We Had Feeder Pigs
I remember my Father making slop for the hogs, and oh, how they Dearly loved that mixture of grain and minerals. The hogs were Durocs, Hampshires, Chester Whites, and more. The pigs would chase each other around the buildings and have fun playing together. We had a culvert under the road where the hogs could run to the old-fashioned small pig buildings or back to the new hog house. One day, when I came home from school, two hogs escaped through a broken board by the creek. I threw some corn in the middle of the hog house floor and then rounded up the hogs. I got one pigback through the broken board. I fastened two boards together with nails since I could not find one long enough. I gathered the other pig and placed him in the middle of the hog house. My Father never did replace that board. He left it there for years. He was proud of my ingenuity. We had electric water throughs for them to drink from. We also had a mixer meal and made our feed for the hogs.
Sows And Piglets
We had sows and piglets in our old barn. We had hog dishes and a heated water container for them to drink out of in the winter months. It was tough to separate the piglets from the sows. The Mother pigs were very protective of their piglets. We put the Mother pig in the bucket of our tractor, had her piglets in front of her, and placed them all in their new locations. You cannot leave the piglets with their Mother too long, or she will accidentally roll over on some and kill them.
Alice And Jerry
They were two runt baby pigs that I raised. Alice was a Duroc, and Jerry was a Hampshire pig. They grew quickly with my care. They were in a container in our home until they got big enough to survive outdoors. I became very attached to them and had to take them to market, but I knew that farm animals were used to feed people. My Father gave me the money for them, and I put it in the bank.
Feeder Pigs That We Purchased That Had Been Eating Acorns
We purchased some feeder pigs from a friend. The pigs had been living in the woods eating acorns. The pigs were very lean, but it did not take long for them to fatten up, and we took them to market. I would ride with my Father to the market. I never went inside to see how the pigs were killed or butchered, which I am thankful for.
Bored Pigs
Once, all of our feeder pigs were jumping at one gate only, and they would have knocked it down eventually. I rounded up some corn from the grain bin and threw it on the concrete in several places, and they all calmed down, and that never happened again. Pigs will bite off each other tails if they are bored. We purchased some old bowling balls, and watching the pigs pushing them around with their snot and feet was fun. I liked to help take care of the livestock on our farm.
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