Farm Fresh Blog

This is how it started -

 - two cow men hanging over the fence, cussing and discussing feral hogs that tear up the pastures. 

     These hogs grow enormous, have large litters, and can do a number on a hay field. So Other Half and Rancher-Next-Door hashed out a plan. A hog trap was set. Bright and early on Easter morning the phone rang.  Two wild (and very angry) piglets had been captured.  Suddenly our Easter plans changed.  Since Rancher-Next-Door had Easter plans that didn't involve butchering hogs, we got both hogs.  We called Dear-Friend-With-Vet-Husband and said, "HEY!  We know you probably had plans for Easter, but wouldn't like to butcher hogs instead?!!"   Fortunately they both were delighted with the prospect of filling the freezer with the ultimate free-range grass-fed pork, so a Pig Party was planned.

     Other Half went to the trap to shoot and gut the pigs.  I opted out of this step since I had to feed livestock and frankly, I didn't want to watch him shoot the pigs.  Because I have the remarkable ability to make a pet out of anything with fur or feathers, Other Half was happy to leave me home and go shoot them himself.

     By the time the rest of us convened under the Hanging Oak, Other Half already had a piglet the size of a German Shepherd hanging from the tree.  Border Collie saw the pig and stroked. This was her first hog butchering and after the initial shock of seeing a dead pig swinging from a tree, she involved herself in every step possible. It is a wonder that she didn't get her nose cut off. (Note: A ranch dog WILL attack a dead pig.)

It didn't take Border Collie long to get into the swing of things though!  In no time, she had figured out what to do with feral hogs who tear up hay fields.

"Stay out of the pasture PIG!"

 (Note the pork hanging from her teeth.)