Pig Progress 2

For the last 2 days, my biggest breeder pig, Lucy, has been in heat. After heat comes the standing part, which the first time I saw it, I didn't know what she was doing. The term "standing" refers to when the pig is ready to breed. This is the act of actually allowing themselves to breed. I remember the first time I went outside and this was happening. She was a lot calmer than normal and she kept following me. Not with a feed me type walk but like a "Where you going big boy" walk. I was confused. Was I being whooed by a pig. Well, I called a fellow I know that sold me the pigs and I told him what was going on. He said that she is standing and is ready to breed and that she is showing me this. Well I knew right away that I needed to get a boar so I asked him if he had one for sale. At first he said no but then he called me back and told me he would sell me one of his breeder boars that they had. He breeds predominately show pigs and he wanted a little bit more characteristics than this boy was packing. However, I want feeder pigs and he would do great for me. So in comes Dudley. Well, I missed the first standing period so I had to wait for the next one. (They cycle every 18-21 days)

So I noticed this morning that Lucy was standing and this time I had the boy to do the job. So I thought. I put the two together and off he went like white lightning. This was wild. My pig guy told me that you want to see when they actually do it, that way you will know to put them back together later in the day to make sure they breed "good." Then you will know the due date pretty close. So, I sit in observance of these two beasts of animals going at it. It felt weird first but then I thought, "this is what has to be done." But there was one set back. Lucy is about the same age as Dudley and weighs about 270 pounds. She is very tall though. Dudley, weighs about 340 pounds and is really compact. Her being tall and he being compact apparently possed a problem. After about 10 minutes of watching this horrible display of breeding, I realized Dudley may be a dud at this time in his life. I think he may need to grow a bit taller because he apparently couldn't find the mark. It was a huge let down. So all morning, I tried to make sure they were getting the job done and the whole time I was out there, the Dudster failed miserably. So then I just let them stay together to see if maybe they could figure it out. Surely in the wild these things are figured out. I mean in the dog world, you see little dogs somehow getting big dogs pregnant. So for now, I will have to wait and see. She should still be standing tomorrow but I have to work in Houston. I will just leave them together and then let her out when I get off in the morning. I just hope I don't get home and the Dudster has had a heart attack from trying so hard. Poor guy. I think I may have ruined his confidence by naming him Dudley.

If anyone has any information on how to help my poor Dudley out please let me know. I'm perplexed.

Once I quit stressing over the pigs, I went back to working on the pig area. I know have all the electric fencing done on the existing fences. All the T-Posts are set, insulators on, and my bottom line wires are strung. If I get a full days work in, I feel that I can have all the wire strung and everything connected together. Then the fun part, running water to the pad. Its not hard, just not my favorite thing to do. Good thing I didn't become a plumber I guess.