Pigs # 21 - Pastures New

Until yesterday the pigs were still in their 'barn', which, although I wouldn't have chosen to keep them inside like that, has actually provided them with warm, spacious accommodation.  I've tried a few times experimentally to 'lead' them either with the bucket, or in one miserable failure, to loop a rope around their middles and to 'put them on a lead'.  Easier said than done with two now quite hefty, stubborn and still-wary girls.  So, having given up on leading, I had really resolved to keep them as 'barn' animals until the time comes for them to 'go' at the end of January.

I wasn't really happy about this situation, but couldn't readily see a solution that I could feasibly implement.  The pigs' outside enclosure is about 100ft or more from the 'barn' and I my heart sinks every time I think about their last escape.  I didn't think I could take the risk.

Reflecting on this problem, I kept half-remembering something I read about pigs eating soil (which after some research I discovered was Lady Eve Balfour's "The Living Soil" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Soil-Lady-Eve-Balfour/dp/0571107133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357244978&sr=8-1)).  After refreshing myself on this I thought that if I couldn't bring the pigs to the outside, then the least I could do was to bring a bit of the outside to them.  I shovelled a nice, dark, humussy (?!) load of soil into a barrow, and mixed their 'tea' into it, then dumped it into the barn.

What fun they had!  They carefully rooted through each particle of soil, eating plenty of it I expect, and also finding every grain of food.  They grunted ecstatically, noses down, tails up, happily curled!  Within ten minutes I had made up my mind - by hook or by crook I would get the pigs outside for their last month with us!

The next day I surveyed the route and my materials.  The route actually has the house along one side for perhaps 30 feet, which could make up one side of a secure path.  There are a few other opportunities of this nature - the side of their barn, the great bonfire heap that I am hoping will eventually dry out enough to burn, the 'white container' which I use to store firewood.  Using these natural advantages on one side I would then use the materials which I had on hand to make the other side of the secure path, and then, simply and easily lead the pigs to (relative) freedom!  The materials consist of: various corrugated iron sheets salvaged from hedges and fallen-down buildings, a roll of stock-fence around 30ft long, lots of barbed wire, a VW Polo, some sad, rusty and mis-shapen sheep hurdles, lots of MDF shelves donated by my father in-law from a surplus-to-requirements warehouse and finally a bath-panel which I took from a '"free" - help-yourself' box outside our local branch of Homebase.

A few hours later the route looked like this:


First few yards: Barn on the left and sheep hurdles on right

Next section: house on the right, pig fencing on the left

Homemade Hazel fence post cable tied to pig fencing

Coming into the 'corrugated iron' section

Corrugated iron on the left, more homemade Hazel posts
Note use of Polo and bath panel on the right!

Sectional wooden boxes supporting MDF sheets, then bath panel

The weak link? Bonfire / tree stump / plywood barrier

 

After walking the route again and checking the fence one last time I mustered all my courage, and, armed with 2 saucepans of pig feed, opened the gate to their barn.  It started reasonably well, the pigs were fairly interested in following the food (note to self, don't feed the pigs in the morning before you attempt this again!), but not overly keen.  They were however, madly excited to be outside, and in particular to see the grass in the garden, which they galloped up and down rooting up as they went.  One thing they were not interested in was moving towards their outside run, and in fact, after a short while, they both went back into the barn.  At that point I decided to try to 'herd' them instead of trying to lead them.  This worked really well, and the bravest of the two rushed all the way down the 'secure path' and into the area next to the bonfire where she circled around excitedly before noticing the gate to the enclosure and running in.  The second followed her sister, a little more warily, but within a few minutes she was securely in the outside run and I was leaning on the gate, relieved, with knees still trembling a little!


In their natural habitat at last!