cantankerous pig

[Soundguy]

A while back i got a new male pig for one of my adult sows. He was kinda young.. but showed promis.. pretty good pig in all. Was reasonable trained to obey a stick or cane....Lately he has uh.. hit puberty i guess... and been taking tot he sow real good. I notice dthis yesterday when i went to fill the drop feeder, as he was slightly agressive. I tapped him on the shoulder with the cane.. and instead of moving off he snapped at it... not feeling like 'arguing', i grabbed my long cattle prod and kept it with me while filling feeders. He made one more pas at me, and then went to the edge of the pin after tasting the cattle prod... Later today I noticed he or one of the other pigs had uprooted a water fountain in his pin today.. flooding it.

Had to fix it... decided to carry the prod and the cane.. and for safety.. tucked my pistol in my belt... Never came close to using it.. but.. I think a may take it with me when dealing with the pigs from now on.. especially some of the larger ones.

No real point except to point out farm animal safety...

Any one else carry a firearm with them on their farm? ( I ocassionally have a .22 rifle with me during rat and snake season.. ).

Soundguy

 

[AB4D]

Any one else carry a firearm with them on their farm? ( I ocassionally have a .22 rifle with me during rat and snake season.. ).Soundguy

I don't have a farm, but I do live in the country. I usually carry a .357 during the spring/summer/fall. We have quite a bit of wildlife ranging from skunks and snakes, to coyote/wild dogs and black bears. Had an encounter with a juvenile black bear last year, but he kept on passing through my property without a problem. I think I saw a post a while back on TBN from a guy in Culpper, VA (35 miles away) talking about feral hogs somewhere in VA, but I haven't seen any around here.

Jim

 

[Birdhunter1]

I carry a 5" barrel Ruger Vacquero .45 Colt, never know what needs shot.

 

[VT_Hokie]

I run a reseach facility for swine where we have had some pretty big pigs both sows and boars. The biggest one weighted out at 710 lb. We do all our husbandry with the stick, but I would like to have a prod for the stubborn ones on occasion. The best form of safety is socializing the animals at an early age and making "attitude" adjustments when misbehavior is first evident. I use my .40 to euthanize but would not carry it for protection as it would be worthless. As in, by the time I assess the agression towards me in the pen, draw the pistol, aim and discharge, the pig will have already done what it wanted to do to you. Which is most likely shove you into the wall and move on to talking to that sow. You are way better off with the prod and the staff.

 

[Soundguy]

He seems to be a smart rascal, and remembers the cattle prod.. He stayed away from me all day today when i was in and out of the pin putting some fodder down.

I prefer to use as little force as necescary for my animals.. Some peopl ethink a cattle prod is inhumane.. but I feel that it keeps you and the animal safe... As.. if the animal were agressive and I didn't have a prod. the next step would be the firearm..

Thanks for the tips.

Soundguy

 

[3RRL]

Those pigs are real smart, smarter than most animals. They'll remember stuff forever. Sometimes when you look at them, you can see them figuring it out. As far as carrying on the farm, I don't know about that. Most TV shows I've seen never show the farmer armed. On the other hand, ranchers are always armed.
Myself, I have rural property so I always carry. Never know what you're gonna run into?

 

[IslandTractor]

If you are going to rely on a handgun as protection from a full grown pig, make sure it can drop him. I watched someone try to slaughter a pig with a .22 magnum fire point blank at a pig right between the eyes and the pig snorted and walked away. Pig did eventually end up as the main attraction at a luau however.

 

[California]

Most TV shows I've seen never show the farmer armed. On the other hand, ranchers are always armed. Myself, I have rural property so I always carry. Never know what you're gonna run into?

Don't think I ever saw an orchard on TV. Maybe I should carry - You never know what might be out there.

 

[LBrown59]

A while back i got a new male pig for one of my adult sows. He was kinda young.. but showed promis.. pretty good pig in all. Was reasonable trained to obey a stick or cane....Lately he has uh.. hit puberty i guess... and been taking tot he sow real good. I notice dthis yesterday when i went to fill the drop feeder, as he was slightly agressive. I tapped him on the shoulder with the cane.. and instead of moving off he snapped at it... not feeling like 'arguing', i grabbed my long cattle prod and kept it with me while filling feeders. He made one more pas at me, and then went to the edge of the pin after tasting the cattle prod... Later today I noticed he or one of the other pigs had uprooted a water fountain in his pin today.. flooding it.

