Sunday, September 1, 2013

Scratch That Off The To Do List

The pig pen is finished. We altered the original plan of adding wire above the logs, and just added more logs instead. The walls are now almost 4 feet high. 
I did little but watch the Bigs for this phase of construction.  I'm just little, after all.

 Before long, #1 was out of the running too.  #2 is the tallest, but eventually he decided it was easier to climb up the sides to pound in those spikes.

 #1 and I nailed some tin on the side and back corner to create a wind break while #2 finished the roof.

 The front is a bit higher than the back, giving the roof a bit of slope.

 #2 was quite pleased with the final results.

 And the pigs seemed to like it too- once all the noise settled down.

 They're getting along quite well.  They've done some digging, but not too much.  They're eating the grass and weeds slowly.  They like raspberry bushes, and gobble up the branches I break off from the turkey pen.  They don't like celery. 

Their slop is currently 4 cups of scratch grain, 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup lentils, 2 medium potatoes, boiled in water, twice per day.

They are the calmest pigs we've ever had, and I think that's at least partially diet.  Our previous pigs just seemed hungrier all the time, like they weren't getting enough no matter how much we fed them.  I remember feeding a full coffee can of commercial feed and a full coffee can of corn twice per day, as well as moving their pen every day or two.  Meats and Meals are much more relaxed and content to lay about, and even allow an occasional pat or scratch.

4 comments:

  1. Well, #1 and #2 are man-sized guys now. At least when they do chores on the weekend they will be able to knock them out faster and more efficiently.

    Will those piggies be able to dig under? Would a hungry bear be tempted by a piggy?

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    1. Yeah, they are big boys now. 16 and 17. Time flies...

      We don't know about digging under yet. They would have to dig a very big hole to get all the way under. We're pretty confidant that it's too heavy for them to lift up. Fingers crossed.

      Bears will eat pig. I remember that happened in one of the Little House books.

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  2. Did your blog roll just disappear? I cannot find it.

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    1. I've never had a blog roll. If you're looking for something new to read, just click my name here in the comments and a new page will open with the blogs I follow.

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