the back.

It's a plain, white, simple, multipurpose stock trailer that just doesn't draw attention. In this part of the country, you will see stock trailers everyday, and there's nothing fancy about mine that will attract attention. I think it's one of the best buys we have made. It saves our backs and it means I only have to go major shopping once or twice a year. The truck and trailer will fit in two lengthwise parking places. It will go through most drive through windows. It's the same width as my pickup and it does not attract attention, and it works. I could hook it up right now and drive it everywhere I want to go for the next couple of days and few people would even notice it. This is just one more way to make life more simple and better. Hope you enjoyed the story.

Something I forgot. Safety. A small trailer like the one I just described above, you can just about forget it's behind you when driving down a highway. Since I only pull a trailer a handful of times a year, it would be easy to forget that it's back there. My point here is, when you pass somebody going down the highway, and you forget your trailer is behind you and you pull over too soon, you can hurt yourself or you can hurt somebody else. Other points to consider. Most small trailers like this, empty, weigh about 1000 pounds. Going down a flat road, on a dry sunny day, it still takes more braking distance. Where I live we have lots of hills and some small mountains. Let's say I have a payload of 2000 pounds. My trailer weighs 1000. Okay, I've got 3000 pounds behind me, going down a hill, trying to brake can very easily get dangerous not to mention if there is sand, gravel, rain or snow on the road. I avoid driving a trailer on wet roads. This is one of those cases, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

You can very easily find yourself off the road. Or like a friend of mine lately, found his trailer hanging off the edge of the road with his vehicle still attached. It's not a joke folks, you can kill yourself, or you can kill somebody else. When you're turning a corner, give yourself extra room. When you're leaving a parking lot, that trailer will follow you when you turn, but it takes a slightly different path. And backing a trailer can be a real learning experience. But for the most part, where you go the trailer goes. People do make mistakes. Example: A friend of mine managed to hit a tree in his own yard with his trailer. Around here they have a name for that, but we'll go on from there. So, no joke, a trailer can be a great tool, just don't let it get the best of you. So, again, take care, may God be with you.


We'll talk more later. Frank