PIGS

Although pigs are usually thought of as dirty and messy, they are actually clean animals. They sleep in one area of their pen and excrete in a different area. Because of their lack of sweat glands, pigs like to keep cool in water, but on a farm, they will roll in mud to keep cool and to protect themselves from the sun’s burning heat.

Contrary to popular belief, pigs will not overeat. They gain weight rapidly from a birth weight of 2 lbs. to a market weight of 250 lbs. in about five months. Pigs prefer to eat corn, wheat, barley and fruit and vegetable scraps.

SWINE = technical term for species of animal which includes pigs
BOAR = male pig
GILT = female that has not given birth
SOW = females that has given birth at least once
BARROW = neutered male
LITTER = batch of baby pigs
FARROW = give birth
PIGLET = baby pig
GESTATION = 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days (114 days)
RUNT = smallest piglet in the litter
AVERAGE LITTER SIZE: 10
GMF LARGEST LITTER: 18

Pigs are intelligent and can be trained to hunt, dance, tumble, fetch, take showers, pull a cart, and sniff out land mines. In France, pigs are trained to sniff out truffles, a delicious potato-shaped food found in the ground beneath oak trees.

The pig is physiologically the closest animal to humans after apes, so they are often used in research. For example, a pig is the only mammal that will voluntarily drink alcohol; therefore, it is used for studies on human alcoholism. They have also helped researchers who study the human response to radiation.

“Everything is used from the pig except the oink.” Bristly pig hair is used for hair brushes and paint brushes. Due to this physiological resemblance to humans, pigs are also used for medical purposes. A pig’s glands, bones, and blood can be used for medicine, like insulin and antibiotics. A pig’s skin has been used to cover human burn victims until their own skin can heal. Parts of a pig’s eye have been used for human eye transplants. Even the valves in a pig’s heart have been used to save human lives.

The average adult pig weighs 300 to 500 lbs and can live for up to 25 years. A pig has 44 teeth and sexually matures at 6 months. Pigs have a very good sense of smell. The pig’s snout has a leathery pad that is used for digging and rooting up food. They have 4 toed-feet, although only 2 touch the ground.

Pigs never squeal in joy. A squeal is a distress call because they are hungry, angry or uncomfortable. The average pig’s squeal can reach 115 decibels, a noise level that is equivalent to the sound made by a small jet plane or a loud rock concert.

Pigs were brought to America on Christopher Columbus’ second journey. Common breeds in the America now are:

• Duroc are reddish brown in color;
• Hampshire are black with a white belt;
• Yorkshire are white or light pink;
• Landrace are white with long, lean bodies and snouts; and
• Spotted Poland China are black and white spotted.
A sow with newborn babies can be very protective. It is important to respect this. She could be the sweetest animal one day and bite at you the next. NOTE: Just because an animal is at “Green Meadows Petting Farm” does not mean they are 100% safe to interact with.

Piglets nurse from the same teat every feeding. This is usually the cause of babies fighting with each other. Since the front teats give more milk than the back ones, the piglets nursing at the front usually gain weight quicker.

Pigs ::Cattle :: Poultry :: Llamas :: Goats :: Sheep :: Equine