The next generation

The Mangalitza Fan Club swung into action again last week. Two more students from the local university agricultural college mailed to ask if they could offer themselves up for some practical work experience. The Big Boss, ever keen to reward initiative, welcomed them enthusiastically and set them off to spend the afternoon working alongside Linda.

"We'll give them some real hands-on experience with the pigs too" he said and informed the two young helpers that they would be instrumental in separating Delila's Clarissas from Clarences in the stalls and then putting them all out in their respective outdoor pens.

We had a plan. I'd marked the three girls at breakfast so the Young Helpers would pick each of them up in turn, put them over the hurdle and they could trot up into the trailer where food was waiting. We'd then repeat the exercise with the boys, except they would just need to be herded up into the trailer. Easey peasey and we all swung into action: Alicia and Alex proved to be wizard with the weaners - gilts scooped up in no time at all and popped over the hurdle to run up to the trailer. And just to prove you can never take your eye off the ball where animals are concerned, one got away and ran off into the distance.

"Oh No!" said Linda "I knew we should have carried them in and put them over the gate in the trailer!". No sooner said than done: gilts over the barrier and hogs herded in - simple. Off to the woods and unload boys: they were keen to be out in the open air so no problem there either. Except as they were running around I noticed one of the boys had transmogrified and was now a gilt! Oops.

So after putting the two gilts in the trailer up into their pen next to Ginger and her little ones, it was back to the woods to round up the 'wrong pig' and put her in the right place. Then we just had to find the runaway gilt. Who was here one moment and there the next and then gone again.

"Gunner'll fetch her" said The Boss. He was right - as usual. I let The Bestest Pig Dog in All the World out of the house and in no time he'd located said pig and herded her up to the pen where the others were. With A & A holding hurdles at strategic points and Gunner and I acting as 'stops', Linda did her speedy rugby tackle thing and before the little gilt knew it she was up in the air and over the fence and reunited with her sisters! Just like that! Well - Linda needed an extra pair of hands to help complete the swing over the top but you get the picture!

As an exercise in showing students how to manage livestock it may not have been exemplary but it was certainly a lot of fun!!!

Talking of fun. Ginger's little Deserts are now at that age where the world is their playpen. And they are exploring every facet of it. Ginger's pleased to have her me-time again and Mangal is only too happy to pass on the Wisdom of the Great Hogs and tales of " Giants (humans) and smoke breathing dragons (any car or tractor)" - to borrow the words of The Big Boss in the latest edition of Pigtails (see www.rectoryreserve.co.uk).

And in this manner The Hog History passes from one generation to the next.