This afternoon’s big project was the pig pen again.
It had gone a bit longer this time because I had been hammering away on my office projects. There was a bit more to empty out, then.
With the dry weather, stuff wanted to stick to the floor more. I gave some lessons on how to manipulate a shovel to its greatest potential. Abbey said it was just like when a truck was stuck in the mud: You had to back up and roar through the mud to get out.
The pigs are getting quite large, and I had this slight fear of them turning again and rending us while we worked in the pen. To keep them occupied for awhile, we filled up one of their feed tubs with water and grain.
That lasted not quite half the time we needed. The pigs were curious and took some chances to chew on the girls’ skirts and my boots. We only had to gently bump their noses to get them to back off at first, but their curiosity grew to where they were getting very much in the way.
That’s when we discovered they love to have their rumps scratched. It was hilarious. When they’d get too overbearing, one of us would scratch them, and they’d go into almost a stupor. I got a good picture of Dane having caused the male to collapse in the corner.
The pigs keep themselves fairly clean. They maintain one corner dry and more or less clean from manure. That’s where they sleep. But they thought that since we were mucking up the pen, they should, too. They were pretty messy by the end.
We were not eaten alive, nor torn asunder, so I think it was a success. The children have plans to use sticks to scratch the pigs regularly so they become friends. That way the next time we clean out the pen, we’ll be guaranteed a good relationship.
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Juan David 