![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/fence-3.jpg\" "\\"fence")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhen they did get out, they were mostly concerned about getting back in.<\/p>\n
They learned to drink from their nipple water without any trouble at all.<\/p>\n They ate everything we gave them.\u00a0 Including vanloads of bread from the outlet bakery that was completely fine to eat but too close to its “Use By” date to leave on the shelves….<\/p>\n pallets of fruits and veggies that were discarded by groceries because they were waaaaay too “rotten” for human consumption….<\/p>\n and, of course, any abundance out of the garden that we just couldn’t face eating one more time.<\/p>\n They always pooped in just one corner of their pasture, away from their food and their house.\u00a0 Which was handy.<\/p>\n They even taught us something new about pigs.\u00a0 They were the first pigs we’ve had that took turns cleaning each other after they ate.<\/p>\n Of course, clean up might not have been necessary if they didn’t eat like this:<\/p>\n And come out looking like this:<\/p>\n Regardless, they were easy keepers that stayed manageable to the end.\u00a0 They were always up for back scratches or nose rubs through the fence.\u00a0 Pretty didn’t have any trouble measuring them for weight checks.<\/p>\n And as long as you watched for them stepping on your toes, they were never even a bother if you were working in their pen.\u00a0 Just friendly and curious.<\/p>\n They loved swimming in the pond, snuffling through the woods, and, best of all, taking naps.<\/p>\n True to their easy going nature, they followed us right up the ramp to a final helping of milk and grain on the livestock trailer.\u00a0 And stood in their feed bowl for the last time.<\/p>\n I know it seems cruel to some people to raise pigs so trusting that they follow their farmer right to the slaughter house door.\u00a0 But in the days of factory farming, feed lots, and confinement pens, our pigs seem like a small victory.\u00a0 Proof that you can have your meat and treat it well, too.\u00a0 And when you raise your own food—-whether you gather your own eggs, pick\u00a0 your own produce, or raise your own beef—-making it to market is a good day.\u00a0 It’s the end of gathering proper feed, maintaining housing and fencing, worrying about heat, about rain, about predators, about illness.\u00a0 Big, happy, healthy pigs meant we did a good job of taking care of them and now they’ll be taking care of us.<\/p>\n It’s hard to believe they came like this:<\/p>\n And six months later, left like this:<\/p>\n I gave them one last nose rub and thanked them.<\/p>\n Then The Other Half drove them to the local processor, just 30 minutes away, and he stayed to help move them calmly and make sure they were humanely dispatched.\u00a0 While he was gone I took down the pigs’ housing, returning tarps to the garden to cover fallow rows, pulling up T-posts, washing out feed troughs and buckets and moving them to the sheep pasture.\u00a0 When I was done, the only thing left was their favorite wallow.<\/p>\n It remains to be seen if the pond will hold water better now that the pigs have mucked it up and trampled the edges.<\/p>\n If the pond seals, that’s a bonus.\u00a0 If not, the freezer will still be full.\u00a0 Most of the meat is already sold, but we still have a whole or half pig to spare—-which includes center cut hams, boston butt from front shoulders, ribs, pork chops (approx 20 in a 1\/2), whole tenderloins, and sausage (medium or mild).\u00a0 Let me know if you’re interested.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the turkey and the chickens were happy to get the scrap bucket back for themselves.\u00a0 I’m happy to cut back on buying chicken feed.<\/p>\n Plus, we can move forward with the plan to sell the dairy herd.\u00a0 With 7 months passed since she first freshened, Vanessa’s udder looks like this:<\/p>\n And she produced 2 overflowing quarts of milk this morning:<\/p>\n We’ve been using the milk to feed the pigs, because milk-fed pork beats any other feed, hands down.\u00a0 Now that the pigs are gone, Vanessa, a Toggenburg, can go to a new home.\u00a0 She’ll be $250 as she is, in milk.\u00a0 Or $300 if I breed her to one of my Nigerian dwarf bucks before she leaves.\u00a0 She can be dried off, too, if that’s preferred.\u00a0 We’re hoping for a nice homestead where she can remain as a family milk producer.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n