Hatari, or the great animal round up.

K7 and I joined others on Monday to help a family move. They had some animals that needed homes, so we volunteered. Three little pigs (about 4 weeks old) had to be caught, and since we did not know about the animals before arriving, and our farm was 45 minutes away, we improvised...

...all three went into the sack. One will end up on the Wanch. Do you see the ramp on my truck tailgate? We needed it for our next animal.

Had to borrow this little wooden crate from a church friend a few miles away in order to safely transport this tiny miniature donkey. Then we had to muscle it up the ramp and into the truck bed.

He is definitely tiny. Yes, he is full grown. What good is he? My attitude is, if any animal is eating my grass it had better be productive for our farm. Maybe we can try him out as a guardian shepherd for the herd of meat goats we are buying in next few months to place on the hillside to eat all the brush. Maybe.

Still shy, but...

...have high hopes we can bond with him over time. His name was "Jack", but we already have a dog named "Jack", so that won't work. K6 has suggested we call him "Eddy" as in Eddie Murphy who provided the voice of the donkey in the movie, Shrek. Possibly...

That was Monday. We had to return Tuesday with a stock trailer to get the momma pig which was cooped up in this tiny room on the side of small shed, with no food or water. The smell was atrocious. I am slowly getting better at backing trailers. This one had to be backed over 100 feet and lined up perfectly to the shed. We feared the sow would take off when we tried to move it.

But we came prepared with a bucket of corn, and the poor thing was so hungry, she went straight into the trailer. 

Then we had to get K7 out of the trailer.

We were all happy to get away from the stinky shed.

We had been told she was 300 pounds, but that must have been before she gave birth to 13 piglets and then semi-straved for a month. She really enjoyed her lunch of cracked corn! She is a Red Wattle breed.

Speaking of food, I needed to reward my crew with lunch as well since it was 2:00 P.M. and we were quite hungry.

Mission accomplished. She is in a new home at my neighbor's farm with plenty of room to roam, fresh air, water holes to bathe in, and even a new boy friend. She should regain her health quickly.  I will get a piglet every year for next so many years. Yeah! fresh sausage, bacon, and ham coming our way.

Well mission almost accomplished - not until the trailer is cleaned and returned to another kindly neighbor! It was a busy two days covering a lot of miles through pretty Ozark scenery.