Lancelot Acres

4/12 - Our Animal Auction Adventure...

Our animal auction adventure...

We love adventure.  It seems we are always finding ourselves in one, so I guess it's good we like it. 

Saturday we attended an animal auction.  I've been wanting a few laying hens so we drove 2 hours (one way) for the sole purpose of buying 3-4 laying hens.  It's a nice drive and all 4 of us went along for the trip. 

Lauren is getting better in the car and only fussed a little on the way home before falling asleep for the duration of the trip.  She didn't fuss at all on the way there.

So we planned on leaving around 7AM in the morning.  It's a 2 hour drive and we planned on eating breakfast along the way.  The chicken auction starts at 10AM.

We left at 7:50AM and ate McDonald's in the car hoping we'd make it in time to get our chickens.  LOL

We drove our Mercury Tracer wagon.  Lance had put a pet taxi (carrier) and a wire cage in the back of the wagon to hold the chickens.  Gas is just too high to take the truck for a few hens.

So we got there at 10:10AM.  Lance headed straight for the office to get our bidding number.  I put the girls in their warm clothes and headed for the chicken barn to write down which ones I liked.  There are cages lined up and some have 1 chicken, some have 6 chickens.  When you bid, you are bidding on every bird in the cage, and the high bid is per bird, not per cage.

I walked through and chose 4 different cages that I liked.  Then narrowed it down to two because Lilli wanted a barred rock and only two of them had a barred rock.  One cage had 6 hens (a variety of hens) and one cage had 3 hens (1 barred rock and 2 red hens).    We only wanted one of the cages, but I wrote down two in case Lance didn't get one on the first try.

After I wrote down the ones I liked, Lilli and I walked through the main barn to see what critters were in there.  There were some very cute kids and several calves and lambs.  Then we went back to the chicken barn and got Lauren and headed for the car, leaving Lance to do his bidding without us.     

It was chilly, so the girls and I played in the car while waiting for him.  We had brought things from home as we knew we were going to be doing this.  Lilli colored and we read stories.  It really didn't take long though, and it's really fun to people-watch.  LOL

Lance came walking up before too long and I asked which ones he bought.  He had bought the 3 hens (1 barred rock, 2 red hens).  He had to pay $10.50 each for them, which is high, but he said he wasn't going to leave without hens when that was the reason we drove there to begin with.  LOL.

Then he said, "I also bought two little pigs for $27 each".  Pigs?  We had talked about that a little on the way down there, but our cages were awful small.  He said he bought the smallest ones there and he was sure they'd fit in the pet taxi.

He left again to get the paperwork so he could take the animals.  5 minutes later we hear this awful screeching, screaming, oinking, LOUD yelling going on.  I told Lilli I thought Papa was coming.  She said there was no way that two little pigs would make that much noise. 

It was him, and yes, two piglets can make that much noise.  LOL

Lance was carrying one and his friend Darren (who was there with his family) was carrying the other.  I wish I'd have had my camera.  It was such a funny sight.

So then they get to the car.  I got out and opened the back of the car.  I eyed the cages doubtfully wondering which cage he was going to put which pig in, and where the chickens would go.

Lance said to open the pet taxi so I did...he promptly tried to wrestle the little squirming and very strong piglet into the carrier.  It was still screaming.  Lilli and Lauren were watching over the back of the seat with much delight.  LOL

So he gets the pig into the taxi and that pig went crazy.  The taxi was bouncing up and down and the door came off!  Lance grabbed the pig and I grabbed the door, but I couldn't get it back on very quick.  Lance was quite patient with telling me that I had to do it and do it quickly.  LOL  The cage was jumping the whole time. 

Now his friend Darren was holding the other piglet the whole time and it was still squirming and screaming too.  We finally get the door back on and get the pig settled and I asked where he planned to put the other one???

Darren says if Lance holds that pig to one side he's sure can slide the other one right in beside it.  So that's what he did. 

Now you would think that with such close quarters...they had room to lay side by side, but no room to spare... that they would have just layed there and tried not to move.  Nope.  They had to wrestle each other.  The cage was thumping and rocking and had the whole car shaking.  LOL. 

So the girls think this is hilarious.   I'm not so sure. 

Right after we get our pigs in their cage, we look over a few cars down and there is a piglet running around loose in the parking lot.  The guy chasing it didn't look very happy about it.  Lance and Darren walked over and tried to help him round it up, but that little piggy had other ideas.  Lance and Darren headed up for our chickens while the guy chased his pig.  Others came to help and I swear I'm not sure I've laughed so hard in a long time.  Lauren and I were sitting in the front seat of the car, and that little pig would go running across in front of the car and Lauren would just squeal with laughter.  Then about 12 guys would come along behind it...how could you not laugh?  LOL

The funny thing is that this happened about 12 times.  The pig would run one way, followed by the crowd, then the pig would run the other way followed by the crowd.  It was hilarious.

