A few weeks ago, I set up our fenced paddocks for my 3 pregnant gilts to frolick in the lush green grass, root up grubs and bugs, and stay cool in the shade of the grove trees.  Sounds like paradise, right?  I brought them out there on a nice morning and they were genuinely happy! Running, rooting, sleeping in their A-frames, doing what pigs do naturally. 

   

This paradise lasted 2 days.  

They wanted their straw nests in the barn. So they went under a fence and found their way back to their barn.

I waited a few weeks until it got warmer and the rain passed to try to put them out again. I also set up an electric fence to help deter them from going under the fence again.  So I brought them back out again this evening during feeding time. I turned my back for a few minutes and bam, they pushed their way through the electric fence and through the woven wire fence and walked back to the barn. So I guess that’s it. They want to stay where they are comfortable and what is familiar to them.  Moving to a new place isn’t exciting for everyone, especially for 2 out of the 3 gilts. The other one, Red, loved it out in the pasture. But she also wants to be with her herd. 

So now to plan B: setting up farrowing pens in the barn. I’m not going to give up on my pastured pork. I just have to figure out how to train them to electric fencing.