Meet Miss Mabel

formerly known as Amanda.

Tuesday evening CountryBoy and I were sitting on the porch enjoying the beautiful weather, watching the birds flock to the feeders and listening to their joyous song. I was also repurposing some miscellaneous cotton yarn bits that were given to me into dishcloths. I would do a couple of stitches and look up to watch the birds. One time when I looked up, I happened to see something black walking across our bridge. I told CountryBoy that something was coming to pay a visit which happens more often than one would think ’round here. By the time he turned around it had disappeared as the road is lower than the yard in places.

I kept crocheting and we both kept an eye out for ‘the visitor’. Finally it meandered in front of the barn and CountryBoy said “that’s a pot-belly pig!” We jumped up, put some shoes on and headed to the barn where our visitor had already ventured in.

As we approached her she went to snorting and squealing but we could tell that she was tame and was used to people.

We let her into the chicken’s paddock and gave her some corn.

We sat out there for quite a while watching her and getting a kick out of the chickens trying to figure out what the heck that huge ‘thing’ was in their yard.

She could’ve cared less about the chickens but the chickens sure were leary of her yet at the same time they were curious. They spent their time trying to check her out but not wanting to be too close. Since our visitor kept wandering around the paddock the chickens had to make sure they stayed ahead of her. It was hilarious!

We knew we had to find out who she belonged to so CountryBoy headed to all the neighbors while I stayed in the paddock. I could see him driving from one neighbor to the next. He came back with the news that no one was home but it also looked like no one had a pig pen. So now what?

Eventually the chickens settled down a bit and our visitor was content so we headed back to the porch. Just before dark the neighbors across the street came home. CountryBoy decided to head over there again and ask them if they were missing a pig or if they knew who was.

When he didn’t come back right away the thought occurred to me that our pot-belly pig visitor was indeed their pig but that they were going to ask if we wanted her. Sure enough!!! CountryBoy pulled in the drive and stopped at the barn where he pulled a bag of feed out of the truck and took it in the barn.

The owner (and her husband) followed a few minutes later and told us that her name was Amanda and that her husband had found it in a field when she weighed about 50 pounds. They never had a pen for her because she just stayed nearby content to sleep on the porch and sometimes in the house. They said this was the first time that she had ever crossed the road which made her understandably nervous. Meanwhile, her husband had been wanting her to find a home for it so after thanking CountryBoy for asking about the pig she asked him if we would like to have it. He had been wanting a pot-belly pig for a while now so he immediately said YES!

We set up a temporary shelter for her for that night since it was already getting dark and we were expecting rain showers. Thankfully, it did not rain.

While I was at work the following day CountryBoy got to work making a pen for Amanda. He cleaned out the stall across from the chickens and cut a hole, er square, in the side of the barn which allows her, and some nosy chickens, to freely come and go.

We weren’t real keen on the name Amanda because our youngest daughter’s name is Amanda and we weren’t real sure how she would respond to having a pig named after her even though we didn’t name her! So we decided Mabel was a good name for a pig and would save us from uncertain grief (wink).

She is turning out to be such a sweet girl.

She gets excited when you come to visit; she eats her food without a fuss or a mess; she is very clean; and today, we saw her playing chase with the chickens. It was too cute! We were so glad to see her playing with her paddock mates. She’s a bit overweight, even for a pot-belly pig, so the exercise will do her good.

Meanwhile, the chickens think that Mabel gets better feed than them so they anxiously stand by to see if there will be any leftovers…

She’ll snort while she’s eating if they get too close!

This girl, unknowingly, has added some fun and excitement to the farm. We love having a pot-belly pig! Welcome to the farm Miss Mabel!!!