Early in the morning as the dawn is dawning I take the tractor out into the sweetcorn field and pick two big bucket loads for the animals.
I cut the stalk at the base with my sharp spade and throw the sweetcorn, with its stalk still attached, over the fences. They eat the whole thing. This is a good portion of everyone’s diets at the moment. Cows, pigs, chickens and sheep.
The protein level in heirloom sweetcorn stalks and leaves is not bad.
Both Big Dog and Boo spend time in the fields tearing out ears to eat. Ton has no interest in them thankfully.
Sheila and I have encountered a sobering problem. Charlotte still won’t let us into her field. I let Sheila in there yesterday afternoon. I do not have the room to keep them in separate fields and just thought they would be able to go back together after the weaning. Charlotte attacked again. For some time they were slammed together, jostling. Chomping their frothing jaws together making a clacking sound. Their whole bodies joined at the side, whirling round and round, backs arched, heads twisting, high stepping, trying to knock the other off balance so they could get their heads in to bite. It was another very nasty fight with Sheila’s ears bleeding again and torn skin on her shoulder.
At one point while jostling for position they both slammed as a 1000 pound unit into the fence and did some damage there too. If they fight like this in the barn they will take a wall out.
I stood at the gate, calling to Sheila and the moment Charlotte began to lag she bolted away, Charlotte biting at her tail, and ran for the gate, she panted through and I slammed the gate shut on Charlotte who then tried to take it off its hinges to try again.
I put iodine on Sheila’s cuts, while she cried and whimpered (she really does cry it is such a sad little sound) and drunk water, then she went into the barn to hide and sleep. After a while I was able to lead a barking agitated Charlotte across the field into the summer pig run so we can regroup.
This is not something I had anticipated. My friends who raise hogs are mystified at her turning mean as well. They have recommended the pigs stay apart in case Charlotte turns Sheila mean with repeated attacks. No worries there. Sheila is terrified of her.
The piglets on the other hand are very laid back now that their nervous mother is gone.
They are thrilled to be able to run from trough to trough scoffing happily and jostling for food with someone their own size.
Good morning. This was the pig’s dinner last night. When the local store clears out their vege fridges the pigs do very well.
It is misty and warmer this morning. Absolutely still with only the sounds of a rooster calling down the back. But there is a thick pall of skunk smell coming in through the windows. I wonder where it is. So far Ton has managed to avoid them which is a bonus. You remember him last summer!!
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
62 responses to “An Angry Sow is not to be trifled with”
I am sorry to see that Char has changed so. This is not good. You cannot have a marauding sow on the farmy. I hope she returns to being her old self and trust in your judgement if she doesn’t.
Your photos in this post are beautiful, Celi, especially of the pears. Nicely done. 🙂
Thank you John. In the end the answer will present itself. and I can see some pears being crushed for cider this fall! c
Oh dear C, how stressful that Charlotte is behaving the way she is. I do hope you can resolve the problem soon.
🙂 Mandy xo
Poor pigs! I know rabbits go crazy during pregnancy sometimes. But rabbit’s aren’t chummy herd animals either way. The enjoy company occasionally and too much and they attack eachother. In the wild they are never together for very long. I hope you find a good solution, and a better pig one way or another, at the end of this tunnel.
Oh poor Shelia…the thought of her wimpering like that 😦 It will be interesting to hear what the vet has to say and yes, maybe it’s just something unseen at this point…What does our John say about it??
Your first photo of the new day dawning is just beautiful…you can almost hear the quiet….and those pears…Yup, pear wine is what I was thinking too! Call me when it is ready! 🙂
How worrying and how unexpected 😦 Do hope this sorts itself out soon for everyone’s sake. I thought the veggies were a hot pot for you guys – looks wonderful!
I liked this post, but don’t like hearing that Charlotte has turned into such a mean bully. I do hope she will sort herself out and not stay this way. Your pears look like a painting, they are so beautiful.
I hope the problem with Charlotte is resolved real soon. You do not need any more casualties.
Our sow Ermintrude ruled the roost and mercilessly bullied any other sow (though was sweetness and light to any visiting boar). We had the room to keep her separate from the others and she was a fantastic mother so we kept her. She turned on her first litter – attacking them as they were born so that Bill went to the pub and ordered a pint of beer for himself and a gallon for his pig – though I suspect it was the Stresnil that calmed her more than the beer. But all subsequent litters were fine and she raised over 100 piglets with no fuss.
I have heard you speak of Ermintrude before did she get into fights like this? Charlotte used to be a bully, we had to pull Sheila out early because of Charlotte’s bad behaviour, she was never the same after meeting with the boar. She fought him as well. I had to laugh at the beer though, i did consider giving Sheila a drink yesterday! She looked like she needed one. She will literally drink it out of the bottle if offered. c
I’m so sorry to hear about this situation and wish I knew something about pigs to offer in the way of suggestions. But it’s plenty scary, that’s all I know–and I’m worried about TonTon especially, since he seems to stick around Charlotte.
She has run him off a few times so he has gone back to hanging out with Sheila, bright dog.. c
Just what you need is pig fights — not!
So upsetting. Is she sick? I wonder if she has something going on that is making her aggressive. Sometimes if an animal is in pain they can lash out but other than that there isn’t any indication. Hopefully she’ll be alright in the long run.
You are certainly getting all kinds of experience in your farmy adventure. Yes, be careful. I don’t blame Sheila for preferring cats, dogs and humans to Charlotte’s company these days. The food in the pots did look appetizing! What a blessing to receive for the animals.
I wonder if you could treat them like rams and put them together in such a small space that they can’t get any speed/leverage so they can’t really hurt each other until they get things worked back out. Not sure on the biting though – maybe a grazing muzzle? Or…wonder if there’s a hormone shot the vet could give? Wow :-/.
I honestly am not trying to be funny, but when I saw the photo at the end with the beautiful veggies I didn’t immediately think “animal food” at all…I thought it looked just delicious! And I really do sadly feel that most Americans don’t eat this much nutritious vegetable matter in a month. I love hearing about how much time goes into managing a healthy diet for your brood. It’s such loving care. I will be waiting to hear how you are directed at caring for poor Charlotte. I hope she’s okay. And big hugs to Sheila! (you, too!).
The pigs’ dinners look good enough to eat… for a minute I thought vege casserole but the penny dropped when I saw the eggs… crazy what the stores have to throw out due to regulations… a few decades ago it would have been considered perfectly viable human food. If humans ate similarly, there wouldn’t be so much left over for the pigs and suffer fewer self-inflicted health issues.
Poor Sheila, and Charlotte too, I know what it’s like to be in a bad mood or in the path of one. Maybe that is why people give the pigs beer… if you do, let’s hope Charlotte’s a happy drunk 😉