Days 105-119

Not a whole lot to report, though two weeks have passed us by.

There's another pig roast coming up this Saturday for Parents' Weekend. This time, we're digging a pit to build the fire in, and hanging the pig on a longer piece of rebar, (with a handle!) and cooking it that way.

The pigs continue to eat a ton (did you know, pigs excrete 15% of their body weight daily??), there's a new runt who continues to wimp out when it comes time to eat, and won't stand up for her food against the other pigs. Thus, we're ensuring that the food is spread out amongst 5 feed dishes, so they ideally all get a fair share.

The above photo shows the pigs in their new, escape proof home.

Days 98-104: Eventful days!

The pigs now weigh around 150 lbs. They should be eating 6.8lbs of dry feed daily, which amounts to 17lbs per feeding for the 5 remaining pigs. I'm planning to feed them 16 however, because they usually get a bucket or two (or three) of nutrient dense compost daily.

I say remaining because our on-campus slaughter and pig roast happened this Friday and Saturday!!

Dave McCoy came and slaughtered Runty and Lucky and on Saturday I roasted Runty (with much help) to feed ~45 students and faculty with leftovers for Sunday's dinner. She was delicious! Especially the parts we injected with maple syrup cut with lacto-fermented pickle juice for some salty, maple-y sweetness!

I'm butchering Lucky's carcass with some help on Tuesday, and freezing it until the 21st when we'll enjoy baked pork for the dinner following all-college workday.

Tomorrow the piglets are being moved from the tennis court (the only place we can keep them confined) to the old compost pad (where they'll be barricaded in) with lots of compost to play in. I'm excited about our new setup. More info and pictures when it's done.

Day 96 &97: Escape #_? and updated weights

Weather: Quite muggy, with passing downpours.

Yesterday we worked hard (Stuart, his friend Dan, and myself) to set up a seemingly wonderful stretch of woodlands abounding with apples and cool, moist, understory, and a pasture counterpart for them to eat grass from. 3 recalcitrant pigs who were more interested in the compost pile (a running theme) than the feed we had to offer them, were brought back to their previous enclosure, leaving 4 to be moved into the new area.

And, today, THEY ALL ESCAPED and rendezvoused at the barn! The wonderful Sierra, a fellow student/draft horse assistant manager who has her own pig and really knows how to handle them, herded them all back to their electrified enclosure in the woods/pasture. I weighed them today, curious about why they were so hungry as to all break out and head straight for the barn, discovered that they've grown 30 lbs in the last 3 weeks!! They now weigh on the upper end around 120.5 lbs, thus require more like 6lbs each of feed, meaning 20-22 lbs per feeding (rather than 16lbs). That new feeding regimen will be updated tomorrow.

Posting resumed (Day 95!)

The pigs are about 3 1/2 months old now.

I'll have weights on them soon. They're looking good though. They're almost caught up to the size of the feeders and breeders being raised by other students that have been getting more feed/individual care.

The first slaughter is one week from today. I think the biggest two will go (pictured above--the black and white one and the white one with black spots). The meat will feed the campus for one or two meals.

They'll be moving into the woods to savor the sweet juices of apple season imminently (tomorrow morning, if all goes according to plan). Today I fed them 4 buckets of slightly moldy pound cake and other goodies from a nearby bakery. Lends new meaning to the term 'hog heaven'.

Day 73: Upcoming Posting Hiatus

Hello!

Weather today is fairly warm, but with a crisp fall feel in the wind.

Truth be told, I'm frustrated. The piglets won't stay in their fencing, no matter how hot it is or how tight the strands are to each other, delivering a strong shock.

I'm going to put up a 3rd line this evening in an attempt to keep them in, but my hopes aren't high.

The good news is that they haven't figured out how to go gallivanting about the farm yet. So far, they're confined to the area of permanent fencing.

Annnnd...the official weigh in of the biggest male pig: 92.48lbs. I was way off in my previous estimate. So they're growing! And that means their feed should be upped even more! Maybe soon they'll stop escaping.

Finally, I leave tomorrow for the NOFA conference in Amherst, MA and then I'm off to Iowa to visit friends for a few days. So, no updates probably until the 30th! The pigs will be in good hands though. I'll be leaving tips for the people staying over break to tend the animals.

Day 72: Rain

And it rained...hard.

Annnnnd, I went on an all day field trip, then out to dinner to debrief the year with the Residence Life Team.

So, I didn't even see the piggies today!

But, tomorrow, for sure! I'll have bakery goods and kitchen scraps for them as supplemental feed.

Days 72 & 73: Rambuctious Piggies

Weather: nice! warm with a breeze, and lots o' sun.

So here's the low-down:

My pigs aren't getting fed enough to keep them from being overly excited (to the point of repeatedly bursting through a 4.5v strong double strand electric fence).

Solutions to keeping them a) contained and b) growing:

1) replace the thin polywire with either polyrope or polytape
2) start bringing the pigs scraps (coordinate with the other people raising pigs on campus this summer to ensure my pigs get priority, seeing as they're the only ones that belong to the school)
3) increase their feed prematurely to 16lbs/feeding.
4) wish for the best.