mud
boggin'
Our FFA fair pigs don't know it, but when the sun comes up today, it will shine on their last day of piggy bliss. Saturday is the pig weigh-in at the fair and they will move to a pen in a livestock pavillion.
For the next 5 days, the Suwannee River Livestock Fair will consume our lives. I plan to mainly blog the fair this week. Due to fair activities, my posts may be at odd times of the day instead of the "first thing in the morning post". Tonight...actually predawn early Saturday, we will coax the pigs up an earthen ramp and into the truck.
In the truck, they'll get a shampoo and a trim. (Yes, you read that correctly). Then it's off to the fair. The kids, and to some extent, the parents, will practically live at the fairgrounds for a while.
School is out Monday for the fair cattle and swine shows. Tuesday is a teacher work day so again the kids are free.
Wednesday is the swine sale, a real country auction. Bidders will pay inflated prices for each animal to support the kids who have raised and cared for them.
That will be the goodbye day.
16 comments:
I love the auction part. At our county fair the large grocery store chains bid for the prize steers and pigs. The parents or grandparents bid to buy the ribbons.
And then they get to go to the piggy retirement home... umm, right?
This is such a good education for the kids. It's just one of the many benifits to a rural lifestyle.
Don't forget to polish their little hoofnails.
Pictures of the fair and the piggys would be the next best thing to being there for me. Thanks for thinking of putting them on your blog. And good luck for the kids.
Yeah, but no "after" photos. I can see FC now posting a picture of a plate of grits, biscuits, eggs and...and...
Cracker has already said that the purchased pigs will go to a very big farm where they will have lots of room to roam around and live a good, full life. So stop already with the negative talk!
(There actually IS such a farm in Missouri. My son-in-law's sister had a pot bellied pig that they had to get rid of when she left for college. So they found this pig rescue place, and now the pig really does roam around a huge, grassy farm and live the good life. I've seen pictures!)
Is this where I turn in my ticket for the baby back ribs? Or am I just supposed to admire these hogs?
I was thinking "What an odd time of year for a fair. Why make the kids feed those animals through the cold winter months, when they eat more feed to stay warm?" and then I remembered...
Zanne,
I really enjoyed your fair posts and how similar the midwest kids were to ours. That was neat.
Rurality,
Piggy heaven might be more appropriate...
Mac,
It's been an education for me too.
DPR,
Will do.
Doubleknot,
Thanks for the good luck wish.
Likes2mtnbike,
Maybe turkey bacon would be okay for a while.
Pablo,
I'm sure someone will buy these as housepets.
Hoss,
You're killing me.
Leslie,
Funny, when Zanne of The Farmers Wife blog posted her fair pics, I thought, "That's an odd time for a livestock fair". We had been long done with ours.
For us it's a heat thing. The hotter summer season would cause animal stress and death in the pavillion pens.
What a wonderful activity for the whole family. I always believed that families should have things that they do together & create wonderful lasting memories. Have fun and keep us posted.
Boy you are really country. I love the fair and especially viewing the livestock. Have fun! I'm jealous.
I'm a day late here. How did it go at the fair?
Is Pablo kidding or not? I need to know. If he is kidding please can I sign up to bid on them online, ala eBay? And when, not if, I win these clean and tidy pigs I can keep them at your place, right? As long as I pay for the bananas?
FC- my boundaries are a bit gray this week and I'm now in love with your pigs. I'm going over to smack Hoss for that last remark.
Abandoned,
It is a great experience..a nice mix of work, fun, happy, sad.
Hick,
Fair pics coming up!
RD,
We made it in, pics coming!
Vicki,
Take Hoss out to the woodshed! Since we don't actually know what happens after the auction, we can imagine anything.
It wasn't until a few years ago that I learned what happened to Fair animals. Can you say "city girl"??
The county fairs are kicking off in this part of the state starting next week. I look forward to going, I've never gone to a county fair. The only fair I've attended was state and that was when I was a teenager who wanted to go to a concert. My viewpoint will be very different now. I'm interested in the chickens. :)
I'll miss the pig pics. :(
Girl,
I thought of you yesterday when I walked past the most beautiful electraglide parked at the local Wallyworld.
From concert to chickens...the grown up view point strikes.
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