Once I’d rinsed my mouth out of any last vestiges of Boar no.35 that might still be lurking in there, I made a note in my diary of the mornings rather disastrous first AI attempt.
I then had to endure a tortuously long 21-day wait to see if my ‘love making’ with Miss Piggy had actually worked. This nail biting time meant that I was back on vulva watching duty from day 17 onwards. By day 21 there appeared to be no sign of rosy nether regions, nor swelling, or any of the other features that hinted that she might be coming back into oestrus.
I rushed to the phone and telephoned all my friends ‘I’m going to be a Father!’ I shouted to them excitedly. ‘A what? A Father!?’ ‘What the hell are you talking about Lottie?’ ‘I’ve made my pig pregnant! She’s going to have piglets in 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days time WOO HOO!!
3 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days later I herded my beautiful, heavily pregnant GOS pig down the yard and into a large, clean pen inside the barn ready for farrowing. I watched her as she started building her nest out of dried brackens and rushes, piling the bedding up into a mountain and pulling at bits of the vegetation with her mouth and using her snout to move her bedding around just how she wanted it. I waited for her to settle down then went back inside to look after my own brood.
Later that evening I went out to her pen and sure enough, there she was on the top of her mountain of dried foliage grunting, groaning and pushing the first out of what ended up being 13 piglets and no stillbirths. To say that I was excited! Hell I was over the moon! I sat down beside her, celebratory whisky glass in hand, and watched as each piglet searched out a teat to suckle on. She was so gentle with her babies, so concerned not to squash their tiny bodies, that any tiny squeal that they made, and she was up checking that they were all ok. It was quite an extraordinary thing to witness.
The following morning, once I knew that the tiniest one had had some colostrum, I took the runt away to be hand reared by a neighbour on our goats milk. I knew in my heart that it didn’t stand a chance in the fight for the teats. 12 teats and 13 piglets just doesn’t work.
To this day, I still don’t know whether it was beginner’s luck, God smiling down on me, or my great inseminating technique, but I did a few more inseminations after that and they all had a happy outcome. In the end I did eventually buy a boar, but that is another story, for another day with not such a happy ending.
Now we get onto why I for one, will not be eating Babi Guling.
I was in Bali last weekend and Wayan and I went out shopping together near Ubud. There were several small items that we needed to buy for the house and I knew that she would know some good places to get them, plus she’s great company.
We made our way off the beaten track and away from the tourist shopping areas and found a street were there were warungs selling lots of rattan, baskets, glass, etc. We found a warung selling few items that we needed and we set about making a pile on the counter of things that we wanted to purchase. Nothing was terribly expensive but Wayan, always keen to get a bargain, couldn’t resist haggling with the elderly Chinese man who was the owner. It was then that I noticed a crate of pigs through a side door of the shop. I told Wayan that I wanted to take some photos of the pigs and it would probably be better if she laid off the haggling for a bit so that the owner wouldn’t be annoyed at me taking some pictures.
After getting the blessing of the owner to take some photographs, I then went down the steps outside into what turned out to be a yard full of crates of pigs. There was little, in fact no shelter in some areas, to speak of from the scorching sun, no water in their tiny cages and nowhere for them to walk around. The flooring of the cages was made of bamboo poles so difficult for them to even stand and the cages were full of shit and pee. Aside from the absolutely revolting and cruel conditions in which these poor animals were kept, they were also in bad health. Many of them were coughing and sneezing (a sign of chronic worm infection) and although they looked plump enough, that too can be an indication of worms. Despite the stench, I dared to venture round the corner and to my horror discovered that there were yet more cages all over crowded with pigs of different ages and sizes. Only the larger pigs at the end had a proper pen with a concrete floor and could actually move around properly but even they were cramped. It was an absolute heartbreaking sight and I felt quite sick to think that this man could be so proud to keep his pigs in this way.
I eat meat. I have dabbled at being a vegetarian at times in my life, but on the whole I am a carnivore through and through. This does not mean that I don’t care about animals; on the contrary, I care very much about them. There is no place for cruelty to animals, whether kept as pets, or as livestock EVER. IGNORANCE should never be used as an excuse either. If we eat meat, it is our duty to care about where our meat comes from, how it has been reared, from birth to slaughter. If more people gave some thought and really cared, then there would be no place for all the bad husbandry, cruelty and intensive farming methods that still go on today throughout the world.
This man, and many others like him, have no excuse to keep pigs in living conditions such as these. Lack of money is no excuse for cruelty. The fact is that these poor beasts will take twice as long to fatten due to their poor health and chronic housing than ones that lead a happy life and are cared for properly. My pigs were never ill. I did not need to resort to medicines to cure them. My husbandry practices meant that I prevented illnesses. They lived in the right conditions outside in the fresh air. They had shelter, the right food, a constant supply of fresh drinking water, (even if that meant me boiling up kettles and kettles of water in the bitter N.Yorkshire winter’s when the outside taps were frozen. ditto all the rest of the farm animals). Clean bedding to lie down on. Pigs are incredibly clean animals. It is an absolute fallacy that they are dirty. They never dirty the area where they sleep. It is not in their nature.
Thanks to a good friend Lisa, I have also been alerted to the appalling methods practiced in the abattoirs here in Indonesia. When I next see her, which I hope is very soon I’m sure that we will talk about it. I’m getting off my soapbox now but I’m sure they’ll be some more rants soon.
Lottie Nevin - The Red House Diaries 
Speechless
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Well that’s a first! It’s the first time I’ve ever known you to be speechless Eamon.
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You’re slowly approaching to real Indonesia. And there are much more of that downers (for example Jakarta’s Bird market).
