AMY SZPARA

PHOTO: Paulina resident Kay Kay LeBlanc pets one of her four sows, each having recently given birth to large litters. (Staff Photos by Amy Szpara) PAULINA – A huge barn sits at the end of a gravel road towards the back of Canal Street off of River Road in Paulina, and it is the home of four 400-pound sows who each have their own little litters of piglets. The mothers, who became orphans after their own mother died while giving birth to them, now nurse their young, letting the pet-sized hogs know when it is time to feed by loudly grunting. One boisterous grunt will send sleeping piglets into gear, as they scramble and knock each other over to get to their mother’s teats. Once nestled in together, their ears lay back against their heads and they feed, several baby pigs in a row. Kay Kay LeBlanc has been breeding pigs for eight years, starting because her children are very involved in 4-H in St. James Parish. The sows along with one other pig were the only ones to survive of the 11 babies that a sow gave birth to one year ago. After the death, LeBlanc thought she would never breed pigs again. “She was too small. She couldn’t deliver,” LeBlanc said. PHOTO 2: Curry LeBlanc, right, and Ciji LeBlanc hold two of their baby pigs, recently born in the family’s pig barn. LeBlanc had to take the babies home to bottle-feed them and nurse them to health, and now those four female pigs have their own babies. The piglets feed for about four to six weeks, until the mother pig gets aggravated and stops letting them suckle. The pigs in LeBlanc’s barn are called Blue Butts, mixes of Yorkshire and Hampshire hogs. Two of the sows have placed in competitions. LeBlanc’s daughter, Ciji LeBlanc, 15, showed Belle and won Grand Champion in the parish competition. Belle had 17 babies July 17, though she only has 14 teats. Some of the infants were brought home by the LeBlancs and bottle-fed, but a few did not survive. The pigs are first shown at the parish level held the last Saturday in January, then the participants take them to Covington for the district competition a week later. The state show is held at Louisiana State University two weeks after the district show. Curry, LeBlanc’s 17-year-old son, is also involved in 4-H. His pig, Timon, has also placed in competitions. The LeBlancs named their four sows after Disney characters. Aside from Belle, taken from “Beauty and the Beast,” and Timon, taken from “The Lion King,” there are also Cruella from “101 Dalmatians” and Rex from “Toy Story.” They have named pigs after New Orleans streets and candy bars, and the new pigs will be named after soft drinks. According to LeBlanc, pigs are judged depending on what the judge is looking for. “They should be long, lean, muscular,” she said. The sows are artificially inseminated. “You shop like you’re shopping in a JC Penny catalogue. You look for a good boar,” LeBlanc said. Curry delivered Timon’s, Belle’s and Cruella’s babies. He helped them by pulling the babies through the birth canal. “It sure beats calling a vet out to do it,” he said, though he has run into trouble with a few piglets. One pig could not fit through the canal and died. Sows usually have 24 hours of labor and the piglets must begin sucking milk from their mother within the first 12 hours of birth to get essential vitamins. That early milk is called colostrum, and if the piglet does not get it, it faces death. Kay Kay LeBlanc has been raising pigs for 11 years now, ever since her first son began 4-H when he was nine. They eventually began using a family barn, a former tobacco barn, for the pigs. The kids practice walking their pigs in the barn, and at the competition they can show three, but must sell two of them. “You do get attached to them,” said LeBlanc. “They say they’re smarter than dogs.” Curry added, “One of them opened the gate.” After letting the other pigs out, the gifted one returned to lock itself inside the pen and be alone. The LeBlancs said after their four sows breed for the second time, they will be sent to the stockyard. The pigs are very expensive and require a lot of work, though. The sperm costs $200, and it usually takes two times to impregnate the females. The food costs about $200 a month, and the pigs require grooming, watering and lots of care. At the stockyard, they get about 25 cents a pound for the grown pigs. When they sell the babies at competitions, they usually make about $150, which goes to the kids. LeBlanc’s aunt, Taunt LeBlanc, has the job of “pooper scooper.” She cleans the pens and waters the pigs. She has first-hand knowledge of what it takes to raise pigs. The family agreed she has the worst job of the bunch. “People just don’t realize the care it takes,” said Kay Kay LeBlanc.