Mama Pigs Are Here!

Just a quick update…Lucy and Ethel have arrived! I worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night this week and when I woke up on Saturday I was greeted with quite the surprise as we were not expecting them till next weekend. Shaun said they were a little motion sick after there drive, but they quickly made themselves right at home.

They love the woods, rooting up under the logs and such, they have already dug themselves a giant hole that they have decided to make their bed, evidently they prefer this to the shelter we made them. As long as they are happy I don’t really care and I would rather them do this in the woods vs. the pasture, so have at it! The ‘less than desirable’ side of the pasture they have been also rooting like crazy and finding anything left that might be a bit green, we are happy to have them aerate things and plan to reseed once they move on to the next pasture. Surprising, they have been delicately browsing ‘the good pasture’ and haven’t destroyed things yet. This gives me hope that we may be able to leave them there at least a week.

The fence has been keeping them in, although according to Shaun he has seen them testing it, especially when they are excited about getting food. We went ahead and set up two more paddocks so it will be an easy transition.

We had requested from their owner that he choose his more docile pigs for us, so far they seem pretty friendly. The first time I got to see them I was able to go in the paddock with them and pet them and they were very sweet. This has made me less nervous, although I am still aware of my surroundings. Hopefully things continue to go well, the chickens and the cat have been curious about the pigs, but so far we haven’t had any confrontations. Evidently, the neighbor’s horses “sensed” the pigs once they arrived and have been acting weird. I didn’t know this was a thing and they can’t even see each other, but I guess they know they are there. Our neighbor said she had a feeling it was pigs and confirmed her suspicions by stopping over for a visit, but she is glad because she wants the horses to get used to them. Phew!