Three Little Pigs ...

They're here! 3 little piggies-although one is not so little-about 60 lbs. The whole thing (getting them home) was not without a struggle and some harrowing moments.

First, it was pouring rain this morning when I left the house, which didn't bode well for a dry peaceful ride home. But it was clear by 10:00 AM. I first had some work to do in town til about noon, and then it was off to get our pigs. The boys and I had built a floorless cage out of 2X4's and some old dog wire that was hanging around. This we put in the back of my 1987 Chevy S-10 pickup. I secured it with bungee cords. We filled it with straw and threw a tarp over the top. (Supposedly pigs like to ride in the dark.)

After my work in town, I stopped by Price's Country Store in Gilbert. Jake Price is a former collegue of mine. He used to spend his days testing electrical cable. A few years ago he quit that and opened a country store next to his Grandfather's feed store which has been around for some 60 years.

I got some advice on pigs and feed. He sells some feed they make there. A small raiser like me doesn't need the antibiotics in the feed (which may leave residue in the meat), so I was happy I stopped by.

Turns out that he had seen the pigs I was going to buy and gave them the thumbs up.

I found my farmer without a problem. But it took us about an hour to get three little pigs out of his pen and into my truck.

He had a neat trick. He lured the ones I wanted into a cage with feed. Then he lifted the cage out of the larger pen (with a front end loader) and next to my truck. If my cage had a door, the rest would have been simple, just put the doors together and chase them from one cage to another. But my cage had no door. It was built with no floor, so you lift it on one end to create the opening, which made the possibilty of escapte greater when transferring the pigs.

After some 15-20 minutes trying to chase the pigs in without them escaping (there was one close call), my farmer decided to do it the old fashioned way. He crawled in the cage and grabbed a pig by its two hind legs (squealing and fighting all the way). He pulled it out and I simultaneously closed his cage's door and lifted my cage. He swung the pig in and we lowered the cage. This was the way to do it.

We talked a bit. He has a lot of pigs, but mostly he raises chickens. He mentioned the beef recall that was in the news yesterday and commented it much safer to raise your own. I think he was also concerned about me getting the pigs out of my truck and into our pen successfully, but I told him I had plenty of help.

The ride home was uneventful, but I had a warm homecoming.

Before we transferred the pigs, I still needed to attach the gate to their pen. I had made it on Saturday, but didn't have the hinges and latch I needed. I picked them up Monday while on the road and installed them quickly. Then came a bit of team work involving everyone.

We had two problems. First, I was hoping the bed my S-10 overhung the pig panel (pen fence), but it was too low. Secondly, the pig pen is in a larger pen (used for housing goats by the previous owners). My placement of the pig pen did not allow me to get my pickup all the way into the goat pen, thus if a pig escaped during transfer, it was possible it could find its way out of the larger pen via under the truck. So here was the plan: the three younges manned the 'goat pen' gate, holding it tightly on either side against the side of my truck. One son piled some logs under the truck to make it hard for a pig to escape and laid there with a stick to poke any pig who tried to make a run for it. Mrs. Curley's job was to "chase" the pigs (hopefully one at a time) towards the back of the truck. Two sons would lift the cage on the back end. I would grab the hind legs of the pig and swing him and lower him into the pen.

It went pretty well with one modification. These pigs pretty strong and heavy. One in particular must be pushing 60 lbs-which feels a whole lot more when its squealing and struggling. So as I pulled the first pig out, one son grabbed a large bucket and put the pig's head into it. Then son lifted bucket and I lifted the feet over into the pen. This worked wonderfully, and all three were deposited safely and without incident.

Then we backed off and watched the pigs. Amazing. I had heard they were rooters, but never really understood. They put their snouts deep into the earth and dig. We plan on moving their pen every few weeks, and I can see why we have to.

What a day! Thank God for all His blessings!

Oremus pro invicem!