I like to call it the Pig Jig

A lot has happened lately but I've let myself get caught up in my work and haven't stopped by here to update. And while there's so much to say, I just don't have it in me to write it all out. Lucky for me, pictures and videos exist!

We moved the pigs into their pastured area and this is how they felt about it:

Don't worry, this video was a first attempt. I will have a better version up when I get around to it...

We've also been digging in the garden. We got in all kinds of leafy greens, beets, radishes and carrots a while back. A second round of those and some strawberries, peas and asparagus. (I've also transplanted the eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers as well as planting the basil and beans since I drafted this.)

Here's our first spring garden bed. We did raised beds this year with straw in the aisles to prevent weeds and spinach on the sides to prevent erosion. So far, it's looking great.

 

I think the actual plant pictures are better though:

Deer Tongue Lettuce

Mixed Spring and Italian Greens

Seeded Simpson Lettuce

Baby Spinach

Grown Spinach

View of Wonderful Texture   ; )

Baby Carrot!

               

We also already planted our cover crop on our "resting" bed. I took pictures a little later than this entry suggests, but doesn't it look cute now?

 

And because we all know by now that I love closeups: 

My secret garden guards are watching you.

Aaaaaand, we got our meat chickens and guinea hens:

Guinea Keets

Meat Chicks:

Meat Chick stares you down

Curious Meat Chicks

Hungry, Hungry Meat Chicks?

Piggy Updates

Having the pigs has been great. They are adorable. Actually....they're very much like dogs once they get to know you. They come to the door, they wag their tails, they snort at you. It's so cute.


I won't lie though, I have spent a good bit of time in the pen earning their trust. We have come far together. They've gotten comfortable with me, they'll let me pet them, I've taught them how to drink with their nipple waterer and just recently we've been practicing with the feeder flap.

And today, I managed to record Salchicha as she got her first win on the feeder game. Join us for this exciting moment in Rogue Fox Farm history:

We're Officially in Hog Heaven!

Ok, technically, they're not big enough to be called hogs yet, but you get the drift.

We bought four: Tocino, Prosciutto, Salchicha, and Pancetta. But before you tell me I'm a sadist for naming them that, know that if I don't call them by some type of food product name, I will never be able to follow through when it comes to the end...and I simply can't have four 400+ lb. sows running around next year.

That being said, they are adorable. Just look at them!

Here's the piggies in my truck. That's a pig panel I bent up and tied together at the corner. They were all snuggled up in the straw and loving it!



After the first day, we decided they were having a little trouble adjusting to their new home, so to entice their appetites, we brought them each a little chunk of apple core and 1/4 of a scrambled egg. Boy did that ever work! It took some goading on my part at first but by the end they were checking my hand for any and all scraps. (This got a little scarier when I ran out of food, haha. No one tried to bite, but I've heard that if you feed them by hand too much they associate your hand with food and, well, you know where that story goes...) But, all went well, the piggies feasted happily after that.

More pictures!

But to anyone who might stumble upon this in search of answers about setting up pigs, here is what went into my setup here in southeast PA:


Housing:
-Currently, they are in an 11' x 12' stall in our barn. Eventually they will be moving to a Port-a-Hut (~$300) so they can be moved more readily around the pasture.

Food:
-We bought a one panel hog feeder for the four of them. They're fighting over it a little bit today (now that they figured out where it is) but I'm hoping that settles down. (The lid needs to be strapped open the first couple days so they get used to where it is, then you can let them figure out how to work it.)

Water:
-We used a generic nipple waterer. (They bite down on a stick and the water comes out.) We had to get a metal pipe to attach the nipple to (because if it were directly connected to the hose, they may very well destroy the hose). This pipe is fitted with two nylon fittings. One reduces the size of the hole, the other goes from threaded to hose-fitted. On top of the hose fitting, I put a sawed off hose and a metal pipe clamp. Remember that if you're connecting threaded tubing for water, put the teflon tape around the threads to protect against leaks.  (Can you tell this is where I struggled most?)

Fencing:
-We are using electric fencing. Right now, it lines the edges of the stall so that they get used to how it works. According to my research, pigs are one of the few animals that will try to plow through the fence (depending on where they get zapped) rather than back away. So, to teach them the proper way to deal with the fence, a hard wall needs to be on the other side for a while so they learn that the can't plow through it and must back away from it. So far, it's been working well. Ask me again once they're in the field, haha.

Bedding:
-We are using straw.

Heat:
-We have a heat lamp about 3' up. It could probably be lowered. I'm going to work on that. (The high today is 45°F.)

Frustration

I knew that this whole pig setup was beginning to feel too easy.

I've been working on this watering connection for two days now, lost $75 dollars to wrong sized hoses (due to the salesperson's lack of attention to detail) and am now dealing with trying to find a good connector because the connector he sold me <i>also</i> is the wrong size.

::fumes::