Hello My Darling.......

Within 4 days of weaning the sow comes back into season and is ready to receive the boar again. Since Sunday, Ginger has been wailing like an Elephant.. clearly distressed and trying to tell us something.

"She's definitely not happy" said Linda yesterday.

Mangal's been hanging around at the gate to her pen: he's hidden another food bowl in his ark: "Ginger's made a serious job of clearing out her ark too" Linda continued.

We had to do something.

So today we hatched a plan: at tea-time we would feed Ginger in her middle pen; then open the gates between them and Mangal would eagerly go up to Ginger and her food - at which point we'd close the gates thus leaving Mangal's pen - which is the one next to Alfred - empty and Ginger well away from Alfred and his evil intentions.

So at tea-time this evening we opened the gates between the pair and waited......

Ginger quickly made her way in Mangal's direction: they met at the entrance to Mangal's pen.... she wouldn't go down (the big step) and he wouldn't go up (the big step) but there was a whole lot of Mangal nibbling her ears and her coat and her face and even tearing bits of her wool. Nonchalently and quietly she acquiesced: then went back to her tea. Then returned for more: then went back for more tea.

"It's a big step for him to climb" I said, as Mangal chewed at the concrete and at the gate post and made out that there was no way he could climb up to Ginger's quarters. It was getting dark. We watched and waited. Eventually Ginger capitulated and jumped down the step into Mangal's pen.

For the next 10 minutes or so they were in his ark together making all sorts of noises and banging and clattering.

And then Alfred, next door, finished his tea and realised there was something quite interesting going on.... and started pacing up and down the dividing fence, giving the occasional groan ....

"Uh Oh" said The Boss "I don't like this at all: we can't leave Alfred there if Ginger is in season...."

"But she's not - yet" I said.
"She soon will be" he replied gloomily

So we spent a frustrating 10 minutes trying to work out if and how and where we could move Alfred .... but with just the two of us and the field too soggy to drive the trailer into we kept coming to a dead end.

"Just have to leave them to it" he decided in the end. And home we went: He wondering if we'd be able to sleep; me wondering if he'd wander out in his dressing gown in the middle of the night.... or, more likely poke me and suggest one of us ought to go and check if everything was OK.

As ever with animals though if you go away and leave them to it everything gets sorted.

Going out to shut up the chickens soon after dark I stopped by Ginger and Mangal to see what was going on: Mangal's ark was deserted: looking beyond I saw Mangal by the step up to Ginger's quarters and, as I watched amazed, he sprang up - as light on his feet at Muhammed Ali - and trotted into Ginger's pen where the pair of them started nuzzling and nibbling and circling each other --- and were totally oblivious to my quietly closing the gates and solving the 'Alfred problem'.

"Think you'll be able to sleep well tonight after all" I commented to The Big Boss as I poured him a glass of wine when I returned back indoors........

I imagine the same will apply to Ginger and Mangal ....... eventually....!