Dale and the girls hanging out at the pool
August 11, 2013
Some of you will remember that we started out this summer with a new Duroc boar. His name was Andy. He was pretty shy around the girls and mostly just wanted to lay around and look at them. The girls, especially the older ones had great contempt for Andy…I think it’s safe to say they hated him and his “Mr. Milktoast” manners.
Andy actually started to understand his job. After a couple of weeks he even chased one of the girls around. His heart wasn’t in it though, I think it was all for show. One of my big sows got tired of his lack of interest and beat him up. The problem was, that she waited until he was about to mount one of the gilts. She rolled him end over end injuring his shoulder. Andy never played with the girls again.
So, here we were, six female pigs all ready to be bred and no boar in sight. I scrambled and found a very nice Landrace boar in a neighboring county. He was actually in with a nice bunch of gilts and understood his job well. I bought him on the spot.
My sow herd is out on our spelt field…the one I got stuck in just a couple of weeks ago. They are cleaning up anything that I missed or couldn’t get harvested. They are rooting for roots and eating grasses along the field edges. They are eating crab apples and who knows what else, but they are very happy in the big field, sleeping in the shade and playing in the water.
I brought Dale home. I unloaded him in the spelt field. He had not ever spent a day of his life off concrete. He was almost afraid of the grass and dirt. It didn’t take long though and he was grunting approval about his new surroundings. I went and got the girls to follow me and meet their new “man”.
It was a blissful greeting. The mean old sow who detested Andy so much, came running over barking at him. He stood his ground, curled his lip at her and she stopped short. He walked up to her, gave her the once over and pushed her aside…you could almost hear her swoon.
It turns out that he came home on the perfect day. One of my gilts really needed him. He established the pecking order and the fact that he was in charge and all is well. They spend their days frollicking in the pool, loafing in the shade and just enjoying life…. I’m getting the nursery ready for just after Thanksgiving 😮
2 Comments so far
Leave a comment
RicelandMeadows 
Well, what happened to lazy, confused Andy? Did he get a new home in the freezer?
Comment by Charlie August 12, 2013 @ 8:00 amSadly, after much messing around on my part, he died. It was hot and he simply gave up. I could get him up on his feet twice a day. He would drink and eat, but then flop down like a big sissy. He wouldn’t help himself at all…first “Ginger” I’ve ever known that wasn’t a tough, tenatious, fighter!
Comment by ricelandmeadows August 12, 2013 @ 8:12 am