Then we finally heard squealing and I knew they caught the poor thing.  I'm glad they did, he would have gotten hit by a car otherwise, but you can't help but cheer for the underdog (pig in this case). 

So the guy comes walking across in front of the car carrying the piglet by his leg.  Lilli didn't like that at all.  I have to say I wasn't very impressed either.

Ok, so about that time Lance comes back with the cage of chickens.  Two chickens.  I asked where the other one was.  He said somebody stole it while he was getting his paperwork.  They said there was nothing we could do about it as we are supposed to watch the cage after we win the bid, it's our responsibility.  I find this a crock, as if you are there by yourself, you HAVE to get your paperwork from the office before you can take the animals...how can you be in two places at once?

So I'm glad that they took one of the red hens and not the barred rock that Lilli wanted.  So we have one barred rock and one red hen that cost us $15.75 each.  LOL.  Yes $31.50 for two chickens.

The piglets were $27 each and are about 6 weeks old.  So $54 for two piglets.

$85.50 for our adventures at the auctions (not counting the gas $$).  We have two hens and two piglets to show for it.  LOL

Now the story could end there, but what fun would that be? 

Have you ever ridden in the car with two piglets?  Yes, it's an experience.  The first 45 minutes they couldn't get settled.  The cage was hopping up and down and they were snorting and squealing.  Lauren thought this was great and kept saying, "dog" and laughing out loud.  LOL.  I wasn't so excited about it and kept giving Lance 'the look'.  You know the look...the one that says, 'it probably wasn't such a great idea to buy pigs to carry home in the car with us'.  LOL.

We stopped at McDonald's on the way home (twice in one day...LOL) and the pigs had the cage hopping and car shaking while we were waiting in line at the drive-through.  It was so funny.

Ok...so the pigs settled down after about 45 minutes and must have fallen asleep, as did the girls.  It was very quiet in that car.  LOL.

So...that could be the end of the story...but there is still more...

Lance and I discussed what to do with the piglets when we got home.  Would we put them in the stall in the wood shed, or put them in the pig pen down in the field.  They probably weren't trained to electric fence, but pigs are pretty smart and usually catch on pretty quickly.

I thought the stall was a better idea, but Lance said he's put other piglets down in the pen before and they did fine.  He just puts them in the hut and then when they come out and start wandering around they touch the wire and figure it out easily enough.

So he put them in the pen while I was inside getting the girls ready for their bath.

He was gone a long time.

A really long time.

He finally comes in and says the pigs are gone.  He put them in the hut and they ran for the fence and went right through it to our cow field.  Now that field is fenced too, so they were still fenced in.  Except the cows thought it would be fun to chase them, so the cows chased the pigs right into, and out of the second fence.

Lance didn't feel all that great, so he gave up when they went into the brambles and came inside for a nap.

He lays down and just gets settled and hears a pig squeal.  LOL.  Up he goes and gets his boots and coat and runs outside.  The piglets were in the fence with our dogs.  The dogs weren't trying to hurt or kill them, but they did think it was a great idea to chase and play.  The pigs weren't so thrilled with the idea.  By the time Lance got out there, the pigs weren't running very fast anymore.  So he somehow got them and put them in our horse trailer for the night.

I cannot believe they came back into the fence, and especially with the dogs.  I never would have thought that. 

So we still have the two pigs (currently living in the horse trailer while Lance sets up the stall in the woodshed today) and two hens that are settling into our old coop very well (not near as much excitement where they are concerned, they are nice and calm...LOL).  I'm going to check for eggs soon.  Woohoo!

What a day we had.  LOL

Today we are heading to a hotel with a pool.  My SIL and niece are going with us.  We are looking forward to it.  Lilli just asked how many hours until we can leave.  LOL 

Lilli was supposed to go back to school tomorrow, but she has an appt with an allergy Dr for skin testing, so she's just going to take the day off.  I had to wait to do a hotel with a pool because she's had her cough most of the week.  It's almost completely gone now, yay!  :)

We are all looking forward to the hotel.  We'll miss Lance though.  He's going to help his brother with some plumbing and then he'll be home.  I think he's looking forward to the peace and quiet after yesterday.  LOL

Have a great day...I'll try to post tomorrow night and tell about Lilli's appt.

~Lisa <--the proud owner of two new hens...Stripey and Penny. 

I'll post pics of the new critters sometime in the next few days.