All In...

Yep - we are all in with this farm! My dream was and still is to make this property into a farm of some sort. Pigs and Poultry has a nice ring to it. 

Evidently, I am the one who had the idea to raise pigs and that sounds about right. I have to say that the craziness started last year when we watched one of the first Great American Farm Tour videos that featured pigs. In fact, the first farm feature was a farm in Georgia that was getting ready to do a pig harvest. It was quite graphic, but I still watched it and was completely fascinated. Because that's how I roll. It made sense to me  ~ grow your food, know your food. The pigs that were being harvest were  Glouscestershire Old Spots - a very large breed. These dudes can be anywhere from 500 - 600 lbs. Ummm...that's a bit large. 

Time to do research! 

First I looked on Craigslist to see what breeds were available for sale in the area. All I wanted was something that would be close and easy to transport. Also a breed that I would feel comfortable managing. Even just searching in Clark/Cowlitz Counties there were only a handful of ads. Most of them were either Kune Kune or the American Guinea Hog. It was easy to choose between the two - the Kune Kune are spendy! I didn't want to go into this adventure with a lot of cash out of pocket and then figure out that raising pigs was a silly idea. So I looked at the AGH - reasonably priced for piglets, easy to raise, docile, friendly etc. Okay cool, I can get on board with this compact swine.

How did I determine that breeding these dudes would be the way to go? I'm not sure, but visiting a local farm helped a lot! Plus I had read a lot about these pigs on the Livestock Conservancy website - go HERE for that article. This is a heritage breed AND on the threatened list. I'm very much interested in keeping the heritage breeds on our farm. Our Mr. Goosey Pants is the only creature NOT listed on the Livestock Conservancy, but we like him anyway. 

Fiona say "Good Morning!"

Earlier this year we made a visit to Cascade Meadows Farm go HERE. A couple of weeks ago I made contact with Jason at the Farm and got the ball rolling to get our piggies home. After communicating over a couple of days, I was able to get a price range so I could bring the appropriate amount of cash and we borrowed a pet carrier and we were on our way! This past Saturday we made our way out to the Farm and talked pigs with Farmer Jason. He gave us so much information as did his partner. I'm sure that each of us retained a certain amount, but we'll see. They had already chosen a pair for us to take home. Which is great, because they already had an idea of the personalities and their genetics from their parents. I'm hopeful that the two will be productive in the years to come. 

These pigs...SO CUTE!

Fiona was somewhere in this bunch

The kids were loaded up and we completed the transaction and we were off; for an hour drive back home - in a stinky smelly car. One or both immediately pee'd and/or poo'd. We had windows down for much of the drive back home! After about 30 minutes the smell wasn't as bad, but it was still pretty stinky! If we did this all over again I think I would have like to have a pick up that was in good shape to do this activity. At least we had a pet carrier that we borrowed from some friends. 

Once we arrived home, we got them out of the car and set them down on the driveway. While they are small as far as size goes, they are solid which equals hefty! Soon after they were released into a smallish pen to get them acclimated to their new home. Their new home is of a nice lush open space of grass and some clover, chickens and a few ducklings. Oh, we can't forget the dynamic duo...

Lenny & Shelly checking out the latest addition to "their" farm.

We are three days into this pig owning adventure and so far so good. On Sunday afternoon after they had spent a full day in their little shelter we extended their area into  part of the backyard. Rex slipped out underneath the fence that was not energized. Lesson learned...alway energize the fence! Then once he was back in within a couple of minutes he touched his little wet nose on the fence - ZAP! Not just once, but twice. He spent a lot of time near the shelter...poor little dude. He's got to learn to respect the fence. Miss Fiona also has touched the fence, but she is a little more brave and shook that off quickly. In fact, I don't think that she touched it again. It might take some time, but they will get there.

Adding this sweet pair of Guinea Hogs just completes the farm. It also adds to our daily routine, but it will be worth it when they get to breeding age and we have piglets one day in the future. 

Farm Life is the Best Life!