Patriotic Pigs

It’s that time of year when everyone puts on their red-white-and-blue, decks out the pontoon boat for a festive spin around the lake, readies the grill, and enjoys the sunshine and neighborhood parties and fireworks.

But what if you’re a pig? How do you celebrate Independence Day?

Our two celebrity piglets Wilbur and Gilbert were enjoying the busy festivities of the weekend. Part of our herd of heritage Kunekune pigs, these cream-colored fellows have been hanging out in a special pen at Farmstead Creamery for folks to visit and learn more about the breed. About 40 pounds each (they still have quite a bit of growing up to do), Wilbur caught a case of pneumonia when quite small and came into the house for recovery.

He’s all better now, but because of the need for special care, he was away from his mother too long, and she wouldn’t take him back. That means little Wilbur stayed in the house as a bottle pig for weeks, until he could move out to the barn with the lambs. Gilbert (the littler one) was the runt of the litter, and eventually his bigger brothers and sisters started bossing him around at the feed trough.

Wilbur loves people, and though Gilbert was at first rather shy, he’s catching on that visitors give good ear and belly scratches and that our apprentice Sam brings out delicious food scraps from the kitchen. There’s grass to eat and shade to rest in, so life is good for these piggy ambassadors. They’re already dressed in white (well, cream, which is as white as a pig is going to get), so they make up part of the patriotic color set.

Out in the pasture, the two newer members of our herd (Clara and Brutus, the two pigs who made the epic road-trip from New England last fall to pick up our first cows) enjoy their mud hole and foraging in the tall grasses. Both Clara and Brutus have fur known as “red” in the world of pigs—a deep foxy roan with occasional black spots. Red Angus cattle are a similar rusty color.

So we have the red and the white…but what about the blue? In the South Barn (where all the lambing activities happened this spring), three pregnant sows wait to deliver their litters of piglets. Agatha, Christy, and Anita, they are black with white spots, round, and sluggish. Anyone who has worked with dyes and paints trying to lighten black will know that the predominant color is blue. So black is as close as we’ll get to blue in pig colors.

Then last night, after the long weekend of scooping gelato and cooking omelets and stuffed French toast (oh, and milking, and chores, and…), Anita gave birth to a litter of six healthy piglets. Anita is black, the father Brutus is red, and the litter was a mix of all the three colors—three creams, two reds, and one black and white spotted. It was a whole patriotic litter! Just in time for Independence Day.

So enjoy your picnics and boating, wear the patriotic hat and wave the flag. Here on the farm, the pigs are sporting their festive colors. Next time you’re visiting, make sure to stop and say hello to Wilbur and Gilbert. They might even let you give them a good scratch. And if you leave behind a little pizza crust, they’ll be happy to give it a home! See you down on the farm sometime.