Sorry Boys

    You boys out there might not want to read this one. It's a sorry fact of farm life tho. Today was the day...the big cut. Yep, the five little boy pigs got the wack. Ouch. 

The little boys in nicer weather.
They didn't suspect a thing!


   About a year and a half ago, Will and I went to the vet with our first batch of three little boys to get them casterated. We had heard two different stories. One was that if you casterate them, they won't taste as strong and musky. The second was if you didn't casterate them up to a year, you would be okay and they wouldn't taste too strong. hm. We opted for the first on the first batch, just to be sure. We took them to our GREAT vet, Dr. Susan Albright in Chenoa, IL (Hi Dr. Susan!). She is the best vet we've ever had because she listens to our organic needs. We don't do the usual shots for our livestock, we use herbal remedies for them, and she is a holistic vet. Not to mention super nice.
   Well, she taught us how to hold them up by their back legs, make the incision, and do the dirty deed of taking out the testicles (like I said...ouch!). It wasn't hard to do. She squirted them down with disinfectant and we put them back in the dog crate, brought them home, and they were fine. We kept them on clean straw in the barn for three days and then they went back outside.
   Then the second batch we sold the two boys as breeders to two other farmers. Got lucky there. But, this third batch had five boys. We are going to butcher them all for food for ourselves and a chef friend. So, we decided we'd be on the safe side again and casterate them. When it came down to it, Will and I looked at each other and said "nuh, uh!". We cringe at the idea of trying it ourselves. Call us wimps... we are.
   So, today Will took the boys to Dr. Susan and got them done. Now they are home again. Doesn't take but a quick minute. They are in the barn because of the snow drift over the outside cages and because it is to be really cold the next couple of days, so they'll be fine.
   Maybe sometime we'll try one or two without wacking them and see what the taste difference is. Maybe we'll wait until we have quite a few on hand tho so we aren't stuck if it is nasty tasting!
   Oh...and thanks to the super nice lady at Verizon Wireless (Latesha - I think) for helping us get back online!