We’ll go no more a-roving

One of the sure things about livestock farming is that one can never be sure how a day will turn out.  When I went to fill the pigs’ whey trough in the morning round of chores, I noticed that the trough was nearly full.  Strange…  I usually see the pigs in their paddock, but right now they are homed in a dense patch of brushy woods, so sometimes they are snoozing in the shade.  I called and whistled for them and got no response.  Hmm…  I started beating the bounds of their enclosure and came to a place where the polywire fence had snapped.

It took hours of searching and miles of walking since the free pigs split into two groups going opposite directions.  We even enlisted the willing help of our dinner guests (also farmers, so they knew the drill) to get the last few pigs back into the enclosure, but this story ends well with everybody back in their place.

The picture is blurry, but that's because I took it while walking backwards.  The kids were with me when we encountered this group of a dozen pigs meandering through the hedgerows eating fallen apples.  We grabbed some buckets and starting rattling the buckets (the pigs assume this means we have food for them), and they followed us a quarter mile back to where they were supposed to be.
The picture is blurry, but that’s because I took it while walking backwards. The kids were with me when we encountered this group of a dozen pigs meandering through the hedgerows eating fallen apples. We grabbed some buckets and starting rattling the buckets (the pigs assume this means we have food for them), and they followed us a quarter mile back to where they were supposed to be.
Walking the pigs' fenceline to make sure everything is secure.  The two gilts are taking a walk with me, perhaps to spy on my activities in planning their next breakout.
Walking the fenceline to make sure everything is secure. Two gilts are taking a walk with me, perhaps to spy on my activities, planning their next breakout.

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