I went in this morning & opened up their hatch - they have a hatch, Jack's really gone to town on this little set up - I think he's more in love with them than I am! Anyway, I opened their hatch & they didn't go out. I stood in with them and tried to point to the outside & was making encouraging noises, but no, they weren't budging. So I went outside round to their bit of land - I'll have to take a couple of photos of the barn & the set up here so that you can understand how it's all laid out - and stood outside the barn, the other side of their hatch. I called them out and Tubbs was the first to step outside - she's so brave. She followed me right over to the other side, but Edward was still refusing to leave the safety of the barn & was making some very loud noises - obviously protesting that he'd been left all on his own! Tubbs & me wandered back over to the hatch & she went in and must've told him in piggy language that all was ok and out they both came! They were oinking and squeaking and running around like little crazy things. Totally excited that they were out with their mum. They kept coming up to me, almost as if they were wanting reassurance and I was giving them a little scratch and off they'd go again. To see them doing what comes naturally, rooting around and pushing their little noses into the soil was absolutely brilliant. It's just a shame the patch they're allowed on is the old potato & bonfire patch, so there's no greenery for them to get their teeth into. Having said that, there are obviously a lot of old roots under the ground and it didn't take them long to start munching on them! They found a potato too & I left them for a while snuffling around under the couple of trees that are at one end of the patch. I had to go get them some more pellets and while I was at the supply store, I got a huge bag of pony carrots and when I got back I scattered a few over the ground for them to find and munch on. They really are so funny - they want whatever the other one has and Edward'll wrestle a carrot off of Tubbs if she has one & he doesn't. He's a terror.
The rain stayed away mostly today - makes a bloody change - but they are absolutely caked in mud because the ground is so soggy. I was half tempted to give them a warm bath before I tucked them in for the night...
Following my mate Malc's tip, I'm going to get them a couple of footballs to play around - the speed at which they travel when they get going, I reckon I might be able to save them from death & sell them to Kevin Keegan in a few months. I hear he has a bottomless budget....
As promised, I took a few photos & a video. I apologise for the extremely high-pitched voice on the video. Yes, it's me but I didn't realise my little camera actually recorded sound as well. Be careful you don't have any fine crystal glasses near your speakers when you play it. Jeff's in one too, trying to give Tubbs a kiss. He nearly lost a nose when she realised there was no food in his mouth for her to steal. I apologise for the formatting, I know I must be able to move these around a bit and turn them the right way up, but I'm rubbish with a computer....
4 comments:
Ah yes, the big question. I've been thinking about that one quite a bit lately.
My friends are all convinced I'll bottle it at the end, but I'm trying very hard to keep disciplined about it.
Yes, I make a fuss of the pigs and I'll do everything to look after and amuse them (although I think the plasma TV was going a little too far), but I'm also looking at them from a 'farm' point of view, checking their backs to make sure there's not too much fat, looking at the development of their hams and shoulders.
It's hard, but it's what I went into it for.
Oh Malc, what are we going to do??!! It really was quite a shocking moment when I let that thought enter my head. My pals are exactly like yours but like you, I always knew why they were here and really was ok about the inevitable. When I was giving them little rubs on their backs, I was even letting myself wonder if the same happens to pork as it does that Japanese beef stuff - I can't remember what it's called now. I couldn't believe I thought such things, but I did! But seeing them yesterday & realising that they do follow me around, and do trust me, and I'm one day going to lead them to their deaths, was a bit of a rude awakening!
I've always said though that if I can't bring myself to eat the animals that I've cared for and loved and made happy, then I'll never eat any animal again. And to be honest, I like my meat too much to see that through! So, eat them I will. I hope!
Out of interest, how do you check their backs to make sure there's not too much fat?
VP x
PS the sun's beautiful here today - hope you're experiencing the same. x
It all becomes more edgy for us because we will probably go for home slaughter. It will save the lads the stress of an hour-and-a-half on the ferry to Kirkwall and I'm assured they won't know anything. Our neighbour (very experienced in these matters) will be in charge, but officially I'll be pulling the trigger.
Obviously the next pigs will be for sale, so they have to go to Kirkwall, but somehow I feel I owe it to the boys to kill them myself.
As long as the back feels muscly rather than soft, they should be OK, but the best way to tell if they are too fat is to look at the legs. Sara Jessica Parker - more feed, Nigella - just right, my gran - oh dear, diet time.
They do look very cute on the video, but I think you have to think: when they're alive, they're pigs: when they're dead they're pork. Which is delicious. And they wouldn't be there at all if they weren't going to be eaten eventually. I think the thing is to give them a great life - and it looks as though you're doing that.
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