Before we started raising and breeding our Idaho Pastured Pigs, we would get a few piglets each spring to raise until fall. Here is a story of a spring adventure from a couple of years ago.....
We got this year's batch of four piglets on Monday. I've been too exhausted to write about our harrowing day!
We dropped the first piglet in the pen. It hit the fence... and kept on going! It ran into the forest behind our house and so began a three and a half hour pig chase.
We put up a push-in fence along the road and herded the pig into it in an attempt to slow it down so we could jump on the pig and catch it. It hit the fence turned sideways and ran around it. After that, it knew that fence was there and wouldn't go in that direction.
We found that piglets never tire out. My husband, four children, and I chased that pig until we could hardly move and it never got tired! It would lay down for a second while we all tried to herd it, but then up and away it went. We tried hiding and catching the pig as it ran past. We tried closing in on it in a circle. It's much easier for a little pig to slide through the forest than a big vertical human!
After hour number two we started thinking, "roast suckling pig."
Finally, in an opening in the forest, we made a "C" shaped fence enclosure and doubled the fencing. The children herded the pig into the enclosure. It ran in at top speed! The piglet hit the back end of the enclosure, got hung up for a second, frantically backed out and turned sideways, hit that fence, and my husband jumped on it and grabbed its legs! It screamed bloody murder. Oh my, did we cheer and dance!
Now, we've put the piglets in a high, solid board enclosed area for a few days until they calm down. As they get accustomed to their new home they'll gradually get a little more freedom.
The lessons never stop coming!
