Farming/Raising Duroc Hogs: Fairly hard work, especially on weekends. Up every morning between 5:30AM and 6AM to feed/water hogs and, during winter months in northeastern Indiana, that was work! Had to take two buckets of hot water down to the barn, break the ice in each trough and pour in the hot water. Mix in corn meal in the mornings and feed field corn, from a corn crib, in the evening. In the summer, we give our hogs the rinds from watermelon. They loved it. When it came to breeding time, from what I remember, our neighbor brough his boar to us. After the piglets were born, we had to keep checking the sow and her litter, in case the sow rolled onto a piglet and killed it. If we didn't get the piglet out of the area, the sow would eat it. And, yes, they will eat a dead piglet. Now, the most undesirable, but definitely necessary, thing we had to do with the piglets was to put metal rings in their noses. That was a feat in itself. Separate the piglets from the mother, grab each one, hold it while another person done the "ringing". Lots of squealing, but it had to be done. As far as crops go, we had our own corn field. Not real big, but big enough. IOW, ploughing, disking, planting and picking corn. It's how I learn to drive a John Deere tractor. Neighboring farms raised hogs and beef cattle. They had John Deere, Farmall, IH, Massey Ferguson among others. Most neighboring farms were my classmates families I graduated with in 1968. When I got out of the Navy, I figured out that I'd had enough of hogs! My next posts will be about my Navy time, rodeo time and jobs.
That is perfection, @Cody Fousnaugh ! I think the last one you used was a mountain picture from Colorado, and i was wondering if you had something very cowboy-ish to use this time, and i like your choice a lot !
And, to let everyone know, the only, and I do mean "only", time I get around hogs/pigs today is at a Fair. Of course, the ones at a Fair are Show Pigs, so they are nice and clean. The ones we had sure weren't. They loved to lay down in mud holes after a good size rainstorm. Or, if by chance we stop by a livestock auction that is selling hogs while we are there. We went to the Centennial Livestock Auction in Fort Collins, CO a number of times, but never see one pig go into the sale ring.
Oh, forgot, but have to add this into the Farming/Raising Duroc Hogs post: 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America) was a part of the farming area as well. We totally support both organizations.
I had a calf I was going to 'ring' but I couldn't do it. She nursed right up until we sold her as a 6 month old!
So what's the purpose of doing that? Does it give you something to attach a rope to so they have no choice but to follow you? Or is it training to be an IHOP waitress?
Ah! That makes sense. And it puts Mary's comment into context. Gee, now I have something to discuss with those who have bejeweled proboscises. ("Kickin' the habit?")
Ok, ok, since most of you don't know about hog farms, hogs can, and will, root/dig ditches all over the place with their noses. If not put a ring/rings in their nose when little, they will root under fences and escape, root up nice gardens and/or root up any ground the can find to look for food. Very, very common for hogs to do, especially those that are raised both in a pen and outside. Show hogs, ones used for 4-H/FFA, are more raised in a pen/barn area, not outside. That's why they are used for "Showing". Hope I've made this clear now about put a ring/rings in piglets.