I spent most of last week, while Val was in the UK, preparing the accommodation for the pigs. I had to close off an area of land which we had tentatively designated as the future vegetable area, and reinforce its boundary with the large llama field. Not knowing how escape prone they were likely to be, I erred on the side of strength with the fencing, and tested it out with the puppies for an afternoon, much to the entertainment of the watching llamas.
An old stone shed has been cleaned out and slightly refurbished to act as a sty, and everything was finished with at least five minutes of daylight left on the last available day!
We had to travel four hours in each direction to collect the pigs, so we were pressed to achieve this in time to get back before nightfall. The two sows (sisters Yoda [pregnant] and Peppa [just fat]) were waiting for us in a stable, and loaded into the horse box with very little difficulty. Then we went up into the field to check out the young boar. It didn’t take us long to decide that we would have him as well – we liked his ginger and black patterns – and Kay and Jim had him caught, tagged, and carried into the horse box in a trice.
So we made it home with some light left (see earlier post). And the pigs unloaded with no problem and started eating grass with enthusiasm . . . and much contented grunting. Pigs, it seems, are much easier to move than llamas!
The piggy threesome have settled in extremely well. They found their house with no prompting, and already realise that our arrival at the gate is likely to signal some tasty food to supplement the delights of grass. They have started to work their way through our store of overgrown courgettes, and they’ve eaten the chestnuts we had left over. Damsons from a tree behind the house are well received, as are acorns we collect from the area. In short, they’re having a whale of a time.
The llamas are, however, much less happy. One look at the new neighbours and they ran away. Since the pigs appeared, Pedro and his females have not come anywhere near the boundary with them. They spend much of the day gathered on the other side of the field, sharing alarm calls, and apparently discussing the disgusting habits of the new immigrants.
We hope this will settle down soon . . . . why should they see the pigs as such a threat?
They look great.What kind of pigs are they? I love their colours
Did I miss the blog when you told us you were getting pigs? It was quite a surprise, but they are lovely…so cute!
The fat, round bundles of bristle and blubber now adorning our fields are Kune Kune pigs (Simon says he will write more about that in another post soon).
And Noreen….Simon did refer to the imminent piggy developments in his post about Bureaucracy on 16 September. I however resisted the temptation to blab on about our exciting plans prior to their fruition, fearing the curse of Promises Schmomises.