Lets breed mini pigs
When our first pig arrived we were besotted…and why wouldn't we be…Truffles was 5 weeks old, weighed 2 kilos, just wanted to be cuddled and slept in the corner of our bedroom. We thought we had found the ultimate pet…
At night he could only fall asleep in Gary's arms and just like any typical young baby, woke as soon as he was put to bed. Sweet little thing he was, our hearts just broke when we realised" he's lonely for a friend"…no pig should be without another for company… At the same moment we decided Truffles needed a friend we had an epiphany, why not share the love and start breeding these amazing little critters…after all we'd bought 40 acres for some reason..
Another 6 hour round trip back to the breeder and she generously agreed to lease us a little girl who would make all our dreams come true as mini pig breeders Being a little obsessive with any project Gary and I take on, we decided one little future breeder wasn't enough..how could we create a mini pig empire with just one little girl. And of course the looming problem, we didn't even have a 'whole boar" as truffles had made the trip to the vet for his little op at the tender age of 4 weeks of age. So we hunted for a breeder that would let us buy some additions with all their bits in tact…kinda helps when you want them to make lots of baby piggies..
We found a great gal on the Gold Coast of Queensland who thought it was a wonderful idea..and besides she was getting out of breeding so it was a home for some of her little ones. Bargain at $200 for two..(should have been a warning sign right there) and off I went with my mother in law to collect our new additions that were going to make our lives as mini pig breeders complete.. As our Google maps voice indicated we had arrived we were confronted with about 20 pigs of all different sizes at the road side who took off like a herd of ferals as we rounded the corner…but not to be deterred, we continued down the overgrown drive to the somewhat rustic house. The owner came out to greet us.. I mentioned she was a great gal didn't I. Young and enthusiastic, I quickly realised she didn't know a lot more than I did (even though i was convinced I was an expert at that stage, having read Oink, my life with mini pigs from cover to cover). She managed to grab two young sows from the herd and I quickly understood all the expressions about pig noises.
She was committed to bathing them as they had spent most of their days out in the mud and muck that seemed to cover most of her property, Once bathed we realised We had a cute little dalmatian (see I was an expert already, I knew the proper term for the spots on her little body!) and a ginger one. Man handled into the extra large carry cage I had bought for this purpose we braved the journey home with the smell in my alpha Romeo getting stronger with each kilometre…I have yet to work out how I managed to find the breeders at the end of the world. but the 3 hours trip home seemed like 10!
We arrived just before dark and transferred our newest additions into the little outdoor run we had installed for Truffles to get some air and have a little graze on the grass and of course relief themselves, though God knows why I thought they would have anything left to be relieved of…based on the way the car smelt… Now I did mention I only thought I was an expert. Nothing in Oink, my life with mini pigs prepared me for the fact, that these girls were in fact part feral and extremely cunning and very committed to finding their way back home. And little Truffles was gentle quiet and a very well adjusted little pig.
After a strong cuppa and a little bit of air myself I went back outside to have a chat with our new family members only to see their oh so cute little bottoms just disappearing into the bush at the bottom of the orchard. They had managed to upturn the carefully constructed pen, built for the gentle quiet little guy previously mentioned, and made a beeline for the only familiar thing on our property…bushland! Oh heck, dusk was here and our piggies weren't…I didn't have the heart or stomach to think of all the nasties out there, foxes stalking our little girls, dingos deciding suckling pig for dinner was a good menu choice. Needless to say we didnt sleep much that night. Ever sound had us charging outside in the hope…
But dawn came and found us exhausted and sad we had just decided maybe we weren't destined to be the Pig breeding moguls after all when who should come trotting around the corner of the house looking for breakfast, Polly and Clover, (Polly's the dalmatian).
All at once we saw our destiny and our lives as pig breeders was about to begin….