Martha or Maud?

This is either Martha or Maud.......at the moment they are pretty interchangeable. They have not shown, (to me anyway) a definite difference in their characters. Both have come out of their shell considerably since 'big sister' Betty arrived and showed them that virtually everything is edible and troughs can be upturned and moved around the pen.

Feeding time now consists of finding said trough, and putting it the right way round whilst resisting the bulk of a huge Berkshire pig desperate to tip the contents of the feed bucket all over the ground.

My little trick to foil this is to sprinkle a handful of pig nuts just by the water trough to occupy them while I dash in and do the righting and filling of the feed trough, luckily Betty is a well trained pig and although knocking over the bucket is a game she is careful not to push us too hard. Her reward for her gentle manners is a tickle behind the ears and a good scratch along her back, something she loves.

Pigs have opened a whole new world up for us, they are SO clean and SO intelligent, a pleasure to have and a joy to watch. As I was warned by lots of readers of this blog I spend far too long watching (and scratching) my pigs, they truly are fascinating.

Sue xx