Pondering the prospect of a pet pig?
Photo by Brian Robert Marshall via Wikimedia Commons
Ponder no longer.
The Ross Mill Farm in Pennsylvania is dedicated to one purpose: the care and handling of pot-bellied pigs as (perfectly presentable) family pets.
But the Farm doesn’t just pamper its own pigs. Owner Susan Magidson, also known as the Pet Pig Information and Consultation Specialist, provides guidance to prospective pig owners who can even come and stay at the guest cottage B&B for a bit of pet pig practice.
Photo by Eirik Newth via Wikimedia Commons
“Ross Mill Farm has everything a pig fancier could wish for, from boarding services to specially-formulated feed, and for those of us unable to keep our own pigs, a chance to mingle with them, and perhaps sponsor an orphaned pet in need of foster care,” writes Hannah Kirshner of Modern Farmer, who recently stopped in for a stay at the farm. “People usually stay in the bed-and-breakfast for two or three days, but pig guests often stay longer—sometimes indefinitely when circumstances don’t allow them to go home. They might come for weight loss or behavior modification, or just for ‘camp’ while their owners travel.”
If it’s pet pig boarding you need, there is no place more posh to leave your pig pal while you’re away from home. Many guests stay in the Village, with its camp-like cabins, private yards, and pools. But primadonna pigs who prefer profuse pampering may upgrade to the Luxurious Lodge, which includes the famous Lula’s Piggy Spa …
So, tell me … if you have a pet piggy, I’d love to hear the perks of your porcine parenting.
Nice alliterations! 🙂
Our neighbors beside us had Barney, the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, living in an enclosure right beside our driveway for 13 years. Because we live in the city, these pigs are supposed to live indoors in a crate like a dog for part of the day. But, our neighbors put a large dog Igloo hut out in the pen and Barney lived outside all year round. He had tusks and wasn’t really that friendly to most people so he lived alone. We quickly realized that he loved vegetable and fruit scraps, so I saved all of mine in a bowl. Each morning, when my lab went out to fetch the paper, Barney would run along the fence line and sing for his treats. I would bring out the bowl of scraps and give him his treat, which he devoured with gusto. Barney also loved for me to scratch behind his ears which I could do through the chain-link fence. I tried to give him some pets every time I passed by and I know he loved it. The family sort of ignored him except for his daily feeding of dry dog food. But, pigs can be very interactive and Barney enjoyed contact. My lab would often nap on the driveway on his side of the fence and Barney would be napping on the other side of the fence beside him. When the weather started to turn wet and cold, I kept a bale of hay in the storage shed and through the fence, helped Barney fill up his hut with hay and then pile up the hay on the outside of the hut . It was so cute how Barney would shove the piles of hay inside while making these grunting sounds until he was satisfied. I always made sure he had lots of extra hay to work with after I left. The next morning when I went to work, you could see Barney all snug in his hut with just his little piggy nose sticking out of the fluffed up hay in his hut. He was adorable!
Oh Winnie, how kind you were to that poor pig ! thank heavens for your big heart or he’d have died unloved. My ex mother in law always named her pigs after people she hated, she said it made it so much easier to butcher them and eat them later . I always lived in fear that there would be a “Lisa Pig”.