We’ll just lay here and watch…

The boys and I moved Daisy, one of our Berkshire sows, out from the farrowing pen in the byre to their hut in the field today. Eight of the nine promptly settled themselves in the doorway of their hut while they decided just how they’d handle this new big world with all its exciting smells and sounds. The other one headed off to explore by himself.

While the piglets were straightforward to catch and move, getting Daisy out proved rather more of a struggle. We managed to get her to the mouth of the race that leads to the pen, but there was too much enticing grass for her to go any further. Daisy settled in to root around and it took a lot of persuasion to get her moving. The matter was finally settled when I nudged her rump with my knee, not realising that I’d accidentally gripped the top wire of the electric fence to keep my balance. I don’t know who was more surprised, but she jumped forward and then gallumphed along the race into the pen, where the Big Lad swung the gate shut behind her. I’ve let them settle for an hour so I’ll head out to check and feed them in about 10 minutes.