Love on the Rocks

Me and my great ideas!! Sweet Lola, she seems like such a nice pig, but she loves to eat, and eat, and eat. So I was reading in one of my many hobby farming books, and they claimed pigs are so easy. Then I look on Craig list and see spring pigs selling for 100-125 a piece.  Pigs have litters between 8-12 twice a year. So I do the math and think.... hey... Lola could pay her own way.

So first I see a boar being pimped out on Craig list - I called "Romeo's" owner and I had some early contract negotiations.  Then I asked how I would know when Lola was amenable to being visited.  Even on the phone I could sense the pig man's uncomfortableness, he said, "uhhhh....well look at her piggy parts, or look it up on the internet" then the conversation ended.

So I went to my second pig expert-18 year old Colby at Murdocks. Colby was much more forthcoming with the signs of pork estrus. But I was still nervous about the whole idea.

Then I see an add on Craig's List for Wilbur, a hand raised 700# sweet heart in Hotchkiss. He was very mellow, so off we went in Jason's trailer and Wilbur came home.  The very first introduction went well, Lola thought Wilbur was pretty hubba hubba.  She frolicked and nuzzled, showed him around, two hours later however she hated him.  I don't mean like they just had a fight, it was like "GET AWAY FROM ME  I HATE YOU!!!!!" Finally pushed enough, Wilbur started taking a few swipes back at his new arranged mate.  Pretty soon, both of them were scaring the hell out of me when I went out to feed. It would be one thing if they just didn't like each other, but they have poor eyesight and really sharp teeth, and they are loud...I mean really loud. Not to mention that they have town the place apart, gates, shelters, holes everywhere.

So guess what, they get along really well in separate pens... but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of getting Wilbur.  So my handsome boar went back on the Pig Harmony website known as Craig's List.  At this point I have had only one interested party, they insisted on coming by on Thursday afternoon while I was at work. Utilizing Erik and my brother-in-law they attempted to load Wilbur into a large horse trailer.  I'm not sure exactly how it went down, it involved rope, an entire bag of corn, and a refrigerator door, and when I got home Wilbur was back in his pen, very thirsty.  Erik told me they changed their minds.  In the mean time....