Had to fix it... decided to carry the prod and the cane.. and for safety.. tucked my pistol in my belt... Never came close to using it.. but.. I think a may take it with me when dealing with the pigs from now on.. especially some of the larger ones.

No real point except to point out farm animal safety...

Any one else carry a firearm with them on their farm? ( I ocassionally have a .22 rifle with me during rat and snake season.. ).

Soundguy

I thought it was snake season the year round in Fla.due to it being warm all year.

 

[DieselPower]

Don't think I ever saw an orchard on TV. Maybe I should carry - You never know what might be out there.

He wasn't a release turkey was he. They raise and release turkey's around here and during turkey season the dumb bunny's just walk up to you expecting you to feed them. I have had them walk up to me on my tractor before.

 

[Egon]

Any Farm Animal starts to act up they should considered for the weiner factory right after the first incidence.

There is also a mater of sequestering the male breeding animal to keep peace on the range.

Butchering on the farm long time ago:

I have seen many a pig/beef shot in the forehead with a .22 long rifle and not one ever shook his head and walked away! And unlike the movie shootings these animals fall over and quiver all over for about 20-30 seconds before they are quiet. It is during this period we used to cut the throat.

 

[weldingisfun]

Any one else carry a firearm with them on their farm? ( I ocassionally have a .22 rifle with me during rat and snake season.. ).

Soundguy

I always have a .357 magnum revolver or a .223 Ruger Mini-14 with me ever since a pack of wild dogs killed 21 of my goats over a two week period of time in April 2005. If it barks, is on my property and I see it, it will not leave my property. I like dogs, but not strays. People in town seem to think that if they dump their unwanted "pets" in the country some farmer will take them in.
That ia a cruel way to get rid of a dog. People sure can be stupid.

 

[Paddy]

When I was young, my grandfather was attacked by a sow with piglets. He ended up with a broken back. Sows are the dangerous ones, but they all taste good!

 

[pennwalk]

Maybe I should carry

Hey California, Have you heard tell of many aggressive apples out your way?
One good thing is that a bullet to the forehead of an apple will definitely put it down. I know... but I couldn't help myself.
Chris

 

[California]

He wasn't a release turkey was he. They raise and release turkey's around here and during turkey season the dumb bunny's just walk up to you expecting you to feed them. I have had them walk up to me on my tractor before.

I don't know. Local folklore says they are escaped domestic turkeys, but they seem smarter (and more curious) than that.

 

[AndyMA]

I don't have any pictures right now, but in NE Conn where there are planty of native turkeys, they are much darker in color and I've never had them walk up to me. As soon as they detect me, they head in the opposite direction. Many times flying just off the ground and making an awful loud noise.

Andy

 

[Bird]

I have seen many a pig/beef shot in the forehead with a .22 long rifle and not one ever shook his head and walked away!

Yep, that's the way they were all killed for butchering when I was a kid.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have seen many a pig/beef shot in the forehead with a .22 long rifle and not one ever shook his head and walked away!

Well, I believe you. I have only participated in one pig slaughter but maybe Hawaiian pigs are just a bit thicker skulled. He didn't go down until the second shot and as you might imagine it was tough lining up the second shot. He did finally make it to the Luau on time.

 

[RobertN]

I don't know. Local folklore says they are escaped domestic turkeys, but they seem smarter (and more curious) than that.

Lots of wild ones around; the population has been increasing partly because of plantings. It is possible some got off a ranch, like some of the feral hogs. Those look wild though.

There are tons of them around here, alothough they stayed away during fal season

 

[RobertN]

I don't have any pictures right now, but in NE Conn where there are planty of native turkeys, they are much darker in color and I've never had them walk up to me. As soon as they detect me, they head in the opposite direction. Many times flying just off the ground and making an awful loud noise.
Andy

There are five sub species across the US, but I could not tell you what they are right now. I think out here we have Meeriams(sp?). Will have to look it up again.

Lots of ours aren't too spooked; they'll be in the 20-30' range around peoples houses and plant/flower beds. They root them up like crazy!