Moving Weaners

How do you move 30 weaners from the pens they farrowed in to their new accommodation at the top of the hill?

A boxing day task that Sarah left me with to remove some of the excesses of Christmas Day. We regularly move the sows around the farm and so they are used to the old "we shake the bucket - you follow" trip and will happily cross the electric fence line (when it has been removed!) to follow the bucket - such good mothers that the lops are - they will happily leave their brood for a few pig nuts! Normally we are able to reverse the little trailer into the pens and coax the weaners in. Unfortunately, the track is now impassable to our Trooper and trailer and so another solution was needed.

The weaners have had no previous experience of being moved or of the world that lies outside their pens. Clearly they can't see why you would leave the place where you are fed and have a warm straw bed! Nevertheless, I began the task with the hope that being herd animals that they could be herded up the hill in a neat orderly fashion... In order to get them over the fence line I moved their troughs across the line and put some feed in - a sudden rush of movement and of the first pen of 10 pigs 2 had bolted to the feed and were merrily chomping away while the others looked on in slight bemusement - They are eating food... but they are beyond the edge of the world... 


Having got the majority out I then tried to herd the pigs up the track - unfortunately they may live in herds, but are clearly independent of each other as the front pigs ran off to find more tasty grass, a few stayed in a little clump and then the last pigs decided that it was probably time to go wee, wee, wee all the way back home as there had been far too much excitement for one day. With a chaotic rabble of pigs here, there and everywhere it left one final option - to carry each pig in turn to the new pens. Each pig weighed between 20kg and 30kg and so this decision was not taken lightly! Also when you pick up a pig it lets out a bloodcurdling scream suitable for any horror film, as well as kicking it's legs in an attempt to escape - rather like a child having a temper tantrum - but as soon as you put them down again... silence descends and they trot off to find more new and exciting treats - totally unperturbed.

1 down, 29 pigs to go...

By the 25th pig, and third hour, tiredness was beginning to set in (for me - not the pigs) and then I discovered that the reason that the last 5 had not yet been taken up is that they were the flighty and difficult ones to catch. A number of excellent stealth approaches on pigs who had forgotten all about me and were merrily chomping on fresh grass and then there were only two left - the most agile and evasive... another 15 minutes of running about and thinking about giving up when, all of sudden, one of decides to practice mounting the other - in the same way as kittens and puppies play-fight, although pigs clearly have other priorities - and so they stand stock still... a quick grab and a short carry and mission accomplished!

Just another day on the pig farm... I think I have earnt today's piece(s) of yule log!

Bishop's Cleeve Tithe Barn Market - important information...

The next market at Bishop's Cleeve will be on Sunday the 15th of April (not January as we said to the many people who turned out yesterday!), sorry for the confusion.

In the meantime check out our Farmer's Market page for the other markets we attend, or alternatively contact us to come to the farm to buy direct.

Christmas treats...

It's nearly Christmas...

So we will be bringing a few special Christmas treats to all of this month's Farmer's markets, some of the stock will be limited, so if there is anything you particularly want, please contact us to reserve yours:

• Christmas Hams - Both Smoked & Unsmoked
• Chipolatas
• Pork, Stilton & Celery Sausages
• Long Back Bacon - perfect for the Christmas Turkey!