We truly believe this statement: if pigs could jump we would never know the taste of bacon. Pigs have a way of amazing us with their brilliance and determination that we just don't see from the other species we raise. They are definitely the smartest animals on the farm and we just thank God that they don't have hands and aren't very tall or the only pigs in the world would be wild ones.

Determination.

Pigs do not lack in the area of determination. If they get it in their heads to do something they will do it no matter what it takes. Pigs will wear through a concrete wall given enough time and inclination. Large barns specifically designed to hold pigs last about half as long as barns for cattle. We've had pigs literally start to dismantle an old stone barn foundation just because they could! 

Pig Physics (Pigysics).

A 150-pound pig does not look as big as you may think it should, giving them the advantage of surprise in terms of weight. A pig also has the ability to suddenly weight 1 trillion pounds anytime you want him to go somewhere he doesn't want to. We don't know how they do it, but it happens every time we try and load a group onto the trailer. With their center of mass being significantly closer to the ground than ours and the fact that they often outweigh us by nearly double, we often lose the battle of getting a pig onto the trailer if they do not want to get into.

Happiness.

You have never seen true happiness until you've seen a pig with a mouthful of straw sprinting around his pen as fast as he can move his short, little legs. They absolutely crack us up every time we clean their pen and give them fresh bedding. Pigs usually poop and sleep in two different spots so they actually will stay pretty clean. The stereotype of pigs being filthy creatures isn't really 100% accurate. Now, on a hot day, you better believe they are laying in the closest puddle they can find and if that happens to be a poo puddle they really don't mind that much!

Taking the Good With the Bad.

We do really enjoy raising our pigs each year.  We also recognize that their intelligence is higher than we probably know, always causing us to be extra cautious when constructing their pen. Pigs can be awesome animals but they have a way of causing the biggest problems. When an animal has a bulldozer for a snout, I guess you should kind of expect that though huh?