Pigs eat grain, barley, wheat, sorghum, soybean and corn. Pigs will generally eat most anything except for glass and metal. They especially love slops, which is a mixture of all kinds of vegetables and kitchen scraps. Milk and dairy products are favorites and seem to help control internal parasites.The pigs at Red Barn Farm have even eaten leftover ham and cheese sandwiches. They love eggs and will eat the shells, too.
Typically, a pig lives 10-15 years. The type of pig can affect the average life span. A pig is generally considered to be full grown by three and a half years old, but some pigs keep growing until they are 5 years old.
After breeding, a sow will give birth in just less than four months or approximately 114 days. Labor can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours with 15 minutes between piglets. A typical litter will be 8 to 12 piglets, but can be many more.
Farmers use pigs primarily for meat. Pigs are sent to market at age 6 months when they weigh 220-260 pounds. Humans use pigs for bacon, sausage, pepperoni, hotdogs, ham and other cuts of pork. Pigs also provide humans with nearly 40 drugs and pharmaceuticals, like insulin. There are approximately 500 by-products made from pigs. Some examples are fertilizer, glass, floor wax, chalk, and crayons. Their skin can be tanned to make leather products, like footballs, and because it is similar to human skin it is used in skin grafts for treating burns. Their heart valves are used to replace human heart valves which have been damaged or weakened. Pig hair, called bristles, is used to make paint brushes and gelatin and bubble gum are made from pig fat.
Red Barn Farm is a temporary home for piglets. Because pigs grow super fast and get to be extremely large, Red Barn Farm houses a few piglets at a time before returning them to their mother's farm. A variety of breeds of pigs have lived here. There have been little brown pigs, little pink pigs, little white pigs and little black pigs with white shoulders. Those piglets are called Hampshire pigs. We just call them cute.
Did you know? Pigs don't sweat! Yep, it's true. That's why they love to wallow in the mud. The mud helps keep them cool on hot summer days. It also helps protect them from sunburn and from being bitten by insects. When they are bitten by a pesky bug, they will try to scratch. They will rub against fencing, housing, and everything else. They also love to play with toys and each other. A favorite game of pigs is Chase.
