1lost1
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So cool ~ I love them. I hope everyone has a blast with them and they do their "duties". You can tell from the pix they are immense. Very cool. You'll have to keep us posted on what they get into. Beautiful land too. Pictures like this make me miss living out in the country a lot.
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Sep/21/2007, 7:31 pm
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FeedYourHead
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Re: The Girls have arrived!!!
cool! I love pigs - well what I hear about them - very very smart animals - I have heard that people that have pet pigs often take them to dog obedience classes, and that the pigs usually catch on faster than the dogs! If I had the space wouldn't mind having one - as a pet but I know if you have a 'yard' or garden and want to keep it pigs aren't a good choice for a pet ...
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Sep/21/2007, 8:24 pm
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1lost1
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My friend's Aunt had one ~ he was humongous too (the size of the girls) he lived with them just like a dog or other more common pet (he did stay outside). My brother Matt used to love for me and Sonia to take him down to visit, he loved that pig. Even all these years later when Matt runs into Sonia he will bring him up.
Was a great pet for Sonia's Aunt and everyone loved stopping in ~ this was well before the pot belly pig craze and people didn't have pigs for pets.
I will always remember how when we pulled in he would greet you in the drive. And when you visited and folks would pass the home they would stop to alert someone he "got out of his pen". They would honk because he always went right to a car when it pulled in and he scared folks because he was so large.
Like FYH I have heard they do catch on quick. When the boys were little early grade school years pot belly pigs were very popular around here and folks did keep those in their homes as they would a cat or a dog. I don't notice them being around as much as back then but would imagine folks do still have them.
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Sep/22/2007, 2:34 am
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suzidfloosey
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Re: The Girls have arrived!!!
They do seem to be v.smart. They sniffed around their area and then went straight to the rushes, pulled them out and brought them to one are and laid them down - we think it might be the 'little girls room' area! LOL!
For a lawn there are the cutest little NZ domesticated kune kune pigs - they are tiny, the size of a chubby terrier and all they eat is grass, brilliant for keeping down a lawn and they don't dig. These girls I reckon could dig for treasure - it's amazing how those snouts can move the soil and our soil as you can see is rough.
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
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Sep/22/2007, 4:01 am
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1lost1
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so they will dig the rushes (she looks very proud in the last picture). Are you going to move them from area to area to remove rushes. The snouts ~ I love them but they are a bit freaky too. I remember how when we visited the pig we used to he would "snout" you a bit and that would take a person by surprise. He could also nudge someone too and he was strong.
I think its going to be a blast having them. Besides what they rustle up on the land do they eat something else? I know here folks feed table scraps... Do they eat grains like other farm animals or can they be healthy on what they find on the land?
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Sep/22/2007, 8:21 am
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suzidfloosey
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Re: The Girls have arrived!!!
Yes, we'll move them around - as they clear one area we'll move them on to the next bit. THey are on about 1/2 acre at the moment and we've 20 acres to clear so it's going to be a long time! THey will take a few months to fully clear that first patch. Because they are breeding sows they get 'nuts' which contain grain, soy, oils, minerals etc and then they get scraps on top of that - all the veg peelings, fruit cores, old fruit and veg that's gone soft, old bread etc etc. We won't feed them meat altho' you can do that as our dog will get first dibs on any meat leftovers.
Yes the snouts are a bit freaky! So soft looking but so strong! My hubby is up there at the moment trying to tag their ears - he got one done this morning, she gave a shout but not a drop of blood or anything so he did it well. She did turn to nip him tho' (wouldn't you with a 1/2" pin going through your ear!) but he just moved aside. He's up there trying to get the more active one now. We fed them up to make them more docile. The previous owner didn't tag them as he didn't want to hurt them (eye roll) so now we have to put on 2 sets of tags at a time when it's harder ie adulthood - it would've been done in a flash as piglets. The agriculture dept insist on tagging for tracking animals especially if you breed them so we don't want to be non-compliant. Plenty arnica in the water will deal with any soreness/shock after the event.
Ours do nudge - especially if you rub their backs they kinda fall against you and grunt in ecstasy! LOL! They love it!
Oh and re. the rushes, it was so funny this morning, they picked up their hut (the green thing you can see in pick) from inside and moved it so it is angled away from the wind and then cleared out all the grass inside and cut rushes with their teeth, carried them in and made what looks like a nest inside, took them all morning! Then they scattered cut rushes around outside the hut also. Real little homemakers and so clever. Can you tell I'm enjoying them 
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
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Sep/22/2007, 11:21 am
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1lost1
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The Girls have arrived!!!
Wow how cool. Do you think you might breed them? I get into stuff like this and I could watch them all day. I believe they have to be tagged here as well now. I know the pig we visited was tagged but that was 20 years ago ~ I think that has all changed now.
Enjoy them and post as many pictures as you like ~ you can't post too many for my liking :)
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Sep/22/2007, 12:01 pm
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suzidfloosey
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The Girls have arrived!!!
Oh yes we do plan to breed them - probably start early in spring so that they have the babies in the early summer (3.5mths gestation approx) so they have a good chance of survival. thankfully these have always been free range outdoor pigs so they should be able to cope as should their offspring.
You should have seen them last night, we could only see one in the hut so we strolled up to them, they were both under the rushes lying side by side with their snouts touching and SOUND asleep! The heat coming from the hut was amazing! I'm sure there'll be more pictures!!
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
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Sep/23/2007, 4:08 am
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1lost1
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The Girls have arrived!!!
awhh ... Snout to Snout ~
Now the babies that come ~ is this type of pig the the type people get for organic cleaning or would people buy the offspring to eat? I love pigs but know very little about them (as you can see from that question). Will you purchase a male or artificially inseminate? How old are they?
I remember Sonia saying that her aunt's pig was not suitable to butcher ~ (they wouldn't have because he was their pet)... but either his age or his size or that combination meant had he been sold to someone else and they wouldn't have been purchasing him for that. I never knew if that was a true fact or something they just said amongst themselves.
I just love them but I am a complete critter nut... I imagine the second one was able to be tagged and your husband and her both survived it. I hope so at least.
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Sep/23/2007, 6:50 am
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