My wife says: “Never again babi guling!” But that’s another story (She vomitted after eating it 1st time here again. Did you already see a typical Indonesian kitchen?).
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Yes, Jakarta Bird Market is hell on earth. I don’t believe that i have ever seen birds kept in such conditions ever. NO EVER! and the tiny cages?
I have never seen an Indonesian kitchen, but if they are anything like mine, then I have nothing to grumble at! In Yorkshire parlance, I might be described as ‘A slack tart’ – a quaint Northern phrase which doesn’t exactly mean as it sounds. It’s worse!
Your poor wife, I hope she is fully recovered!
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You should see the chicken-concentration-camps. They are not having enough space and are getting so fat that they loose ability of walking. For some years the owners thought in a collective madness that they had to play loud music all day long to keep them calm. One neighbor did this with Pentacostal Gospel-hysteria. So I tried to kill them all at once with a firework blast, but only the owner became nervous.
To kill a pig they push a sharp piece of bamboo slowly into the heart. They empty a goat with throat-cutting. They put a dog in a sack and hit it with a stick till the dog is quiet. At the market you could find tables with dog-heads, rats and Python-pieces. And of course they hunt my cats, lizards, rare birds and monkeys. It’s easy to stay slim in Indonesia.
And in our first rented original Indonesian kitchen the rats danced ballet in the night.
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I “liked” your story (both parts), but not the tale of the pigs treatment in Indonesia, but sadly that is the way it is in a lot of the world.
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Thanks for your likes! 🙂
I’m very sad that animal welfare remains resolutely bottom of the list here in Indonesia. I guess that when there are so many people living in such desperate conditions with no money, the welfare of animals is the last thing on peoples minds. Like you say though, sadly it is that way in many parts of the world. Despite the fact that Europe is cash rich, in many ways it is no better in it’s animal welfare. People still demand ‘cheap meat’ and because of that intensive chicken and pig farming is still deemed as acceptable. I just write about what I see, and what I find.
thank you for your comment!
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Well I liked part I a helluva lot more than part II. The first sad part is that I think a lot of it has to do with just simple education. If people knew better treatment could equal better profit it would change the dynamic greatly. The second sad part is this is not a third world issue at all and I hate when people make it that way. This happens anywhere where education lags.
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I very much hope that you didn’t think I was saying that it was a third world issue? I thought/hoped that I made it clear that this happens the world over.
I agree, this is very much about education. Maybe I could put my ‘piggy’ know how to good use?
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No, I think you were very clear in how this is repeated all over the world. However, I think asian countries get a worse wrap for it based on the fact that they just do not think to hide it like many western countries.
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BM, I’m relieved to hear that, as I certainly was not trying to single out Indonesia. I would have written exactly the same thing, if I was writing this blog in the UK and had seen something similiar there. I think your point about ‘asian countries getting a worse wrap for it based on the fact that they just do not hide it like many western countries’ is very valid, and a good one. Thanks for your input, and your thoughts, it’s always appreciated.
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Good for you Lottie, you are exposing the terrible things people do to pigs (more intelligent than apes) and livestock animals generally. Yes its education, better conditions/care/water = more profit.
But isn’t it just basic empathy and decency for beautiful creatures that share our world?
There are so many examples of a lack of humanity and compassionate concern for children, and poor pigs are just further down the “for profit” trade line.
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Thanks B, and you are right. I reminded myself how awful intesive pig farming was yesterday by looking at some youtube clips. sows are tethered in stalls, farrow on a concrete floor in crates, no bedding, they never get to nuzzle their babies – it’s sickening. This practice is partly so that the sow doesnt squash the babies. In all the time I bred pigs, i never lost one piglet. not one piglet was ever squashed by the mother.
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“If we eat meat, it is our duty to care about where our meat comes from, how it has been reared, from birth to slaughter.” I agree wholeheartedly. I also eat meat and am always looking for organic products, free-range chickens, etc. I consider it my duty.
I’d also like to commend you for your courage in investigating the conditions you found and taking photos, which made me cry. No creature should ever be treated this way, sadly there is so much ignorance and greed in the world. As other people have commented, this is not just an issue in one country, but worldwide. In more “westernized” countries, we just hide our ill-treatment of animals.
I also wanted to congratulate you on being a father! Haha! Love it. All the best to you in your future breeding endeavors, Lottie! You have a new follower, me! 🙂
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What a lovely comment! Thank you 🙂 and I always appreciate hearing what others feel on a subject. Back in the UK i would have reported this guy to the Rspca. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of cruelty there over the years, most especially from farmers.
Yes, to date I think I am a father of around 50 ish and a mother to 5, step mum to 1. Sadly we no longer have the farm but it was a great experienc albeit extrememly hard work!.
Thanks for following! Funnily enough I’ve just been reading yours! I gave you a Kewl! I’ll be following you too x 🙂
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Haha! Synchronicity, eh? Thanks, Lottie! 🙂
I lived on a farm for a few years, too. And agreed, very hard work!
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VERY!! Keep in touch! 🙂
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Poor little piggies–there is absolutely no excuse for that. On a lighter note, what an awesome stroke of luck to have a successful litter of piggies..not once but a few times!
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I think you summed my AI experiences up perfectly – ‘an awesome stroke of luck’!!
Regarding the pigs in the cages, it was heartbreaking. All intensive farming is, and chickens, turkeys and pigs suffer the most.
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you cant resist bacon lol
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My husband misses it the most! He always used to have bacon for breakfast in the UK. Actually it’s a very good thing that he can’t have it as it’s not good for you, well certainly not in the amounts that he used to eat it!! 🙂
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