Pallet Pen for the Piggies


8-Pallet pen for the weaners

When we posted about the great pig escape a few of our awesome readers suggested testing out a pallet pen the next time. Instead of releasing them into an area solely protected by electric fence, maybe put the electric fence inside a pallet pen and let them get used to it first. It sounded like a good idea, and an affordable idea, so we went with it.

In order to construct the pallet pen we first headed over to a neighbor’s place to pick up some used pallets. We thought eight would be good for each pen, the boars in one, the gilts in the other. He didn’t have 16 pallets, so we just got 8 and put all four of the pigs in it. Then a few days later we got 8 more from a different neighbor and built another one. One thing's pretty certain around here: there ain't no shortage of old pallets. 

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Meanwhile, Back at the Farm


Janis, showing us how she really feels...When stuff like the piglet escapade happens everything else on the farm stands still. No goats need milking, no pastures rotating, meals cooking, gardens weeding.

We wish.

In fact, not only does everything still happen, none of the animals even seem to care! The goats were actually perturbed by the whole thing. When Bridget and Mayday would come in for milking Bridget would walk right over to the edge of the fence and snort loudly at the little gilt piglets.

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Victory is Ours! - Piglet Porkout- The Final Chapter (For Now)

Sheba, under NO circumstances are you to let those little piglets out of your sight. I know they're cute, but don't fall for it

Three full days after they first escaped, the two boar piglets were still on the loose and seemingly happier than pigs in, well, you know. The first few days we were worried about them. By day four, after a full day of piglet evasion tactics at their finest (under the trap, over the trap, around the trap...), we were just worried we'd never catch them. I even voiced possible acceptance of the worst case scenario of the boars running wild on our property. They'd have no qualms about slipping through the electric fence to visit their impounded ladies for a "marital" visit, and as long as they had reason to stay around, maybe they wouldn't go off and form a pack of wild pigs... Yeah, maybe not the best idea! But that should give you a good idea of where we were. 

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