Always something to be done

E

Ed Mashburn

Member
Good afternoon to all- Being retired is so nice- even after more than three years, I like being retired.
Now I have time to plan and do things without having to wait until I actually have time free to do it.
Like today- I noticed as I was walking our house pig- her name is Daisy, by the way- that it's just about time to trim her hooves again.
this is not a fun job- it takes two people. One person has to scratch the pig's belly so she'll collapse and lie there motionless enjoying the free scratch.Then the other person- that's usually me- gets to trim the hooves with a pair of big veterinary hoof trimmers- look like instruments of torture, but pig feels nothing- like trimming fingernails.
But it's nice not having to schedule such an operation on everyone's free time schedule- we just go out and do the job.
I don't know how pig feels about it, but I like being retired.
good afternoon to all- Ed
 

:lol:

Ed, I don't know whether you're putting us on or not, but it's funny either way. I trim goat hooves regularly. Never tried the belly scratch method.
 
Nancy- Absolutely kosher- no kidding. Pig loves being scratched. Now, having raised goats myself before, I don't know how it works on them. Lord, goats were the hardest people for us to keep out of trouble. Always into something. Pigs- not quite so much. good evening to all- Ed
 

Ed, do you REALLY have a house pig that you walk? Like on that Chase bank commercial? How cool is that?!!! How big is Daisy? Do you have pix you could post? I've heard that pigs are as trainable as dogs and make great pets. Where does she sleep? I'd love to hear all about her!

I'd love to walk a pig through my neighborhood, just to see the reaction of neighbors. Some of them already think I'm a bit nuts for having a big scary looking dog.
 
I don't know if we are allowed to have house pigs where I live. I've never seen any around here. Sounds like a real nice pig Ed.
 
To us, pigs are farm animals, but I can see the attraction of a small one as a 'house pig'. They definitely have personalities.
I'm just back from feeding the beasts, and it's becoming more difficult. They're very good natured pigs, but NOTHING comes between them and food. Not a lot of fun to be shoved out of the way by 200lbs of hungry pig.
 
Good morning to all- Yes, our house pig Daisy lives in her crate in the dining room. she loves when we make pasta because the pasta machine attaches to the counter right above her crate, so all of the excess pasta trimmings fall directly into her open mouth- she's a pasta-eating pig.
As a matter of fact, she is quite smarter and on the whole, much cleaner than our dogs. She learned to do her doings outside when she was a tiny baby pig- we got her as a rescue more or less when she would fit in the palm of your hand. She can count to three at least- she knows that's how many grapes she's supposed to get when she goes out.
Having said that, she is a pig. She wants what she wants when she wants it, and patience is not in her vocabulary. It's sort of like having a very strong two-year old child.
Capt. Lightning- we've raised lots of hogs for consumption in our previous lives, and raising a single pig really cuts down on the competitive behavior when food is around.
And yes, we do stop traffic when we walk her in the yard- but she's a very non-social pig, so when folks want to meet her, she snuffs and wiggles her butt away back to the privacy of her crate.
And no, I never expected to have a pig as a pet.
I would like to post photos her, but all of my photos are very large size- I'm a professional photographer and use large format gear- but if anyone can tell me simply how to post, I'd be glad to send some pictures of Daisy.
good day to all- Ed
 
Ed Mashburn said:
Good morning to all- Yes, our house pig Daisy lives in her crate in the dining room. she loves when we make pasta because the pasta machine attaches to the counter right above her crate, so all of the excess pasta trimmings fall directly into her open mouth- she's a pasta-eating pig.
As a matter of fact, she is quite smarter and on the whole, much cleaner than our dogs. She learned to do her doings outside when she was a tiny baby pig- we got her as a rescue more or less when she would fit in the palm of your hand. She can count to three at least- she knows that's how many grapes she's supposed to get when she goes out.
Having said that, she is a pig. She wants what she wants when she wants it, and patience is not in her vocabulary. It's sort of like having a very strong two-year old child.
Capt. Lightning- we've raised lots of hogs for consumption in our previous lives, and raising a single pig really cuts down on the competitive behavior when food is around.
And yes, we do stop traffic when we walk her in the yard- but she's a very non-social pig, so when folks want to meet her, she snuffs and wiggles her butt away back to the privacy of her crate.
And no, I never expected to have a pig as a pet.
I would like to post photos her, but all of my photos are very large size- I'm a professional photographer and use large format gear- but if anyone can tell me simply how to post, I'd be glad to send some pictures of Daisy.
good day to all- Ed
Click to expand...

How big is she now, Ed? I find this quite fascinating. Does she get to wander around loose in the house?
 
re- House Pig Daisy

Butterfly said:
How big is she now, Ed? I find this quite fascinating. Does she get to wander around loose in the house?
Click to expand...

Good morning to all- Butterfly- Daisy probably weighs around 120 pounds right now- that's as big as she'll get. She absolutely does not get to wander freely about the house. that would be a disaster. she spends her time in her crate, which she prefers anyway- it's her space and no one else can go in there.
We do let her out to walk around when we're present to keep an eye on her, but she would tear things up if she were to be left on her own.
She loves to go outside, lie in the sun, and let the world go by.
She used to play with the dogs- we have two Boston terriers- but as she has gotten older and much larger, the dogs are not so eager to roughhouse with her as they did when she was smaller.
She is leash trained, and she sometime obeys commands. when it suits her.
good day to all- Ed
 
What breed is Daisy - a Kunekune ? We're raising Berkshires at the minute and it will be interesting to see how they turn out.
We originally had British Saddlebacks, but they tended to be rather fat so it's not unusual to cross them with Pietrain to get a leaner animal. Next we tried Oxford sandy & black, but they were very boisterous and could bite. It might be nice to try Gloucester old spot.

I must weigh one of our pigs (or at least get an estimate). They're very slow growing and I suspect they'll only be about 180 lbs at slaughter.
 
re: daisey's breed

Capt Lightning said:
What breed is Daisy - a Kunekune ? We're raising Berkshires at the minute and it will be interesting to see how they turn out.
We originally had British Saddlebacks, but they tended to be rather fat so it's not unusual to cross them with Pietrain to get a leaner animal. Next we tried Oxford sandy & black, but they were very boisterous and could bite. It might be nice to try Gloucester old spot.

I must weigh one of our pigs (or at least get an estimate). They're very slow growing and I suspect they'll only be about 180 lbs at slaughter.
Click to expand...

Captain Lightning- Daisy is a Vietnamese pot belly pig- that's really her breed. They're bred to be quite small- that way, there's no spoilage like you would get with a much larger hog come butcher time in warm weather.
We raised mixed hogs on our farmstead- big whites, Landrace, spots- whatever happened to show up when we needed feeder pigs to raise. We'd buy babies in the spring, feed them all summer on excess garden produce, fatten them on corn and apple squeezings- we had a large orchard and made 100s of gallons of cider each year. then, when the weather turned cold- we'd have a family get together and we'd process hogs. We'd do three or four in a long weekend, package it, and everyone would take fresh pork home. Very helpful for making it through an Ozarks winter.
I don't expect Daisy will have to worry much about that sort of conclusion- My family would prefer I be processed rather than the pig.
good day to all- Ed
 
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