Luck o' the Irish

Sunny and 65

Today I feel I accomplished a bit of a milestone of success on the farm. I managed to get three 300 lb. pigs loaded onto a trailer by myself, then take them to the butcher and get them unloaded also alone, without even breaking a sweat. I think I may have worked out a system that works pretty well.

Essentially, I backed the trailer up to the barn three days ago, and then I covered the ground/floor/alleyway leading up to the trailer with a thick layer of straw and hay. That way, the pigs only saw a smooth, soft incline toward the trailer which is about a foot off the ground. Pigs dont like changes in their footing. After I secured the alley way with gates, and the boys were very curiously standing at their pen gate wondering what was going on, I opened up their pen and let them in the alley. How long did it take for them to try getting on the trailer? Less than 2 minutes! Of course, this was a practice run, and part of my overall plan. I wanted them to get used to coming and going off the trailer with no stress. I just didn't think it would be THAT easy! I guess the time it takes a pig to get on a trailer is directly inverse to how badly you need it to get on! After letting them frolic onto and off the trailer a few times, and root and discover the nest of fresh chicken eggs some enterprising hen had left in there, I put them back in the barn. They were gonna WANT to get back on the trailer the next time!

So last evening, as the sun was setting, I once again opened up their gate to the trailer. I stood quietly and gazed at them as they sauntered past me, and right back up onto the trailer, after only a few sniffs and nudges at various points along the way. I closed the door behind them, and they were on the trailer! Woo Hoo.
I fed and watered them in there, and they spent the night snuggled in the thick layer of hay. Normally Karen helps out with loading and unloading, but she was called away at the last minute for a family emergency, so it was all up to me to take them to town alone. At first I was pretty anxious about unloading alone, but my anxiety waned as things progressed.

At the butcher shop, I opened up the back of the trailer and called to them. Because they had been on the trailer now for about 16 hours, I think they were anxious to get out. Another element of my plan. I also brought along a bucket of their favorite treat, large crabapples from one of our trees. I simply stood outside and called them off, and off they came, and quietly munched their way onto the scale. Wow! Success!! I think I have found a method that can really work to eliminate any need for extra hands, gates, bruised knees, being flipped into the air, etc! Of course, these three barrows were also the easiest handling, most laid back pigs I've ever had, so it could simply have been them. We will see, as I am going back on Saturday to pick up more Berks from the same breeder. He also raises other breeds and crosses, but I did notice that the Berks were the first ones to come up to the gate to check me out and say hi, and they all did so in a very calm, sweet sort of way, not an aggressive, gate rattling, challenging kind of way. Have I mentioned lately how much I like these pigs?

It's been beautiful Spring weather here for the last week or so. A gentle warm up from the low 40's last week to the 60's the last two days! These are the days that make Cheeseheads wear shorts and sandals. I saw two women sunbathing today while enjoying a beer in front of a tavern. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I do believe global climate change is very real, and I'm very concerned about the overall consequences, but every cloud has it's silver lining, and if it means balmy days in March, I'm not going to complain about that. However, this is just a tease, as we will be reminded that we do live in a northern state after all. The forecast is for a cold front to come rolling back in, and dump several inches of snow on us this weekend. Ugh. And just when I'll be unloading new pigs, too!

Last week I was laid low, very low, by a nauseating stomach virus all week. It's been going around my office, and it's a bad one. Too bad they didn't take any precautions with this virus like they did H1N1. This one really makes you suffer. But today I am finally all better, and got a lot done. I took about 5 wheel barrow loads out to the compost pile, pruned all the 'eye pokers' in the piggie palace, worked on the tarp for the hut, and brought a few more wheel barrow loads of fresh clean straw out from the hay mow and threw it in the hut. I'm getting it ready for new little piggies this weekend. I wish we were going to have better weather for their first few days, I like to have mild weather, especially for little ones to minimize any stress on them due to the move, but I can't do much about the weather. I guess that's another reason why farrowing our own pigs would be a plus. We are getting to the point in the number of pigs we are finishing per year that it may make sense for us to keep sows and have our own litters. Stay tuned!