This is the perfect day for this blog post because it is Maybelle and Petunia’s 3rd birthday! Happy birthday girls, we love you so much!
The pigs are at their new home!
On August 24, 2018, our friends and family helped us move our pigs to their new home in Redding. It was probably the most nervous we have been in a while because there were so many unknowns involved. We read articles about moving pigs and how difficult they are to move but also found some great information that helped us out.
There was about 15 people all together and we were armed with plenty of sweets and treats for the girls. We used a flat bed trailer that was not that high off the ground and put together a box to hold the pigs in. The trailer was backed up to where it needed to go and then we blocked off the sides with cars and a backhoe to make sure the pigs went right into the trailer.
Everyone had waited up by the trailer to greet the pigs and quietly cheer them on while Tiffany and I lured the pigs up the hill with all of our treats, waiting until they were safely in the trailer to give them their goodies. The way up was way too easy, they followed us right into the trailer.
Now came the pig parade through Redding. The truck pulling the trailer led the march with a few people hanging on the trailer to watch the pigs and make sure they did not break out. Then 3 other cars followed, all with our flashers on going about 10 miles per hour down the road. Cars, bikers, walkers all staring at the trailers as we would pass by. It was a site to see!
At our new place, now, we released the pigs to bring them down to their temporary pen. The way down was not as easy as the way up. Earlier in the day Tiffany and I made a visual barrier with some scrap wood and pallets hoping to deter the pigs from walking on our back porch or wondering off onto parts of the property that we did not want them too. Like I said, this was a visual barrier because if they wanted to, they could have easily gone through it. Petunia was off the trailer first and a few of us were guiding her down with plenty of treats while the rest were convincing Maybelle it was okay to come off the trailer. Once Maybelle finally got off and moving, here comes Petunia back up to see Maybelle. At this point everyone was not as calm and we were trying a little more frantically to get the pigs to go in the direction we wanted them to. They were following along our barrier but since we only had so much wood and pallets the barrier stopped at a certain point and at that point they just made a u-turn around it and headed straight towards our back porch! With some treats and a human barrier we got them going the right way again.
Now passing the goats fence, Maybelle decided to say hello to Betty and Blanca, while Petunia was getting closer to their temporary pen. At this moment, Ingrid, Tiffanys mom, dropped Maybelles cake into the goats enclosure and she was determined to get in and get that cake. Maybelle went through the goats fence, allowing the goats to break free and scatter, since they are terrified of the pigs. So now we have 2 pigs and 2 goats on the loose!
Shortly after, we got Petunia safety into the temporary pen, leaving some treats with her while all of us focused on getting Maybelle in. Slowly but surely she made her way down and into the pen to be rewarded with her treats. There was a big sigh of relief from everyone and a great feeling of accomplishment. We then gathered up the goats and fixed their fence and everyone was home!
It was a little chaotic at times but it went way better than we hoped and we could not have done it without the help of all of our friends and family! Thank you all!
Now here is the video of all of this happening, filmed and edited by our friend, Blake Joblin!
Enjoy!
@sleepypigfarm