The pig is one of the most misunderstood of all animals. Think of the number of times we use 'pig' as a pejorative term, 'fat as a pig', 'greedy as a pig' or simply 'pig ignorant'. We kept pigs in the croft next to the road at Hey Farm and you'd be surprised at the number of mothers who brought their children to watch their antics, especially when a litter of young one were racing round shasing each other.
Kept properly the pig is one of the cleanest and most intelligent of animals. True, some of them can occasionally get a bit stroppy and when they do can be dangerous but there is always a good reason for it. Under normal circumstances they can be very affectionate once they know and trust you and can make a good pet if you have the room. I know of few nicer sights than a sow laid on her side suckling a litter of piglets, they soon get to claim a particular teat and I love watching them scrambling over each other to get to their own position in the queue when she first lies down. Some teats give more milk than others and the unfortunate weakling who gets a hind teat will end up being the 'runt' of the litter. Another word we have pinched from the pig!
They self-medicate given the chance. When you see pigs rooting about in the soil and snuffling away as they seem to eat soil, what they are actually doing is finding essential trace elements that are vital to their health. If you give a pig a lump of coal it will crunch it up and eat it, there must be something in it that they know they need. I can remember the first time I ever saw pigs doing this at a farm in Derbyshire when I was about five years old and I thought it was wonderful. We once had a bit of a problem in the pig-sty at Hey Farm, the pipe to the water bowls sprang a leak and when I went to investigate I found that it was because the pigs had licked the copper pipe until they wore it through. They knew they were short of copper in their diet and had found a source. I cured that by putting a mineral lick in the croft, a block of salt and minerals that they could lick whenever they fancied it.
We once had a complaint from a lady who lived on the opposite side of Manchester Road. She thought it was disgusting that children could see the boar with one of the sows doing the essential task of brimming her. I gently pointed out to her that the problem was in her own head. If there is a better way for kids to learn about the mysteries of sex than understanding why animals do it, I don't know what it is! One thing is certain, that's where my daughters learned about the birds and the bees and I can't say it ever did them any harm.....
The Croft at Hey Farm before road widening. Gara Pickles in the foreground.
