Fall Pigs Arrive

We love pigs. It is called husbandry for a reason, raising and caring for animals is an intimate process and each species has its own personality, quirks and demands. It was a whirlwind week of preparing for their arrival, welcoming some old friends for a visit, unloading pigs, building a pig pen and getting to know our new friends.

We had put some feelers out for getting a batch of piglets to raise this fall into the winter to keep our freezer stocked with Pasture Raised and Organically fed Pork. And when our friend Mark Kimball at Essex Farm said they had a litter of pigs for us we were thrilled. Mark and his animal team led by the wonderful and caring Anne Brown, raise some awesome pigs. They are on the road to being a Certified Organic operation, and they have been raising and breeding pigs since before Racey and I worked there in 2009-2010. Essex Farm is only 7 miles down the road from us so it was not a long commute for these guys.

We had gone back and forth about scheduling and when we could take the litter, and then Mark asked if we could take them sooner since they were making hay and needed the barn space. Race and I started preparing a spot for them on Monday after lunch. Then Anne called and asked if they could bring them over that afternoon! So I went to grab the kids at school and we all went down to the barn to get ready for our new friends. Then Anne literally plopped them into an old apple crate and water trough in the back of a 15 passenger van and drove them over here.

There was some squealing and screaming as only a pig can do as we carried them from the van into a temporary spot we setup in the now empty chick brooder. Too small for 11 growing pigs to grow up in, but a cozy spot for the evening. The day was getting late and we decided to get their new home ready the next day.

With a combination of some of our cattle panels with “hog panels” wired to them we created a large pen for them to have an area out of the weather and some fun outdoor time. Here we will train them to electric fence and further expand their roaming. We will also clean up and organize the barn so they can have more space during the colder months. Thank you Essex Farm and Anne Brown for the pigs.