Selling pigs, injured and recovering, coming home

Mama called me home yesterday about lunchtime because someone was coming to get a couple of the potbelly pigs. She and Victoria had negotiated with someone over Craigslist to sell the pigs for next to nothing and we thought it had fallen through but the boyfriend of the buyer showed up yesterday about 11:30 to load the pigs. Mama insisted that if they take Dottie they had to take Cloe also.

The buyer had his truck backed up to the pig building by the time I got to the house. He was convinced he could pick up the pigs and manhandle them into the large crate he had brought so we got Dottie and Cloe into the building to limit the space they had to maneuver and let him try. I am guessing Dottie weighs close to 80 pounds – probably half the weight of the young man that trying to catch and life them.

It became quickly obvious that that was not going to happen. The pigs did not enjoy being touched by someone they did not know. They rejected wholly the idea of getting picked up. So, needless to say, we did not go for the lifting approach, instead I got the crate out of the truck and positioned it in the opening of the enclosure within the building and eventually both pigs simply walked into the crate. It took three of us to lift the crate into the pickup bed but we got it in and secured without too much additional effort.

Now Mama is down to only one potbelly pig – which is acceptable for the moment but it is one more than we need. Going forward I would not be surprised to find out that she is scheming to get a male to breed Mollie in order to give her a playmate and attempt to capture some revenue. I would prefer to buy a bred regular sow if Mama is determined to see piglets born on the property. At least you can eat them.

For the moment we are considering moving Mollie to a different pen so we can get another set of feeder pigs to raise. I am not opposed to such an idea but I do not want to get too stretched out in either time or feed expenses. I would rather have a few head of sheep than more pigs, but we have not come to a decision yet. There is no particular hurry.

Kobe seems to be recovered from her tragic fall. Actually, she is not using the injured leg fully yet but she is getting around without too much restraint. Victoria and Mama are encouraged. I am ambivalent. I hate as much as they do to see an animal injured in any way but we still have too many inside dogs. Thank God we have such a large house.

Mama’s little chickens are continuing to grow well. We had to remove one from the clutch because it somehow injured its foot and was being trampled by the other chicks. I am still not certain it will survive but we have it in the bird cage by itself as it rests and tries to heal. It does not move about very much and often lays in such a way that we think it has died. But that has not happened yet.

Grandma and Grandpa should be coming back next week. Mama is in the process of getting Gracie’s room ready for them. I think I was told that they will be coming in the car they bought for Grandma with Norman and Seth planning on following later with both trucks and both trailers of materials for Victoria’s house.

We’ll see how that works out.