"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
I'm not sure if he was trying to insult pigs or man with that remark, but it is something to think about. I'm also not sure what point I want to make here, except that I think it is an interesting quote and I tend to agree with him! We have a dog and we have many cats, and now we have two pigs as well!
We had all loaded into the van yesterday evening to check out the pigs that Jimmy Music was selling down the road. He is one of the many "neighbors" around here whom we have never met, although I have heard some stories about him. I had planned on getting pigs from a fellow who had been selling them to the FFA at school but that deal fell through last month when the guy got out of the pig business. I had agreed to pay $40 a piece for those pigs, which I thought that was a fair price. I was afraid Mr. Music would want more than that, so we were just going to go over to meet him and ask about the pigs. He had some for sale that was ready to butcher but he also had two adorable little Hampshire gilts that were just 6½ weeks old. They looked perfect, and I was glad to hear that he was asking $40 a piece for them as well. We brought them home, much to the delight of the children, and put them in our most secure stall in the old barn.
Sally is mostly white with a black head and a white back with black spots. Nellie is black all over. They were born on September 5th and are now around 20 to 30 pounds, and are both cute little pigs.
If the Lord blesses and all goes according to our plans, they will grow quickly and become mama sows sometime next July. In order for them to become sows, though, we will need to buy a daddy pig! Our neighbor down the road, Mr. Music, has 19 more piglets, not related to Sally or Nellie, that are around 2 1/2 weeks old now (born October 5th). He has promised to sell us two of the males. We are going to raise one for breeding and one for butchering, and we should be able to have them sometime between November 15th and 20th.
So, we have now embarked on the beginning of a hog raising adventure in Pure Water Hollow! We have no experience doing this so we will be learning very much as we go along. If anyone would like to share any advice, it would be appreciated! Our first project is to construct a good, secure lot for them to grow up in. We are planning on building it on the side of our barn and let them have a stall in the barn for sleeping and warmth. (We have much to do on the barn before winter weather really grabs hold here!)
Tomorrow I will stop and get some more straw and some pig starter chow. Today they have only had cracked corn bought for the chickens to eat, which they seemed to like very much. (They ate like little pigs!)
So far, I must agree with Churchill. I like pigs!
1 comment
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Jessica on October 23, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Hello Uncle Eric! I had a wonderful time at your house two weeks ago! I can't wait to see your pigs the next time we come over! I am sure they are so cute! It was nice talking to you, Bye!!!
~Jessica~
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