[fifisoo]

CPH number - check
Herd number - on it's way
Fence fixed - check
Snout wire in - check
Food sourced and in storage - check
Pig breed decided on - check
Piglets sourced - check
Ark delivered - check
Hay bale - check

I sit here waiting for them to be delivered, am feeling quite nervous, lot of things running through my head:

• everyone tells me how loveable they are and they are like dogs... I love my dogs
• "don't give them names"
• will my little ones get attached to them and get upset when d-day comes?
• was it a bad idea to have them in the bit of field that my kitchen window looks out onto..I spend a lot of time at that bloody sink, would out of sight out of mind have been better?
• will I cry when they go, probably.

Then the image of a pig nursing her piglets in a pen, unable to move, spending all day lying down in her pen pops up in my mind and  I remind myself why we are doing this. Oh dear....the door knocks, that'll be them, better go.
Wish us (me) luck

[ZaktheLad]

Good luck    Hope you get much enjoyment out of them - both in the looking after in the forthcoming months and eventually the eating of them when the time comes. 

[fifisoo]

They are here. They are quite cute and ugly all at the same time. I saw eyelashes and then thought oh oh....not a pet... not a pet... not a pet... I think I shall avoid looking into their eyes.  Listening to myself, dearie me.

Is this normal or am I a sentimental twat!

[Eastling]

Enjoy and expect to spend a lot of time just watching them as they are great time wasters   What breed have you got?

[fifisoo]

saddlebacks...already watching them when I should be hanging up the laundry 

[Mammyshaz]

Sounds very exciting. They sound cute. So where's the piccies 
Hope to be doing that one day, in the mean time keep us posted on the progress 

[fifisoo]

not sure to upload an image...

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

Enjoy the time with them, they are fascinating creatures when you get to see them close up. I can't quite believe we've had our 2 Tamworths for a couple of months already and they'll be going off to slaughter in about another 2 months time!

[mowhaugh]

How exciting, do you have photos?  We do give some things names and still manage to enjoy eating them.  I think children are much more relaxed about these things than us - my mum was looking after my boys this morning because I am feeling pretty ill, I told her there were plenty of left overs in the fridge for lunch, when I came down for a drink, William announced "Mummy, I am eating cows and Angus is eating sheep" - he adores cows and sheep, but seemed fine with this.

[danconfessed]

Good luck.  You will not regret a moment.  I have been keeping pigs for nearly 8 years.  Ive had ups and downs, mucking out in gale force winds, carry buckets and buckets of water around because the pipes have frozen, escaped weaners at THE most inconvenient time etc. etc.  But just look them in the eyes and every moment is worth it!  They truly are addictive too.

I have 6 Middle White's at the moment and to be honest I spend more time with them than I do my OH!

[Bumblebear]

We have a 3.5 year old and she knows when they go they go to "get turned into meat".  I love having pigs - although we had a rather traumatic time this year!  Enjoy them and we found that as ours were so friendly and trusting when "d-day" came they just trotted out of the trailer straight into lairage, which was much easier for them (if not us!!) as they were so trusting and not stressed at all.

Looking forward to piccies  

[honeyend]

I have not eaten meat for nearly 30 years, one of the reasons being the way in some places are animals raised, handled and despatched. This Tuesday I took my first two pigs to be slaughtered and butchered. They had spent the summer in their pen with, shade from trees, sleeping on a bed of straw in their little hut , a lovely  muddy hollow, and feasting on apples for the last four weeks, pig heaven . I towed the trailer to the butchered and they wandered calmly down the ramp to the lairage. My consolation that many animals that are not eaten do not have such a happy unstressful life, now I just have to work out if I will be able to eat a sausage.

[fifisoo]

Thanks for all your lovely replies.

They eat constantly. Now I fully understand why the phrase "greedy pig" originates. The munch munch munch is a new sound to me...I think it is cute...((((starts the "not a pet" mantra)))).

Another new sound is the grunt grunt. Think that is quite cute too... cue mantra.

I forgot about picking up the hay for their bed. Drove up to a friends and they sent me off on my merry way, (belly glooping after a fine cup of tea) with two bales of hay, a bag of fallen apples and a leg of homegrown lamb.

It was dark when I got home. Hubby is away in Germany on a business trip and I found myself rejecting my usual default of feeling a bit sorry for myself, the kids were still not in jim jams, homework not done, packed lunches not made and my internal dialogue, instead of being stuck on "Oh for goodness sake, will I ever get to sit down today?" was, "I really need to get the pig bed sorted".

I had to lug the hay from the back of the van (raining now and even darker), carry it up the steps to the field, chuck it over the dyke and then haul it through the field to chuck it back over the fence into their pen...breathe.  I risked life and limb to avoid being shocked by the snout wire that I couldn't see and had to reach for, to unhook, to get in the gate (ok, I am TOTALLY exaggerating here  ...but I was a wee bit scared) and then I heard them.

My little piggies.

Torch in mouth I dragged the bale into their ark, (bumping my head in the process and swearing a little bit) Cut the string and set it free...pouff! I set about making it nice and comfy for them by spreading it all out breaking up every lump.  I caught myself. WTF was I doing? In the dark, inside a pig ark, with a bump on head, covered in hay chaff, slabbering over a torch. Then it dawned on me:

I am absolutely comitted to making sure they have the nicest life possible because in the end, we will take it away from them. I will cry when they go, but that is ok.

No going back.

Night all x

P.S the homework never got done
P.P.S sorry for the massive post. Has been a big (pig) day today.

[Bumblebear]

I have not eaten meat for nearly 30 years, one of the reasons being the way in some places are animals raised, handled and despatched. This Tuesday I took my first two pigs to be slaughtered and butchered. They had spent the summer in their pen with, shade from trees, sleeping on a bed of straw in their little hut , a lovely  muddy hollow, and feasting on apples for the last four weeks, pig heaven . I towed the trailer to the butchered and they wandered calmly down the ramp to the lairage. My consolation that many animals that are not eaten do not have such a happy unstressful life, now I just have to work out if I will be able to eat a sausage.

I won't eat meat anywhere other than here for that very reason.  I always order fish or veggie