The pigs were, like everything else on this farm, a long saga. When we bought the goats we were scrambling, last minute, to clean out a room in the barn and throw up some fencing for them. We determined that with pigs we were not going to do that. No, this time we would research the pigs and determine the best way to keep them, we would make them a shelter ahead of time, we would buy the fencing and be prepared before we brought them home.
But, lacking the stress of the animal needing a pen RIGHT NOW, we didn't get around to buying pigs for an entire year. We'd read that the best way to keep pigs was with a mesh, electric fence. Apparently, if kept with a solid, non-electric fence they would dig out from under it and escape - sometimes in under an hour's time. We bought the electric, mesh fence specially made for pigs and . . . it sat in the barn while we worked on other projects.
Finally this spring we realized we needed to buy pigs very soon or we'd be going too late into the fall. Who knew how difficult it is to find small feeder pigs for sale? We finally were able to buy two; a male and a female.
We dutifully set up the mesh, electric fence the night before we were to go pick them up. We decided we would run the fencing on the back side of the barnyard cinderblock wall. The electric fence made a U-shape and the solid, cinderblock wall created the fourth side of the pen. DH (Dear Husband) ran a feeder wire from the existing electric fence to the mesh and, inadvertently, tested it for us. Yep, a nice, strong current. No way those pigs were going to mess with that fence.
We went to the truck and pulled out the larger of the two pigs, the female. (It may be worth noting here that DH was already covered with pig poo pretty much from shoulders to feet. When he was loading them he picked one up by its hind feet so when it let loose he was unable to avoid the dousing he received. The poor children had to ride a half hour closed up in the cab of the pickup truck with that stench!) We carried her through the barnyard and set her down in the middle of the enclosure.
She sniffed around a little, nibbled a few weeds; it was all good. Then she wandered over and touched the electric fence. Of course she squealed but then she ran into it again, and again and again and again. It was almost like the electric fence sent her into a rage. She bounced off of it over and over, squealing/screaming the entire time. It was horrible to see and listen to. Finally she pushed under the fence and took off for the upper pasture, getting one more shock by the perimeter fencing on her way.
We could NOT let that pig get away. If she made it to the woods then the only thing to do would be to hunt and shoot her. She wasn't that big and we would have just wasted the money we spent to buy her. We could not have a feral pig roaming the area. Plus, if one of the neighbors got to her first then he would have rights to the meat. All this was running through my mind as we took off after her.
If you've never chased a pig dressed in your tall, rubber barn boots and your winter barn coat then you just haven't lived. All four of us ran all over that field for at least 20 minutes before we could get close enough to grab her. DH and I had to carry her together; down out of the upper pasture, across the stream and through the main pasture back to the barnyard. I was laughing so hard that we had to set her down until I could catch my breath.
As we came back to the pig pen, the neighbor walked up and asked if we needed some help. He said he was sitting on his sofa and happened to look out his patio doors in time see us chasing something small and black. At first he thought it was a bear but when he looked through his binoculars (standard equipment in the boonies) he realized it was a pig. He called his wife to the window, "Honey, you gotta come see this." They were trying not to laugh as they walked over. It's nice to know we provided the neighbors some entertainment for their Saturday afternoon but we gratefully accepted his offer to help.
This time, before we set her back in the enclosure, I put a rope goat halter around her neck like a collar and held the end of the leash. I figured if she got through the fence at least she couldn't take off for the hills. It was like déjà vu all over again. Fairly quiet until she touched that electric fence but once she touched the fence one time it was like she just couldn't leave it alone. She bounced off of it over and over again. Only this time she was wearing the collar and, as I would pull her away from the fence, the screaming was accompanied by these awful gagging and choking noises. It was getting stressful for all of us.
We thought maybe if we put the male into the pen they would both quiet down. We got him out of the truck and set him in the middle of the pen. He promptly ran through the electric fence, out of the pasture, squealing all the way.
The other animals, the goats, cows and horses, had all come up to see the commotion. I'd always heard that cows and horses don't like pigs but never realized what deep-seated hatred they harbor toward the porkers. The horses snorted and pranced. The cow snaked her head over the pig fencing and mooed while running the fence-line and glaring at them.
When that little male got into the cow's pasture, the cows took off after it with murderous intent. He was running and squealing and they scrambled after him with their heads lowered. If they'd caught up they would have crushed him into the ground. As our milk cow gave chase, she tripped and fell flat on her belly with her hind legs stuck out behind her. It would have been amusing except we were concerned she had hurt herself. She's worth far more than the pigs so something had to be done.
As evening approached, DH gathered up some boards and some screws. We pushed both pigs into their little shelter and boarded up the entrance for the night. Next morning DH drove into town and loaded up a trailer full of wooden pallets. Thankfully they're cheap and plentiful where he works.
He and DN (Dear Neighbor) spent the morning throwing together the ugliest dang enclosure you've ever seen. DN said he would disavow any involvement in the building of the Pig Pallet Palace. I told him I was going to advertise "Pig Pallet Palaces by DN" on an Internet website. He would be getting calls from across the country from folks who wanted the very same quality work done on their farms!
So that's how we ended up with this monstrosity between the house and the barn.
It's been a long, hot summer living so uncomfortably close to a pig pen. The flies and the stink are just terrible. We were all ready to say goodbye to the pigs. (No, they didn't have names. We don't name our meat animals.) We had processed the female earlier this summer and this weekend we loaded up the last one and took him to the butcher. Loading up the pig will have to be a post for another time. It's a whole other saga on its own!
P.S. The pigs never even once tried to escape from their Pig Pallet Palace. Oh, well, live and learn.
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