I set this training block up 14 years ago so I have seen a lot of changes over this time which has given me opportunity to learn about how pigs interact with one another. At the start I had sows in with the boars but soon learnt how quick they can multiply when mixing the two sexes together. About six years ago I had no pigs in the block for a short time. The first boar to go in was Black and White he was about 90 pounds at the time and was a boar that would run a lot when dogs were around. Over these six years Black and White has broken both of his tusks off at different times and I have been lucky enough to find them both times which I now keep in my shed to go with his head one day when he dies of old age. While he has the best tusks of all of the boars he does not rip dogs very often. One day I witnessed him and Boris having a fight where Boris poked him in the jugular, I got to see all of this happening and thought he would die from this injury yet a couple of minutes later the bleeding stopped and he went over and started eating some food and the next day I saw him fighting with Boris again. Black and white is third boar in the pecking order.
Next boar in the block again six years ago was Boris. He was caught as a piglet in the wild and raised on a lifestyle block where he out grew the place and became hard to handle. On his first time in the block with dogs he forced three of us to climb a tree to get out of his way and he put a thousand dollar vet bill in one dog. For the next two weeks I just put two of my dogs in on him. Eventually I got him to calm down to the stage that he does not see people as a threat so is now safe in the block. he is second boar in the pecking order.
Next boar to go in six years ago was Black boy. He is a very big pig with one experienced hunter guessing his weight at over 350 pounds. Black boy is the top boar in the block and does not take any shit from any dog that thinks he is going to hold him. Because dogs are always wearing muzzles Black boy throws them back when they get in to close however any dog that manages to get their muzzle off and tries to bit him usually end up with a good tattoo as a reminder why you need to think about what you are doing when dealing with such a big strong animal. I can walk up and pat Black boy as I have worked out how to be the top boar in the block so that any boar below me will not try to fight me but instead show me a bit of respect.
Now this year because my three main boars are starting to get a bit older and slower I have decided to add a couple of extra boars into the block. The first was Spot he is coming up 2 years old and was born on my property out of Poppy. When she had this litter I kept 3 sows and one boar, Spot. One day Spot broke into the training block so I made sure that the electric fence was turned on so he got quite a few shocks trying to get back out until he would have realized that he was in there to stay.
This is going to be his first winter in the training block and is just starting to realize his job is to give dogs a bit of training. he is 4th in the pecking order so has a bit of confidence about him. Any dog that gets to close to him he will force the dog to stand back and show a bit of respect. He would weigh about 180 pounds and is a great boar for training full on dogs as his tusks are not too big yet, while he can rip a dog they will only be skin rips.
Next two boars to go into the block were also born out of Poppy in the next litter after Spot so are about 18 months old. These two boars Rocket and Whisk stick together around the training block and its only when a dog is onto one of them that they split up. Both boars are about 120 pounds and while the dogs have got muzzles on they are safe but a dog could hurt them if they had a chance. Both of these guys can run and fight OK and will be very good boars in the future.
The last boar in the block and a real character Kevin Bacon, he was raised as a pet by Dave and Gail Jeffreys on a lifestyle bock around Christchurch. He was caught by Scott May while out pig hunting and giving to Dave and Gail. They loved Kevin to bits but because he was getting a bit bigger and harder to work with they contacted me asking if I would take him. Kevin is about 100 pounds and at the bottom of the pecking order. If I am in the training block Kevin will always find me so it does make it easier for the dogs that are not going to go out and find a boar. Kevin as expected is very friendly but he can be annoying some times when he just wants to be right by your side even when you have another one of the boars bailed.
I do have one more boar and he was out of the same litter as Rocket and Whisk. When I was getting them out from the sows only Rocket and Whisk fitted in the motor bike trailer and it was a couple of days later when I got the black boar out . I had to entice him onto the trailer with some pig nuts. When I got down to the gate at the bottom of the pig block I noticed that the gate on the trailer had come open and there was no sign of the black boar. As I walked up to close the gate again the black boar came walking around the corner following me so opened the gate again and then Kevin turned up, as soon as the black boar spotted Kevin he came running in looking for a fight. Gate closed and I was happy to have all of the boars in the block. However the black boar just did not seem to join back up with Rocket and Whisk but instead somehow got back through the fence to the sows again. While I can get him back into the pig block he has been giving my youngest dog Bro some good training as Rastus and Bro come up with me to feed the sows each day and they have worked out how to target the boar through the sows and piglets.