John Wayne: The story of a 4-H Pig

The Phillips County Fair is upon us and the pig judging will be held on Thursday, August 3.

One 4-H member's pig project started unexpectedly on Wednesday, March 1. Brenda Murdock Kornfeld of Loring was farrowing yet another sow in hopes of having enough piglets for 4-H members requesting them.

In early March a well bred show sow was farrowing unsuccessfully. Brenda took the sow to local vet, Anne Johnson, and they proceeded to perform a cesarean on the sow. They saved five of the little ones but hours later sadly lost one piglet and the sow.

Now, what to do with the babies? It was in the middle of calving season and Brenda and her crew were too busy calving (according to Brenda's Dad) to be messing around with bottle feeding baby pigs. So Brenda made a call to her cousin, Lexie Murdock Haynes, and asked if she and her grandkids would like a little project.

Knowing Lexie was unable to be out calving or choring due to breaking her leg in a horse/cow accident the month before Kornfeld delivered four newborn piglets to the Haynes house much to the excitement of the grandkids.

With baby bottles, heat lamp and canned milk in hand the project began. So Pua, John Wayne, Rocco and Hope ate every four hours. They spent their days in the dog kennel on the porch until they were big enough to move to the shop in a bigger pen. Each baby was held and fed until they learned to drink from a bowl. They gradually were weaned from the milk and started on pellets.

Lexie's granddaughter, Blake, was enrolled in the 4-H pig program so she chose to feed them out for the fair. Pua was Blake's first choice but he came up lame this week so her spare, John Wayne, will make the trip to the fair. It has been an educational event for Blake's first year in 4-H.