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Friday Favorite: Pigs

May 23rd, 2014

I must admit, after having pigs last year we LOVE piggos.  They’re so much fun to have around.  Last night we picked up this years piglets from a farm not too far from here. You might remember my post about visiting Mary at Bean’s Corner Farm back in the winter.
pigs 2
This big buy is the sire of our piglets this year. We stopped at the farm last night and picked up two little piglets. They are so small, much smaller than last year because their mom is half guinea hog, which is an old small breed of hog. Their mom is also half Large Black hog, which is a friendly hog that does very well on pasture.
piggos 2
We went to the farm around 7 and picked out our piglet, one black and one red one. I’ve always loved red pigs, they’re so cute! Into a BIG dog crate they went and we were on our way. Who knew 13 years ago when we bought this crate for the resident Chiots it would be hauling piglets home.
piggos 1
Mr Chiots grabbed the little piggies and moved them into the little enclosure we had set up for them. Boy can a little piglet squeal and kick!
piggos 3
piggos 4
Hopefully by this weekend they will have warmed up to us and I will be able to get some great photos of them. As soon as we put them in their space they started rooting and turning up the grass – just what I need. I have a large area I want them to work up for me this year, hopefully with them working all summer I can finally plant my hedges next spring!

What’s your favorite farm animal?

7 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Pigs”
  1. Laura @ Raise Your Garden on May 23, 2014 at 7:38 am

    Posts like this remind make me feel so awful for liking bacon so much!

    Baby pigs are so adorable and squeaky! Maybe I should switch to turkey bacon, but I think I’ll feel just as bad, we have a turkey pet who lives up the road from us, and he’s cute too!

    Love lambs too, so sweet. Sweet faces and eyes. Never eat lamb! Just couldn’t do it!

    Reply to Laura @ Raise Your Garden's comment

    • Susy on May 23, 2014 at 12:01 pm

      If there weren’t people to eat bacon these breeds would become extinct because no one could afford to keep them simply for pets. Think of eating meat as a way to help preserve heritage animals, if you’re buying from local farmers who focus on heritage breeds.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Adelina on May 23, 2014 at 8:45 am

    My favorite farm animal…..goats of all ages and sizes. Love it when I can give them neck scratches and they lean up against you while you give scratches. Baby goats nibbling on fingers are the best.

    Reply to Adelina's comment

  3. Sara on May 23, 2014 at 9:37 am

    I love my chickens, but when we’re at the fair I’m usually drawn to the goats…I love their weirdo eyes and they seem kind of diabolically smart.

    I currently have new pullets overnighting in my dog’s crate in the garage until they are integrated with the flock, so I know that feeling well–how did I get from a puppy to livestock? :)

    Reply to Sara's comment

  4. Lorna on May 23, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    I would love to have pigs to put to work for me (and later nourish my family). Alas, although we live in a right-to-farm community, pigs are banned. I suppose to we have the right to mostly farm?
    My favorite farm animal is the goat–I grew up with goats and miss having them around. Hopefully we’ll be bringing in some Nigerian Dwarfs in the next year or two. Perhaps we should move to Maine and get some pigs too! (And chickens and ducks and rabbits and. . . )

    Reply to Lorna's comment

    • Susy on May 24, 2014 at 7:41 am

      Hopefully some day you can have pigs, they’re loads of fun!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Nebraska Dave on May 24, 2014 at 8:24 am

    Susy, I don’t really have a favorite farm animal. I’ve been pretty limited in my exposure to homestead animals. Dad only had pigs and cows. I do remember a couple of geese but to a small child they were any thing but cute and totally avoided at all costs. It really didn’t break my heart when I heard that we were going to have one for Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed that dinner immensely. Mom had her chickens but they were always destined for the freezer and not for egg laying. Summers at my uncle’s farm were the same with cows, pigs, and chickens. They did have chickens for eggs and to a 10 year old those old pecking bitty hens could be intimidating. So I guess from a child’s point of view there really were no favorite animals on the farm. Well, except for Hazel, our Cocker Spaniel dog. She was not a working dog but just a pet. Mom had at least one dog in the house all the days of her life.

    And so the process of raising pigs starts once again. I’m sure we won’t have as many exciting pig moving stories as last year. After all you are totally experienced at raising pigs now, aren’t you.

    Have a great pig raising day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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