Pig wrestling

The pigs have been in the barn since we got them, partially getting to know us in a confined area, and partially waiting for their ear tags to arrive - easier to apply in the barn.

One of them had an easy time of it being tagged as I managed to sneak up on her while she was eating. The other had to be grabbed and wrestled to the ground which was super fun with her screaming loud enough to burst ear drums and they kept retiring in to their toilet corner so grabbing their feet slippery with poo was tricky - and gross. We managed in the end through. Traumatic for them and us!

We then had to get two 40kg super strong and very squealy bundles of muscle from the barn up in to the woods. First off we tried luring them with pig food (called pig nuts, but actually prepared pellets) but they kept freaking out and running back in to the barn. Snuffle went for a bit of a run down the drive. We eventually got them back in to their stall so we could think again.

I came up with the amazing idea of tying harnessing on them and either dragging or leading them depending on how they behaved. Amazingly with some food to eat they stayed stillish while I tried with several different types of rope before we had something we thought would hold. The harness goes both infront and behind their front legs to stop them slipping out. Pigs are inconvenient shapes to get collars on to...

Snuffle (on the left of the picture) set off at a fine rate, Snort was a bit harder to get going, but once she was was not too bad. They freaked out a couple of times which meant them floundering around like beached whales while screaming at the top of their lungs. But they calmed down quickly.

Here they are at their new home with their other owner - we are sharing the care and feed although they both live with us. This is a convenient way of doing it as two pigs at once takes a lot of freezer space.

We first had some sheep fence round them which is electric mesh, but they managed to get tangled up in it - if they did that while noone was their they would die. So we just had to hope for the best with the 2 strand electic after encouraging them to touch it a few times - so they learned to avoid it.

We trapped them in the house overnight and they are now roaming free (well hopefully not actually free, but they must have an acre within their fence I would think) in the woods. They have touched the fence a few times and backed away from it which is good. Fingers crossed they stay in! When last seen they looked like two very happy piggies.