This little piggie(s) went to market

L. has learned a lot about the day-to-day work of raising pigs since April and now she is getting ready for the next phase of this 4-H project - selling her pigs at the Cumberland Fair's 4-H Livestock Auction.

L. is responsible for "marketing" her pig to encourage people to come to the auction to bid on it. She wrote a letter to give to a few people (business owners, friends and family) asking them to attend the auction but asked me last night if I would also post it on my blog to, "let the moms know about it."

So here is L.'s letter explaining the 4-H Market Hog Auction at the fair. And please, forgive the shameless plug for L. but I figured I've shared enough stories about the pigs since April that I should include the ending of the project too.

September 2009 I would really appreciate it if you could come to the Cumberland Fair to bid on my market hog at the 4-H Livestock Auction. I have grain-fed my pig since I got her and I have taken good care of her. She’s had plenty of attention and exercise and is a good healthy pig. I am selling my hog at the livestock auction and I plan to put the money I get from selling my pig in to my savings account to use in the future. People who go to the auction to buy pigs sometimes go with friends and then they buy a pig together. If you buy my pig with a group it is cheaper for you to do it. Pigs are bid on by the pound. My hog is about 260 pounds right now. And there are people at the auction to take the hog to be processed or you can take my hog home to breed her (she is a mixed breed of Yorkshire, Hampshire and Duroc). I learned a lot about raising healthy pigs this year and I hope to do this 4-H project again next year. I learned a lot about being responsible for my pigs and raising healthy pigs. I hope you can come. 4-H Livestock Auction Wednesday, September 30 4 p.m. Show Arena From, L. Almeida

If you are wondering how she feels about the pigs going to market, I can honestly say it changes every minute of every day. Truth-be-told, I'm having the same mix of emotions as well. One thing is for sure though, there will be tears at the fairgrounds. No doubt about it. The question is who will have more, me or L. Because unlike the old nursery rhyme, no piggy is staying home - and hopefully none will run "wee wee" amok at the fairgrounds either!

8 new learnings about raising pigs

Learning #1: The pigs have not given up on their escape plans and have resorted to chewing their way out of their pen. The hole they've made is large enough to stick most of their snout through and the only thing from stopping a sniff of freedom is a stapled piece of a Tyvek feed bag (we used the empty bags to cover the shelter in an attempt to keep the rain off the already aging recycled wood we used to build it - it's worked well actually). Fino's working on a patch job as I type this since the escape plan was uncovered by L. this morning.

Learning #2: Don't ever say, "This is the LAST time I'm dumping sand in to this pen." Those words will bite you in the you-know-what (raising pigs has a tendency to do that) and you'll find yourself deciding one more time really is necessary. But in the spirit of ingenuity, and sheer discouragement at this necessity, Fino rigged up our trailer to the lawnmower tractor. Gathering and dumping sand was done with much more efficiency and we both wished this idea had come about earlier this rainy summer.

On August 30, after yet another significant rainfall, the pen was as muddy as ever and we felt another sand dump was needed to keep the pigs healthy.

Fino's new sand moving rig, which we are hoping not to have to use again this year.






Learning #3: During this latest sand dump we thought it would be helpful to secure the pigs in their shelter so we could keep the pen door open to shovel in the sand. But Titus squeezed through the small opening in the metal fence we used as a barrier for the shelter. Luckily we got the main pen door closed before he could fully escape. Had I not seen it myself, I would NOT have believed that Titus, a 240-pound hog, could ever have managed to squeeze through an opening hardly the width of a size 7 woman's boot.

Learning #4: Pigs love stale animal crackers. They grunted and nudged L. relentlessly after she gave them a handful of crackers looking for more. She felt so bad she didn't have any more that she fed them each a jelly sandwich (a rarity because the pigs are exclusively grain-fed). They wanted more of those too and L. decided they were never going to be satisfied so she stopped feeding them with a declaration, "You guys eat like pigs!" (She's quite enjoying her own pig humor these days.)



Learning #5: Chickens like pig grain as much as pigs do. While the pigs are trying to escape to the wilds of our backyard, the chickens who have free range of it are trying to get IN to the pig pen to snag their grain. This morning I had to pluck a chicken out of the pig pen. The hen recognized her error immediately and darted through the electric fence wires but couldn't manage to get over the secondary fence and back to freedom. What confused me most about this scenario (the chickens have been angling for a way in to the pig pen for a couple of weeks so it was only a matter of time before one tried it) was that the chicken seemed no worse for wear at having gone through the electric fence. I did an extra check to make sure the electricity was still running through the wires. It was. I'm thinking about re-naming that hen Houdini because it was nothing short of magic that fence didn't barbecue her.

Learning #7: A nice fall breeze can have an interesting effect on the odor in your house when its direction blows past the pig pen and through your large back door screen. We are now enjoying a fresher smelling breeze through the front door.

Learning #8: At no time can you loose your sense of humor during your first year of raising pigs. Anything less than laughing at your own naive notions about livestock is just not worth it. Grin and bear it and make changes for next time.

Did I just say next time?

                                        Big boy Titus is just a "giant snuggle bug" according to L.

I don't love mud, especially pig pen mud

I'm grateful for today's sun because I'm hoping it dries up some of the mud in the pig pen. The pigs, who I mentioned previously have a mission to dig to China in them, have completely destroyed all the grass in their living space. And because of that and all the rain we've had the past few weeks, walking in to the pen to feed the pigs has been a very messy ordeal that absolutely requires tall rubber boots.



But Fino came through with some "upgrades" yesterday that allow for fewer visits in to the pen. He installed a barrel feeder that drops grain in to a box for the pigs eat (a tarp above the pen keeps the box relatively dry). The added bonus of this contraption is that it will save us money on grain since the pigs can't knock over the box (it's secured to the side of the shelter and has a box inside to control the release of grain) like their old feed pans.

