Spoiled piggies

 Fifteen weeks ago we delivered 2 of Ginger's Deserts litter, Dorothy and Spamalot, (not the names we gave them!) to their Custodians at Kirton Lindsey. They were just little weaners and looked quite lost in their very capacious quarters. The blog at the time shows their tailor made des.res. which was probably an indicator of how spoiled they might become! They demolished it. A nice shiny new ark has replaced it! Spoiled pigs? Hmmm.
They've grown a bit - well, quite a lot really. This is Dotty (or it could be Spammy) washing her trotters following a rather sybaritic wallow, which she demonstrated for my benefit. Clearly the other water bowl is used in much the same way! Note also the beautifully coiffed curls.

 We were visiting on Sunday to drop off another 3 Curly Coat weaners, this time from Precious' Fruits litter born on 2 August. By the way they offered to help lift the straw over the electric fence (erected to separate them from their new companions) it was clear that Dotty and Spammy have struck up a rapport with their Custodians. It's not just their rubenesque physiques which provide a clue that they are spoiled rotten -  a pile of uneaten apples by the ark was a bit of a giveaway too!  Factors such as these erased any worries I might have had about how the three youngsters we'd brought with us would fare.
The older girls will be able to show them all the ropes and fill them in on 'What goes on around here' as well as telling them pig tales at night to help them sleep.

Dotty & Spammy's pen was rather larger than necessary for two pigs so it had been split in two with an electric fence and a shiny ark procured for the new arrivals.
Custodian junior carried the first weaner from the trailer and gently placed her over the fence into her new pen. She promptly ran straight through the electric fence to the larger pigs! Who, instead of enquiring gently, chased her mercilessly. We watched. Till someone suggested there was strength in numbers and maybe a second weaner should be put in the pen! So the second was added to the melee - and she too ran straight through the electric fence! So now two weaners were chased around by Dotty and Spammy. They must have thought it was the best game ever.....
So we added the third weaner to the mix.
She ran exactly the opposite way. And then got lost and couldn't find her mates at all in all the undergrowth. They'd gone off to the pile of apples - very sensible since they'd been short-rationed at breakfast. They found some other goodies there too. When they'd had enough they set about exploring and somewhere the three weaners eventually found each other - but they were all in D & S's pen so they were chased around until they made it back to safety through the electric fence. Where Dotty and  Spammy would not follow - they'd had enough of a shock when the fence was first connected and no way would they put their snouts anywhere near it again!
We heard later in the evening that all had settled down and the little ones had safely gone to bed in their ark. Exhausted from all the adventures of the day, maybe they'd dream of happy days at RectoryReserve with their siblings or perhaps they'd be excitedly anticipating what their future as spoiled pigges would be like... .