Little Piggies

After much trial and error, we have finally managed to come up with a fencing solution to contain our sow. She is so strong that she can easily bust through or tear up just about anything in her path. But, with 2 strands of electric wire (yellow so she can see it easily), a 2 foot tall wire mesh fence to slow her down if she decides to ignore the electric, and cattle panels on both sides of the gate where she is most insistent on getting out, she is finally contained. And it is about time.

Caleb had taken to checking that she was in her fence before venturing outside. She is, after all, huge and she can really take a good bite of you. I don't think she's really mean...she just tests you out with her jaws sometimes. Something like great white sharks. Only you can see her coming. And her teeth aren't quite as sharp. But, like I said, we've fixed the problem and she is in her fence for good. *knock on wood*

Her piglets, however? They have been another story.

Those piglets were just small enough to slip under the electric wire and through the gate, the cattle panels, and any weak point in the wire mesh fence. And let me tell you, they did. Repeatedly. They didn't even take the fence as a suggestion. To them, it didn't even exist.And so we had several piglets running amok in our yard, in and out of the chicken coop, and digging up grass to their little heart's desire.

Of course, the never went far and they didn't do any real damage, so we didn't really worry about it. And besides that, whenever we went out with feed or their mama laid down for a nursing session, they charged right back inside.
People would stop as they drove by to tell us that our piglets were loose. When we would say that we knew and couldn't keep them in, they just laughed and told us how cute they were. And our neighbor told us that it did her heart good to see a little chaos in our lives when her's was feeling most hectic.

Of course, they grew just a little bit more each day. And getting through their holes got harder and harder.Until one day, I realized that I hadn't seen a piglet out in the yard all day. And that was that. They were too big and all is well.

Between that and Burt's new electric fence that is hot enough to pop corn, we've been feeling a little like things are now under control around here.

Isn't that just about when the bottom drops out?