Keep Working

I am now to the point that I just have to keep working. I have to find the time to let the pigs out of their pen and work with them every day. It is best to get them out at least once per day. Once summer comes into full stride, I will have the time to individually work with both of my pigs. I have a pig show during mother's day weekend so I am continually trying to prepare for that show. Keep looking for a video in a couple of weeks.

In the Beginning...

To start out I have slowly started to associate the pigs with the whip. You cannot see the whip in the video, but all I was using was a show whip such as shown in the attached picture. I believe that this is one of the best tools to train your hog. If it is over used, especially on white pigs, you could see the marks made on the pig by the whip. The way I am using this tool on the pig in the video she should not have any marks from the whip. The video was shot on only the third time that I have had this particular pig out of the pen. She works REALLY well for just her third training session. If she keeps being this well trained, she will become my permanent showmanship pig at all of the shows I attend.

Sickness, No Fun

Our poor little pig. He started out with a slight cough, but it grew and grew until he ended up prolapsing. For all of you who do not know, prolapsing is very common in females when they are giving birth, but can still happen to males. All it is, is when the animals' insides exit their body through their hind end. Most of the time in females it is through their vagina. This causes them to have to be sewn back together, therefore they will not be able to have offspring again. In males on the other hand it comes out of the only hole their is back there for them. Right now, the pig in this picture has his prolapse, and we are applying some ointment day and night to try and remedy this poor thing.

Waiting on the Weather

With the roller coaster weather, our pigs are beginning to show the first signs of sickness. We are letting the swine out into the pen during the day, but we are putting them inside the barn at night so they do not get sick. Both the pigs and myself are ready for them to be out in the pen, but until the weather cooperates, they will have to stay in the barn at least at night. This picture is from when we first brought them all home in the back of my truck.

Too Cold

Right now, our pigs are in our stock trailer in our barn. We do this so they do not develop a sickness, or even perish. At this time, the nights are too cold for the little pigs. On Sunday, my family and I are planning to let them out of the trailer and into their pen. This will allow me to start working with them, and see how they will react to different handling.

What I am doing

When my teacher told me that I was going to be able to present a project about anything I wanted, many things flew through my mind. As I started to narrow down my options Swine Showmanship became a clear choice. I have shown pigs since I was 5 years old. This is something that I am very passionate about. One of my main goals for this project is to educate myself on some things that will help my chances at some showing competitions. In addition, I would like to get some younger kids in my community more interested in agriculture by letting them interact with my swine.