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Can Pigs add?

 
master steward
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I was up late canning pickles, tomatoes, etc with my wife.  I got off to a slow start this morning. A few of the pigs got out … I knew where they would be.  I gathered them up from our resident mud hole/bog where they were having a spa retreat.  I often let them out in the heat for spa time.  They just got tired of waiting for me.  I got them locked up, Fed, and did a head count.  All were present and where they were supposed to be.   I turned to go back to the house, and another pig shows up out of the garden area.

No problem, I have raised beds … all at least 2 ft high. But wait, I just did a head count.  So, I locked up the garden pig in the nearest enclosure, and I did another head count.   I have an extra pig.   No, it is not a baby.

Once I cool down, I will check my pigs again.  I have Kunekunes.   But no one within a mile of me raises pigs of any kind.
 
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pigspiracy.
 
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John F Dean wrote:I was up late canning pickles, tomatoes, etc with my wife.  I got off to a slow start this morning. A few of the pigs got out … I knew where they would be.  I gathered them up from our resident mud hole/bog where they were having a spa retreat.  I often let them out in the heat for spa time.  They just got tired of waiting for me.  I got them locked up, Fed, and did a head count.  All were present and where they were supposed to be.   I turned to go back to the house, and another pig shows up out of the garden area.

No problem, I have raised beds … all at least 2 ft high. But wait, I just did a head count.  So, I locked up the garden pig in the nearest enclosure, and I did another head count.   I have an extra pig.   No, it is not a baby.

Once I cool down, I will check my pigs again.  I have Kunekunes.   But no one within a mile of me raises pigs of any kind.



This is a great story so far. Can't wait to see where it goes!
 
pollinator
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Given that southern Illinois is within robust feral pig territory, is there a chance it came from many miles away or was part of a recent feral herd?  Does it look 'really well fed' or just 'healthy'?  Kune Kune's generally seem to be a pretty portly pig....don't know how quickly they would lose that girth if they were foraging on their own..?  Interesting!....

EDit:  Also, does your property have a perimeter fence?....
 
gardener
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i can’t imagine just locking a feral pig in an enclosure being an easy task.
 
John F Dean
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Yes, certainly not feral.  If nothing else, a feral pig would not have herded so easily into a pen….  If that was the added pig.   I am going to have to give all a close look. But, since that was the one pig that came from the wrong direction…
 
steward & author
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Asexual reproduction in pigs.  Sweet.  You could make a fortune.
 
John F Dean
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The fence is a good question. I do have.  BUT l am seldom concerned about maintaining it …and.. I have not looked it over since our last storm.  I bet I will find a tree or two across it.
 
master gardener
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You don’t mean to say, can pigs divide?
 
John F Dean
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Multiply?
 
M Ljin
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Somehow both work in this case, I think. No subtraction though!
 
Steward of piddlers
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Huh, that is for sure a new one.

Are you sure nobody on the homestead is pranking you? (Besides the pigs!)
 
M Ljin
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Well I’m not quite sure now. You divide hostas and replant, then they multiply. Then you divide again. How does this work???

Next theory: alien abduction.
 
pollinator
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Sounds like your pigs have been recruiting!
 
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If it was an extra chicken, all hell would have broken loose!

Do you have a mix of male/female pigs? Wouldn't an extra male in particular start posturing with the original male?
 
John F Dean
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Jay,

Because of the site rules, I hate you …but in a nice way. Hell, I am 75…sex was the last thing on my mind!   Now I am going to have to check out each of my pigs….well, each except the breeding pair. To think, there may be fornication going on in my back yard.
 
Jay Angler
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Soooo.... do you still have an extra pig?  

Maybe it was a wolf in a pig suit and you now have fewer pigs?  (I sincerely hope not...)
 
John F Dean
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Hi Jay,

Good question.  I honestly haven’t made another count.  I suspect it vanished.  It had a reddish color making it easy to identify.when the pigs came back from the spa yesterday, I did not see any with red coloring. Yesterday was spent mending fences. Today will be the same. Hopefully I will do a head count tonight.  

I am not missing any pigs that are supposed to be here. And, because my only concern is if I have too many pigs ….well, that isn’t much to worry about.  I have not picked up any rumors regarding someone missing a pig.   I suspect it was a free range pig that stopped for the night….grabbed a meal…and headed back on the road ..or field …or forest. It was not full grown. Anyway, I will count my piggies tonight.

We are used to having cats drop by for a meal or two.  I once had a stray steer come by. This is our first stray pig.
 
John Weiland
pollinator
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Did you note if the stray was boar or sow?  You mentioned a breeding pair....is/was the sow of that pair in heat recently?  Hopefully it wasn't one of those "two ships in the night" kind of deals.... ;-)
 
John F Dean
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The breeding pair are kept securely separated from the others …as in Fort Knox secure.  In  the present arrangement, the fence  has 3 layers…going from outside in …pallets…woven fence..roofing panels.  I had a tree fall across the fence to no ill effect.  The enclosure is quite large and is connected, through a gate, to a similar enclosure. They have their private spa.

The female is kept in a different enclosure when she has babies. It is less secure …but god help the creature that enters that pen without her approval.  So far only my German Shepherd/Border Collie dog and me have approval.  She has chased birds out of the nursery.
 
pollinator
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Pig practical jokes?
 
pollinator
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Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Pig practical jokes?



Maybe the animals read animal farm.....
 
John F Dean
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I just counted the pigs. The resident pigs are here. The newby is gone.  I will count again tonight and tomorrow morning.
 
Jackson Bradley
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I would caution you to look through the dining room window before you go inside......

AF-Table.jpg
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out to pasture
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Josh Hoffman wrote:Maybe the animals read animal farm.....



Not sure about multiplying, but maybe that pig was more equal than the others...
 
John F Dean
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The pig count last night was all resident pigs are here and the newby is not present.  

Ditto for the eve of the 26th.
 
John F Dean
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John Weiland,

You may have been more right than not.   Counting backward ….3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days…it looks like the visitor did not catch my breeding sow who was locked up in Fort Knox, but HE may have caught one of my other sows I did not plan to breed.

For me, this is a major headache.  I raise KuneKunes for my own use. If I sell one, it is an extra. But there is no way I can sell these as regristered Kunekunes if I can’t be sure of the father.  Right now I am considering just giving them away. I already had  more pigs than I need.
 
pollinator
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Wait a minute, extra pigs..... I just started driving to Nashville and then to Illinois,  will message you as my truck is within 3 hours
 
John F Dean
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Hi Rico,

Do you have a means to transport?  pm me.
 
Timothy Norton
Steward of piddlers
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So you're telling me that a stranger rolled up in the summer for a brief swine-based tryst and then disappeared in the night leaving piglets as an eventual reminder of that one July night?

Scandalous!
 
Rico Loma
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Yes, scandal is the word. John, ykur secret is safe with us.  I tried to send a pm, I think it in your box, these two images would not send so , again blessings for the piglets

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Rico Loma
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This is another one Hugh e is often giving , I just help with painting frames
Your stewardship for your land, for the piglets, legendary.  
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And now this tiny ad wants to get married
Homestead Pigs Course
https://permies.com/wiki/365748/Homestead-Pigs
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