Sorry about the late post for the weekend. It was busy and I was tired and had other things to work on.
Today I went to bed early and got up super early around 330pm. Usually I get up around 8 or so on Mondays. Melissa is doing a resale event and had to go help, so I stayed home with the kiddos. And with the piggos.
Ohai, piggies!
Just like when I first got chickens, I'm loving just sitting with the pigs and watching them do pig things. These two boys have managed to fluff up a ton of the soil in their pen here with their rooting. They prefer the foraging to their feed, which they still hadn't touched for the day when I came in to put the kids to bed.
How do you say pig in Spanish?
Just sitting around in the pen is getting the pigs a lot more comfortable with me. I got in a few Pat's, and I think I'm finding out that they're much more tolerant of Pat's and scratches on the back half than on the front half. I did get a good feel of a piggie tooth when I went for ear scratches, I guess we're not there yet.
What's the word for pig in your language? Or whatever language, really.
I'm still pretty intimidated by these little guys, but spending time with them makes me more comfortable. I'm still scared they're going to get out, so I keep digging things in a little deeper. I buried the back hog panel a little deeper today, and will probably do so again til it's halfway buried. My paranoia is healthy though I think; this is high stakes pig raising since I'm in a neighborhood in town. Not a lot of room for error.
That hole used to be about the size of a tax assessor, now they've filled it in pretty good in just a couple days...
That's all there really is today, cause that's all I really did today. Sit and get to know the pigs. Yeah, there's stuff to do, but I took the day off to be in here. We'll plant seedlings Tuesday morning when I get home from work...
Here's a link to a short video clip of the uproar from the rest of the pig herd after we put the boys in the truck. The mamas all rushed the corral as we were leaving. We left really fast because we didn't want to be supper, they were really mad.
https://lbry.tv/@foxfire_actual#1/pastured-pigs#0
That was the only video I got. I'll get a few more of the boys later, and maybe finally that video tour of the food forest that @bobydimitrov has been wanting for years...
Love from Texas
Nate 💚
Oh, these are cool looking pigs! And yes, I can understand how much fun it can be just sitting and watching them be pigs.
The word for pigs in my other languages (there are quite a few):
In Spanish one word is puerco, which is easy to remember since it's so much like pork. Another one is cerdo, which is quite similar to the Hungarian sertés, the word most often used when talking about them as livestock or meat. Otherwise, Hungarians just commonly call them disznó. No idea about the etymology of that word, but I think it's funny how it sounds almost like disco, only with an 'n'. In German the word is Schwein, which pretty much is the same as swine in English, but without the negative connotation. Then, back to Spanish, they also call them chancho, a word that makes me smile since it just sounds so much like when someone chews with their mouth open. Finally, there is also cochino in Spanish, which sounds cute and dirty at the same time, at least to my ears.
That's awesome!!!
I've been intrigued for a while over the etymological similarities between Spanish and Eastern European dialects.
Oh my god pigs!!! I'll never forget the year I first moved to England and planted a heap of beetroot that I was dying for - kept a real good eye on! One morning I woke up to a giant bloody pig eating them all _- i was very upset!!! So upset the pig owner came and gave me 50 quid. Well and truly paid for the beetroot thrice over, but still, I wanted my bloody beetroot! So paranoia is a good thing - they are escape artists! Super cool you have pigs!
I'm thinking on planting beetroot for them actually. It's a fast grower, right?
Seems like you are about your pigs the way I am about my goats @nateonsteemit! While animals really ties you down what is a homestead without the four legged kids? I think we all have a paranoid tendency with our homesteading critters. Also looking forward to that food forest......
We booked a camping trip today, and immediately afterwards I ghasped at my wife and said "wait, I forgot about the pigs!"
Luckily we have friends that can probably feed them for us for those couple of days, but without them, we'd be stuck at home always lol
Not necessarily a bad thing though. I like home.
Definitely! Vacation is good but Dorothy was right, there's no place like home. My husband knows already. When we go away, even for the day he always jokes that there's not place for my goats
Yup, they've been doing what pigs do, alright....
When Melissa asks what the critters are up to I always say "prolly doing rabbit things," or "they're doing chicken things." I guess now the pigs are doing pig things.
Tell you what. Whenever I need something tilled up, I'm gonna make a pen around it and put pigs in it. Those guys have the soil tilled up so good in there, it's unreal. And they taste a lot better than a tiller.
Yup, they do. Plus they may or may not fertilize as they go. Because of that, one has to be careful the first year eating stuff direct from the soil if things are planted just after they've been there.
So don't plant potatoes and other root crops there. Their poop seems a lot more like human poop, so I bet that caution will be the case even with the compost I harvest from them after they're harvested themselves, right?
Yes, that is right.
Also, I don't know if anyone told you, but pigs can catch some human things like colds/viruses. So if the kids are sick, keep them away from the pigs for a good spell...(Avoiding vet bills...)
Ah, I didn't know that but it makes sense! I wonder if they can catch the coof... Should I get them the covid vaccine? 🤣