Yesterday we went to collect two Yorkshire/Duroc piglets from Shelby. While small, these little suckers already weight 25 lbs. They should reach a market weight of around 300 lbs when they are 120 days old. Rather than confining them to a small pig pen, the plan is to allow them to free-range among the fields to "poop and root" using a roaming solar-powered electric fence to keep them in desired areas. The pigs' temporary home is a chain linked dog run. Last night we were debating whether or not raccoons would climb the fence and pose a problem to the piglets. More for our peace of mind than the safety of the pigs we moved them onto the front porch last night - much to the disgust of the dogs.
Recognizing that these pigs are being raised for a specific purpose, we spent some time debating their names. We ended up with the rather bland
Thing 1 and
Thing 2 after Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat mayhem characters. I had some specific names in mind that were closer to home but all the self-awareness and self-management training over the years has clearly paid off and I remained silent.
Having had no experience in raising pigs the plan is to first try out some common commercial breeds before investing in the rarer heritage breeds.
Thing 1 and Thing 2 in their temporary home:
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