Pig “Wrasslin”

For those of you who have been following along during our “pig journey,” I must update you that we now only have two pigs left.  We had seven, butchered three, bought three more, and have since butchered 4.  Actually, we don’t technically “butcher.”  We just perform the “kill.”  FYI.

Taylor’s blog.  Full of pleasantness and glad tidings.  Welcome!

Anyways.  As of Tuesday, we had three left.  One of the pigs was all fat and ready to go, so we declared Tuesday to be “the day.”  The people who are purchasing this certain pig want it to go to a butcher who requires the pigs be delivered live.  The other butchers have all wanted them dead, so this was our first experience taking a live pig to the butcher.

It was a family affair.  Contrary to popular belief, pigs are not as tame and friendly as one might imagine.

So.  David is in the pig pen.  AKA garden.  He has a pole of some sort and his job is to try and herd the pig out of the pen and into the temporary pen.  Handsome Dude is “helping” David. The girls are standing by holding the gates to ensure the pig follows the path to the temporary pen.  Little Dude, looking ever so stylish with his missing circle of hair, is being naughty and climbing on a gate.

Taylor is supposed to be helping her husband.  She is, instead, taking pictures.

You’re welcome.

I snapped this one last photo and then joined my beloved.  For those of you dying to know, yes.  I do have the same muck boots as my husband in the above photo.  They are a must for all activities involving swine.  I also grabbed a pole and we all worked as a team to get the pig to the temporary pen.

This took awhile.  Pigs are not concerned with making life easy for us.

Now it is time for the tricky part.  We do not have a horse trailer or any sort of animal-friendly trailer.

We do, however, have a utility trailer, extra sheets of plywood, a bucket, and one determined David with a “can-do” spirit.

David put a bucket over the pig’s head.  I forgot to ask him why.  So sorry.  But I would guess it would be to calm it down and make it go with David.

But really.  What do I know?

David then took the pigs tail and head and tried to force it up the inclined ramp, while we were holding sheets of plywood up as sort of “gates” or “sides.”

It was pretty tricky trying to hold up the plywood and take a picture, so this was the best I could do.

The astute reader might notice that the tail of the pig is at the wrong end at this point.  Obviously things were not going well at this particular moment in time.  However, David was able to get that 300 pound hog into the trailer.

Road trip!

So, we all loaded up and drove to town.  I felt pretty awesome when I looked at my capris, of which I had worn for the pig wrasslin ordeal, and noticed a brown mixture splattered all over them.

Was it mud?  Was it poop?

We may never know.

***

Sweet Pea was helping Little Dude with his Awana lesson yesterday.  She had to help him fill in some activities he would like to do over the summer.

His responses?

Ride bikes.

Feed the “trickens.”

Dig dirt.

Jump on the tramp-er-ine.

Go to the beach.

Water the “trickens.”

Catch rabbits.

Take a bath.

He’s going to be a busy, albeit clean, kid.

***

David did a little weekend shopping last Sunday.

 

Handsome Dude heard me talking to David on the phone about it.  When I hung up, he attacked me with excitement:

“When’s Dad bringing home the Black Cat, Mom? WHEN!?”

I think a “black cat” would have been a bit cheaper.

Happy Thursday!