Tuesday, September 20, 2016

New Digs for Two Pigs



When we built the piggery for our three little pigs - Olivia, Peppa and George - we divided the overall piggery into two sections. It wasn't necessary, at the time, to separate the pigs; they were less than two months old when they went into the piggery and one section was large enough for the three.

The three are about 16 weeks old now, and a separation was long over due. The largest female - Olivia - would fight the smaller two at feeding time. She was so much larger than the two, she could easily bully her way to the feed. That made her even bigger, and it was becoming easier still for her to push aside her smaller siblings.

So, this week, my wife's Papa finished the 2nd section of the piggery. The inside walls were smoothed with cement and a gate was added. When the time came to make the move, I suppose it was easier for him to relocate two smaller pigs than one jumbo size porker. As can be seen it these photos, Peppa and George are now in their new abode. When we arrived at the property this morning, the three had already been fed, but they couldn't resist a bit of madre de aqua as a snack. This time, however, there was no fighting or shoving among the swine. Olivia could have everything that's placed into her pen, with no one to share it with. Peppa and George seemed content to share. They did not fight for the food.

Now that the smaller pigs are separated from the larger sibling, they should start to put on a bit more weight. When George reaches the size that Olivia is now, he'll be ready for lechon. Olivia and Peppa are destined for breeding, not lechon. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for Peppa to catch up with Olivia (in size) now that the competition for food is lessened.

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