Those of you who have penetrated the back roads of rural Bali
may have glimpsed a unique local art form; a hand-painted
sign featuring two pigs sharing a tender moment. I used
to find these signs merely engaging, but now that my own pigs
are growing up I’m taking a deeper interest in the niche
market of the Stud for Hire.
My Pig Project was conceived as an income-generating activity
for my staff. When I bought two female Bali Asli piglets
from Karangasem in April, they were about the size of my miniature
dachshund. Our plan was that when they grew up, we would breed
them (I glossed over the details) and Wayan and Nyoman would
sell the piglets. After they paid me back for the breeding
stock, the profit would be theirs. This seemed a happy arrangement
for all of us until Peggy and Paulette reached the full glory
of hirsute porcine maturity. Suddenly we were faced with the
technical challenge of impregnating two large, pure-bred swayback
Bali sows in the heart of Ubud.
This was new territory for me. I’d sort of drifted into
the Pig Project without thinking through the details. When
I found myself with large garden that included a shady bamboo
grove, it seemed the perfect opportunity to embrace pigdom.
I remembered the charming swayback black piglets of Ubud’s
dusty streets several decades ago, and did a little research
on potbelly pigs on the internet. Of course there was a huge
website, based in the United States, for the hordes of people
who presumably keep these pigs as pets. I learned that they
were as intelligent as some dogs, could be house trained and
liked to share their owner’s beds. (Wayan and Nyoman
refused to believe this.) In fascination I browsed pig
accessories like harnesses and leashes and viewed the photo
gallery of happy champion porkers with ear ribbons and lace
collars in exotic Ohio. But where were the little piggies
of my memory? These were all huge. A little more research
revealed that little piglets could grow to 75 kilos. The males
were vicious and the females went into heat frequently
and could manifest fearsome PMS symptoms.
I managed to overlook all this. We built a roomy paddock with
a condo and swimming pool (well all right, a lean-to and a
mud wallow). We held discussions on whether we should have
two girl pigs (for company), or a girl and boy pig (for propagation).
Peggy and Paulette duly arrived and grew up to be fine, if
hairy, specimens of porcine pulchritude.
As they grew older I began to grapple with two pressing issues.
When is a Bali swayback pig in heat? And how on earth do you
find her a boyfriend? I launched the subject at a local watering
hole one night on the off-chance that someone at the table
might be a closet pig farmer. It turned out that no one had
actually met a pig personally, but everybody had an opinion.
On the subject of when a girl pig might be receptive to a
boy pig, the consensus was that she would begin to wear
a lot of make-up. This was not particularly helpful. Later,
a visitor from Sumba stated that when she was ready to mate,
the female swayback pig would vocalize loudly for three days.
More helpful, but still begged the question of finding a male.
The black swayback Bali pig went out of fashion a decade or
two ago when the government brought in huge white hybrids
from Australia. When I started to ask around and follow up
rumours, I found just two or three of the right species around
Ubud, all females. Then Nyoman found a boar in Gianyar. I
began to think through the logistics. First, make sure my
pigs are in heat, monitoring them for loud cries and eye shadow.
Quickly send Nyoman with his truck to Gianyar. Bring back
the male pig. Somehow get a fully grown, disoriented boar
out of the truck, through the gate and walk it through my
garden (“Just tie a string around its neck”, suggested
Nyoman) to the pig paddock. What if he wasn’t in the
mood? What if the girls didn’t fancy him? Hope that
nature would take its course, then reverse the whole process,
pay the Rp 30,000 stud fee (and travel expenses?) and
wait two months for the happy event.
It seemed very daunting, so I decided to explore the high-tech
option. I knew there was an agricultural office in Campuan
and encouraged Nyoman to track down an official. Much
of the information he elicited was beyond my vocabulary, but
Wayan was advised to mix papaya leaves with the feed every
day. This would apparently get the hormones moving. When
the hormones moved (check under the tail, we were advised),
then someone would come around with the equivalent of
a turkey baster and Do The Deed.
This raised a whole new list of mind-boggling questions. Where
did they get the sperm? HOW did they get the sperm? Who obtained
the sperm and how did they choose the lucky boar who got to
father all the swayback piglets in the Regency? This is presumably
one very contented pig.
Meanwhile, Peggy and Paulette continue to lumber around the
paddock and luxuriate in the mud with no sign of raging hormones,
but every once in a while they get a faraway look in their
little brown eyes. They would probably prefer the Gianyar
option.
Did I mention that pigs have 10 or 12 piglets each time? It
just occurred to me that I could go from 2 pigs to 20 pigs
overnight. Stay tuned…
