Pigs Need Friends Too

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There’s something about watching an animal express itself the way it was designed to do. As Joel Salatin would say a pig will express its “pigness”. If you haven’t read his book The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs, I encourage you to check it out – good read.

As I walk up the hill to the pig pen I usually hear a little snorting followed by deep grunts, which then turns to squeals of excitement. They know I’m there to give them food and they just can’t hold back sharing how passionate they are about eating. At the time I walk into the pen, they’re both directly at my feet positioned is such a way that I cannot move without backing up and trying to get around them. They’re constantly smelling my pants and giving me muddy pig kisses. The little pig walks between my legs hoping it will encourage me to give him his food, then he starts squealing and running around in circles. Although he doesn’t only do that when food is involved. He seems to do it randomly because he is a happy pig getting to live a full life of exercise and an omnivorous diet.

Currently, we have two American Guinea Hogs. We started with one, fully intending to get a buddy for him. We were just waiting for the second pig to be old enough to leave his mama before bringing him to our farm. During the couple weeks we had the single pig (or “Big Pig” as we like to refer to him), we noticed he was lazy and couldn’t help but feel like he was lonely. He looked forward to interaction with us. After the first day or two of avoiding us at all costs, he warmed up to us letting us scratch him and rolling over so we could rub his belly. This is always accompanied by sounds of contentment. Being one of the largest piglets in his litter, he grew fast. But the point is, this proved to us that animals need buddies of their own kind or they will get bored and lonely. Human interaction is wonderful, but we can’t sit in the pig pen all day. Big Pig needed a friend, so we brought home Little Pig.

We noticed right away the difference in personalities between Big Pig and Little Pig. Whereas Big Pig was slow and lazy (the Eeyore type), Little Pig was ready to jump and crawl over Big Pig and run all around the pen kicking up dirt, rooting, and rubbing his little rear end on Kris’ boot. Big Pig has his moments though. Having the little pig around lifted his spirits and he does get wound up sometimes. I love watching them root in the dirt looking for goodies. They’ll start sniffing an area, then begin to dig with their noses, and then (if it’s a really good spot) they’ll lay themselves down in the soil rubbing their sides and rolling around like they have found the most amazing patch of dirt they’ve ever felt. Wow – that must feel good.

Our intention is not to keep pets. These pigs are being raised to give us nourishment. American Guinea Hogs have a high fat content, which is great when aging meat and that’s our goal. We will process when the time comes, but that’s no reason not to give them a happy life where they are free to express their pigness. Yes, we pet and speak sweetly to our animals, but that doesn’t mean they’re pets. It means we show them respect. We hold them in high regards knowing that they were created with the ability to do certain things and give back to us when all is said and done. We will continue to show our respect even through the slaughtering process. The animal is giving its life, the ultimate sacrifice, to give us nourishment so we can live a healthy life – why wouldn’t I respect that?