Yesterday was another day of pig wrangling. I needed to go to one of the big farm stores to buy that solar panel but the little pigs were still in disarray so I could not leave the property except for one fast local run for feed.
Somehow the little pigs had pushed through one of the big barn doors and once again they took over the yards.
Thankfully they did not mix with any other animals, the cows were out the back, and so I let them just run about out there, looking for trouble while I lowered the electric fence in the new garden and got everything ready for them to be released to the other side.
The gate way was barricaded so they cannot not get through the gate and into the driveway. Not being able to SEE a way out is a big deterrent for a pig. Smoke and mirrors. 
Pallets are very useful on the farm.
At one point in the afternoon they had all drifted into the barn so I shut the inner doors, congratulating myself on an easy capture, then realised I did not have the dogs and came back out to find they were guarding a hideaway.
Once he was escorted in, that side of the barn was locked up securely and I opened the gates to the field out to the East that the pigs are turning over for a mid summer garden. These pigs have work ahead of them we don’t want to get behind in our schedule!
With those pallets across the gates we are starting to look like my Pa’s junkyard.
Today I will get John to take the tractor to the West Side and clean those yards over there. The concrete, that the cows are on, does not drain too well and it needs scraping again. Hopefully we can bring in one big round bale of grass this weekend for the West Barn cows and place it on the clean concrete. Our tractor is too small to lift a big bale so we are hoping to have it placed on the dump truck then we will back in and literally dump it into the yards and hope it does not roll too far. Fingers crossed for that loosely planned manoeuvre.
I hate having the cows on the concrete but I must protect the fields at this time of year – we need that pasture to be in good condition and growing for the spring. We have quite a few beasts to feed this year.
The weather is still warm today. Three loads of washing dried on the clothes-line yesterday – that warm. This little spell will last a few more days so I am working as fast as I can to get everything up to date in the comfortable temperatures. Getting all the pigs outside is a relief. Once the big barn is cleaned up it will stay that way for a while.
It is so hard not to succumb to the relief of spring because this is NOT spring – just a breather. I even heard the song of a redwing blackbird yesterday – an optimist of a bird and a traveler. But winter will come back with one long flick of its deep sea whale tail and we need to stand ready.
Having said that our high today is: 64f/17c.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
51 responses to “More Piggy Moves”
Oh how I wish the fellowship would clue us in on where they live. So frustrating to hear temperatures and conditions without where they’re coming from. But don’t mind me crank that I am
Ask and you shall receive 🙂 Our family lives in NW Montana~ about 45 mins west of Glacier National Park. We still have 3-4 feet of snow and the temperatures swing from teens at night to thirties in the day.
If you go up to the Menu at top right, and click on Join Us, you’ll see that many of the Fellowship have given info on who they are, what they do, where they live, etc. Celi has thought of everything… 🙂
Yes, hopefully that info is there for you.. Glacier National Park sounds wonderful .. c
Saving the “this is NOT spring ” paragraph. It’s both correct and delightfully surprisingly accurate. Nice reminder!
I have to keep saying that to myself too.. c
Just a quick glance at your pics shows Boo still favoring that back leg. Bless his heart. He just can’t help himself. He has to be out helping “Momma”.
I know – poor fellow – he holds it up when he stands still – can run on it but limps when he walks – I am very careful. He would be so sad if i left him inside all the time.. c
Jonathan > Pallets come in all shapes, sizes, materials, constructions, condition … there’s a pallet for every purpose, no matter where you are in the world. Hoorah for pallets!
Wonderful!! c
That picture of your dogs, intelligently guarding a recalcitrant pig until you came to sort him out was simply wonderful. It spoke such volumes about the way your dogs think and act in your best interests every moment of the day….
I hope you found my comment about the beauty of the detail and love you put into everything that happens in the farmy – a life well lived , and such an inspiration. with love, valerie
I hope the round bale plops into place and stays there! If those things get a chance to roll, one can take out a fence pretty quick.
Are pigs marked with tags or id chips lest they get out and wander the earth unsupervised?
We have had Robins now for 3 weeks. When the ground is visible, I see them flipping over leaves for bugs. And the berries on the Virginia creeper have been stripped. Unfortunately I doubt we will be able to plant much that is tender before the middle of May, Ike usual, but I have been tempted to start tomato seeds and the like. (Port Hope, Ontario, just east of Toronto.)
Pigs are warm loving intelligent creatures, happy, friendly and are always grinning. Then we eat them. Happy times from my childhood.