Not that it is a very hierarchical group, but Mick is pretty much the main man at Cambridgeshire Self-Sufficiency Group. He is running a Pig Club whereby a group of people share a couple of piglets. We were in a similar pig co-op last year, as pigs need to be kept at least in two's but two pigs is rather a lot to go in the freezer so sharing makes sense.
Sue and I are not in the Pig Club but decided to go along and help with some fencing and building a temporary house so that the piglets could come outside.
It's something that happens to all of us. The animals (or in some cases plants) don't stop growing, but we have not managed to get their new home ready in time.
The fencing was merely a matter of screwing planks into existing fence posts, just at ground level to prevent the pigs nuzzling the stock fence out of shape and escaping. I did manage to find a very good source of classy new planks
The house was to be made of straw, despite me reminding Mick about the famous story. He felt that the local wolves would not have enough huff and puff to blow this house down!
Mick's plan was very similar to something I had been planning, basically just walls made of straw bales and a corrugated roof laid onto a frame to cover the whole. I was keen to see how it would actually work in practice.
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| Two happy piglets, one happy Mick |
Well, as you can see the house worked out well. With a race of hurdles to coax them in the right direction, moving the piglets from their indoor home to their new outdoor home was pretty easy. The piglets were very happy with the new set up and set about chasing each other around excitedly before they settled down and started digging around with their snouts.
We were home just in time to witness a stunning sunset. I went straight onto the internet as Mick had recommended an old book about smallholding and I was keen to find it. I was delighted to find a used copy on Amazon for 1p plus postage. Now that I've got mine ordered, I can tell you it is called Fieldcraft and Farmyard by Val Porter. I'll let you know what I think of it once it's arrived.
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