I’m beginning to wonder if I can do anything right when it comes to farming. Thursday I purchased three bred gilts. These were pasture farrowed outdoor raised gilts from a herd that has been going strong from 20 years. Needless to say I was very excited about these additions to the farm. But, now I only have two of them. That afternoon one of them escaped and is long gone. I have spent about four hours combing the pasture and the woods looking for this lost gilt … and she is gone.
Needless to say I’m a little less than pleased with myself and the way things have worked out. I am spreading the word around the neighborhood and keeping my eyes peeled (along with driving different roads to town each time), but so far I haven’t found anything.
The other two gilts are settling in just fine and are probably getting close to farrowing. I big thing now is to get them into separate huts. Right now the two girls have both decided to take up residence in the same hut even though there are two others available … that is today’s chore!
As gregarious as pigs are supposed to be, you would think that she would come back to where the other pigs are. Have you thought about building some sort of trap to catch her if she is coming back to the pen at night?
The Noble Foundation has some information about trapping feral hogs at:
http://www.noble.org/ag/wildlife/feralhogs/12-Trapping.htm
Copied from the webpage:
“…trap can be constructed from steel panels with 4 inch by 4 inch or smaller mesh and T-posts…trap should be baited at the funnel and on the inside…Bait placed on the inside will entice the hog to push on the bottom inside portion of the funnel for entry…. The circular trap (see photo) is a very simple trap to construct and does not require a door. This trap consists of two steel panels each at least 16 feet long and 5 feet tall with 4 inch by 4 inch or smaller mesh and eight steel T-posts…One panel forms a stretched out C. The other panel forms a tight C with the ends touching the stretched out C panel…T-posts are driven around the outside of the panels for extra support…This configuration forms a funnel on each of the sides…”
I don’t know if it would work, but it might be worth a try.
I’ve also read that feral hogs can be baited if you take a bucket of corn, cover it with water, mix in some sugar and yeast, and then let it ferment for awhile. Again, I don’t know if it would work, but it might be worth a try.
if they are close to farrowing you might be supprised to see a litter of pigs come back with her in a week or two. Some of the best litters that i have seen have been born in situations like this.
The gilts will split when they are ready to farrow. Don’t worry to much about it.
if they don’t farrow with in a few days(9-10) be sure to keep them seperated after the second one farrows.