Our property sits on a slope, which drives my husband crazy but doesn't really bother me. Maybe it's because I grew up halfway up an insanely steep hillside, and that makes our land seem pretty flat to me. Anyway, last fall I decided that the slope directly below the backyard chicken run would be a great spot for a new garden. It was too big to till up, so I did the next best thing--I bought a piglet. Yes it does make sense. Pigs like to root up the soil in search of grubs and roots, so they can be a great tool for plowing if they're managed properly. I happen to have a movable coop--a pen on wheels, actually--so I put my piglet inside it and moved her around all winter long. She did a great job breaking up the ground, and she fertilized it for me, too! But, since it's almost time to start planting, it was time to move her on over to the pig pen...
Before we could move her, we had to make sure the pen was hog-tight. So, we replaced the old fencing with heavy-duty metal panels and wired them securely. Pigs can't jump very well, but they sure are strong. A pig pen doesn't have to be tall, but it's got to be sturdy.
Pigs use their noses to lift heavy objects to get at the grubs underneath, so they can nose underneath a flimsy fence in no time. I learned this the hard way, so even though the panels were heavy, I double checked them and gave the corners a little extra tightening.
This pen is actually the outer pen, with a small pig-sized door cut in the barn wall. This way she can have some protection from the elements while still being able to sun herself on a nice warm day, or wallow in the mud on a rainy afternoon. What a life! I named her Miss Piggy, by the way...
I made sure to check the inner pen to see how it was holding up. There were a few boards that needed tightening, but everything else was fine. Then we moved her water barrel inside, filled her feeder, and made sure she had plenty of straw to burrow in on chilly nights.
Then it was time to bring her into her new home. She wasn't sure she wanted to move, so we had to pick her up and carry her. That's when she really got mad. I wish I had a video of that, but I was too busy hanging on to a squirming, squealing pig. I need to hire a camera guy...
I coaxed her inside with a handful of corn and showed her the feeder and water barrel. She would have found them on her own, but I thought it might help her feel more at ease if I gave her a tour. And it worked--she calmed right down and acted like she'd wanted to be there all along. Isn't that just like a woman?!
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