Pigs ready to attend the county fair

Sooie!

No matter how one may try to call them, it is really up to the pig to decide whether or not it is going to come.

Or at least this is what it seemed like to the Friel boys last week.

Connor Friel, 13, and Zachary Friel, 11, of Green River and the 4-H club Project Hope were busy at the 4-H Youth Barn getting their pigs ready for Wyoming’s Big Show.

“You can take however many you want, but you can only auction one,” Zachary said.

The boys were planning on taking all five of their Hampshire-Yorkshire crossbred gilt pigs, Miss Piggy, Oreo, Lily, Felicia and Twinkie to the fair, but only four will be going this year. Miss Piggy arrived with a leg injury and despite all of the Friel’s efforts to heal the leg, she will not be ready in time for the fair.

A couple of the pigs, which the boys received in April, are from a farmer in Idaho and the others are from a farmer in Iowa.

“We have chickens and thought it would be cool to get pigs too,” Connor said.

Jennifer Friel, the boy’s mother said she and her husband thought it would be a good opportunity for the boys to learn how hard it is to take care of animals. She said it was also a learning process because the animals are sold at the fair.

“It’s not always easy when you take care of them, you get attached,” Jennifer said.

However, the boys went into this knowing at the end the pigs would be sold. The boys can select one of their pigs for the fair’s auction and the other pigs are usually sold to their friends or neighbors.

The boys were hoping the pigs would sell at about $6 a pound at the fair’s auction, which would be a good price.

To enter the pigs in the fair, the pigs have to be between 225-295 pounds. So far, Connor’s pig, Lily, was the heaviest at 280 pounds; and Connor was hoping she wouldn’t gain too much before the fair. The other pigs going to the fair aren’t far behind Lily, with the lightest weighing about 250 pounds.

Last year, the boys made about $1,000 each, a pretty good profit, Jennifer said. Since this is the boys' second year showing pigs, Jennifer didn’t think they would have a problem parting ways with them.

“By the end of the summer, we are really tired of smelling like pigs,” Jennifer said.

Taking the pigs to the fair is just one of the ways the boys can earn money while learning about responsibilities.

“It’s fun, but it’s also a responsibility. It’s hard work,” Connor said.

The boys just aren’t feeding the pigs and taking them to the fair. There is much more to it than that. The boys have to train the pigs to obey verbal and stick commands. They have to walk the pigs and teach them to stop. This was easier when the pigs were little, but getting a hot, 280-pound pig to do what one wants it to is another task. Luckily, the boys have been working with the pigs since they were young and the pigs obey their commands.

However, Connor and Zachary both said the pigs have been pretty cranky lately because of the high heat. They have been spraying off the pigs every day to make sure they stay cool.

“The kids that win best of show are down here walking their pigs all of the time,” Jennifer said.

Connor and Zachary visit the pig barn two to three times a day to work with the pigs and to feed and water them.

Today Connor and Zachary will wash and oil the pigs to make them as pretty as possible for the 4-H competition. Stop by the pig barn at Wyoming’s Big Show to see how the Friel’s pigs did at the fair.