The Chewonki pigs have made their annual move from the barn to the woods. For the past few years, Chewonki has bought spring feeder pigs from Sourground Farm in Sabattus, Maine. These piglets spend their first two months in the manure shed attached to the barn, rooting around and helping to speed up the decomposition process that makes for ideally composted manure to spread on hayfields and gardens in the fall.
Once they are big enough to avoid predation (and boy, are they growing fast!), we move them out to an area of the woodlot just north of the farm. Two lines of electric fencing keep them in their enclosure, and these boys and girls happily spend their days munching on leaves, moving around sticks and brush, and rooting through the forest floor. They live in an environment well-suited to their natural tendencies, and they do a valuable job of clearing the forest floor in an area that may become new pasture in future years.
The moving process involved a great deal of screaming and kicking (the pigs) and panting and heavy-lifting (the humans), but all are happily ensconced in their quiet wooded home now. They are happy to receive back scratches and belly rubs, should you have a chance to stop by the Neck.