To avoid all the spilled water dishes that make the mud even juicier, he installed some reinforced pipes (protected by a 3-foot stake in the ground) for water spigots that release water when the pigs nibble on them (it's nice they have something other than my butt to bite).

These pen upgrades took a couple of weeks because we were trying to avoid buying special livestock equipment (it can be pricey) and Fino needed some time to work out the building details. And after L. measured the pigs and discovered that Pulchra was approx. 130 pounds and Titus was about 120 pounds, we knew we needed to make everything extra sturdy. When pigs at these weights want to push something around they can do it!

L.'s been knocked around a little bit recently (we've been told pigs get more aggressive as they get older and we're seeing some of that) but the pigs like it when she scratches their backs so they don't mess with her too much. Even a few pig "kisses" is a majorly messy affair because these animals are covered from head to tail in mud (and appear happy to be that way) so L. leaves the pen covered in mud well above her tall rubber boots.

I am thankful for today's sunshine and hope that the forecast for the rest of the week is drier than predicted. If not, at least L.'s visits to the pen can be minimized to scooping poop and making sure the feeder and water spigots are working correctly.

Oh, and when you tell your kids to clean their room because it's as messy as a "pig pen" well, now you have some perspective on what that really means.

Showmanship, a cow with spark

G. showed her cow Sparkles at the 4-H Jamboree this past weekend and things did not go quite according to plan. G. was nervous (this was her first show ever) and that in turn made her already spirited cow nervous which made for a challenging combination. But even after the initial antics of her cow and G.'s tenacity in getting control of the 1,000-pound animal in the ring (G. has an innate sense of how to handle her animal and good upper body strength from working with this particular cow), they finished with a blue ribbon for their efforts.

And there was a big sigh of relief from G. (and her cow she believes) that the show was over.


After some jumpy behavior, which I knew G. could handle because Sparkles has done this sort of thing before at the farm, both G. and Sparkles calmed down and did OK in the end. Here's a short video clip of her and Sparkles in the show ring.



In addition to showing animals (beef, dairy, sheep), there were workshops for kids to learn new skills at Jamboree. L. participated in a poultry showmanship class that taught her how to bathe a chicken, which was really simple actually -- just a pan of water and a few drops of castile soap. There were a few "ewwws" in the group when it came to washing the chicken's vent (i.e., butt) but L. was really interested because she's been wanting to do this for years (my kids love grooming animals of all kinds). The kids also learned the things they would be required to do in the show ring with their chicken and by the time the class was over, L. was excited about showing her chickens at the fair this year.



L. also spent some time with her pig club to learn about board training. Since pigs can not be halter-trained like other livestock (their bodies aren't conducive to halters), boards are used to guide the pig in the show ring. Upon first glance it looks easy but there are some finer points to making the pig go where you need it to and that includes taking it slow and easy as well as staying calm. L. is not generally an easy-going, calm type around animals (she's her mother's daughter in this respect) but she did really well working with the pig (his name was Snuggles) at this workshop and was eager to try this at home.





When L. applied the skills she learned at Jamboree on Pulchra and Titus, well, let's just say that things did not go quite so smoothly (and will likely be the subject of a future blog entry).

G. was all about cows at Jamboree and she and the other kids involved in beef projects participated in a clipping contest. Several cows were put in crates and teams had an hour to make the designated cows ready for the show ring. G.'s favorite part of the beef project is grooming her animal and although she's still learning the finer points of using the clippers (a moving object requires a practiced and steady hand), she enjoyed working with her team to get the cow looking her best.




Not knowing much about showing myself, I was unaware of the number of hair products used to get a cow ready for the show ring. The supplies brought to the fairgrounds include shampoos, conditioners, gels and sprays. One of the moms of a more experienced showman said she gets funny looks at the hair salon (for people) when she buys multiple bottles at a time and not sure she wants to offer the explanation they are actually for a cow. And she said that most women she knows who are primpers would be put to shame in comparison to her son's array of products and primping for his cows.

It was a busy day at the fairgrounds but a great learning experience. G.'s not sure she'll be showing Sparkles at any fairs this year but she's exploring some ideas that will take her to the barn stalls at a couple of fairgrounds this summer.

A mini outhouse with style, an L-ism

With pigs, chickens and cats we've got a lot of waste disposal duties distributed among family members at our house. Some days I feel like there is no escaping animal poop, especially when one of the chickens decides to leave a present on the front door stoop (I always look down before taking that step now because I've stepped in a 'present' on my way to the office in my nice shoes more times than I care to remember).

Or when one of our three cats leaves a present on the rug next to the litter box (and it's never our blind cat's mistake as we could understand if he missed his mark but our female cat who is persnickety about her litter box).

But the mounds and mounds of pig waste L. deals with every day is probably the worst of the disposal duties.

So it's no surprise that L. has poop on the brain these days and decided to make an outhouse out of recycled cardboard for her Webkinz animals ("all animals have to poop mom").

Last night she decided to spray paint her outhouse metallic gold and added the final details, including a mini toilet paper holder. I questioned the gold color choice but L. explained that this was a "stylish outhouse" and I was reminded yet again of her unique and creative spirit.

"It's a bling bling outhouse, a stylish way to pee."

"It's a bling bling outhouse, a stylish way to store your manure."

I only had my cell phone handy so I used the voice recording option to capture her explanation, which I posted with a photo of her creation on YouTube (it's not really a video but was the easiest way to post it). This short clip is quintessential L. -- aka an "L-ism" as referred to by friends and family.



Being this child's mother is a test of my sense of humor as well as damage control to explain comments made out of context and just plain stamina because I never know what will come out of her mouth next. But one thing I do know (and appreciate) is that life with L. is never dull.