Goin' for a little walk

I promised you the rest of the story about our move. Well, a few weeks ago it was Dark Chocolate's time of the month when a young sow's thoughts turn to good looking boars or at least ones that smell "good". As I mentioned in my previous post, she was residing in the fenced in front yard. Once the hormones kicked in, though, nothing was stopping her. She lifted up a fence panel and was out in the drive. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to contain her in the front yard anymore. So, I moved her to goat barn on the hill. It wasn't long before she pushed the gate panel out of the way and was out trying to find me. Back to the goat barn we went. This time I put two t-posts in the ground in front of the gate and wired the gate to the posts. Try as she might, she couldn't get out. The next day was Sunday. We woke up to a beautiful day and Dark Chocolate was secure in the barn. Off to church we went. We had a nice service and then a meal at the local KFC with our friends. As we were finishing, my mom received a call. My aunt Jo informed mom that the pig was out on the highway and the Highway Patrol was involved. This sounded like something I might want to check out. So, I finished my lunch and headed home. When we arrived, all was quiet. No one and no pig were around. The gate along with the t-post had been lifted out of the ground. We started to speculate. Maybe she was never on the highway. Maybe the neighbor was exaggerating. Maybe she was really just on the side road that went down into the valley. Mom went down the highway just to make sure. I walked across to the harvested corn field to she if she had found a tasty snack. No luck for either of us. Mom went to the house to call the Highway patrol as I headed up the valley road. I found a few tracks and mom returned with a report that indeed they had been there, corralled her and then left when it looked like she was headed home. I continued my walk as mom drove ahead. It was not long before she returned saying that she had spotted her. I got in the car and headed into the valley. There she was, in the woods, having a little Sunday walk. I got out with my feed bucket, coaxed her across the  stream and started the walk home. She followed me all the way and went into the  stock trailer as her new home until permanent quarters were completed.

Our speculation continued about where she had really gone and what the true story was. As I was checking my Facebook posts,  I came across a re-post from someone on the Extension page. They had posted  a picture they  took of a pig walking down the highway. Among the humorous comments, there was speculation as to where the pig had come from and who it belonged to. I fessed up and had my  visual proof of where she had really been. She is now in her new home and will once again be in heat this weekend. Now comes the next big decision. Who will I breed her to? I will let you know my decision in the next post.

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