If you love videos of extra tiny teeny weeny piglets you'll love these little critters…just listen to them chatting to each other…pigs do that all day and a lot of the night. They are extremely social animals and love interaction. At one point we had three of them sleeping in the bedroom and I have to confess it wasn't the most restful way to sleep. Unless of course you were one of the piglets! I confess to finding the nights a little quiet after the pigs went into their own space. The things we get used to. I just love a bedroom full of grunting, snoring, chatting pigs, dogs, cats and husband!
In a natural environment pigs have a very strict social structure. As herd animals, their survival can often depend on it. Once a pig has left the herd for any length of time, it takes a lot of effort on their behalf to get back into the herd. This is very obvious in a domestic environment. When one of our girls left the herd to have her babies, she would have to put up with up to a month of bullying by the other members of the herd before her position was re-established. Luckily for them, their instinct to fit back in is stronger than their fear of being bullied!
Although we have one girl, Tilly who came home to us after her new owners couldnt keep her. We had handraised this girl from hours old and still had her Mum and Brother in the herd. But she has never fitted back in and lives quite a solitary life around the house with us. She just can't pluck up the courage to take the bullying that will allow her to be part of the herd again.
It fascinates me just sitting watching our gang as they interact with each other (better if they don't know Im watching). They are remarkably intelligent and their language is quite extensive. I have only learnt a few of the piggie expressions, but Im working on improving my pig language skills.
But the thing that gets me time and time again is the caring they demonstrate for each other.
I was watching one day as one of our very pregnant sows lay having a back massage from one of the other girls. The other pig was using the tip of her snout to rub up and down the pregnant girls back…I could just imagine the conversation. "Oh yeah, thats the spot, God Ill be glad when this is over now."
Now get a litter of babies and it is just hilarious. The antics they get up to as they try to establish their own pecking order are priceless. 2 day old piglets wrestling each other will keep you captivated all day.