Polly the talking pig

Pigs may look a bit muddy and as though they haven’t washed behind their ears but they are very intelligent, clean and compatible animals.   They are the nearest in make-up to humans which is why they get so badly abused and experimented on.   Pig hearts and body parts are implanted in people in surgery so they save our lives yet we still treat them with such cruelty.  What does it say about us humans  that we eat dead animals who have as much right to live on the planet and have a natural life as we do.

It’s not like that for Polly though, she is having a lovely life here with us.  She likes to be on her own after being beaten up by other pigs, half an ear is missing as a result of her last encounter.  It’s always a bit difficult to get pigs palled up, unless they have been brought up together and are in an established herd.  They also need plenty of room and a good natural lifestyle.  If they were living in a big wood and could find their own space there wouldn’t be any problems.

Polly has a large paddock full of nettles and grass and roots, plenty for her to dig up and eat.  She has a wooden shed filled with straw for bedtime or when she wants to have a snooze.  Pigs are the cleanest of creatures and if they are given the opportunity and space to be clean they will be.  There is never any mess in Polly’s shed.  The trick is to keep incoming pigs out of the bedding area until they have gone to the toilet, they like to find their special place and when they do that will be their w.c. for ever.

In most pig farming situations the pigs are crammed in pens so they can’t be clean which must be stressful for them.  Nor can they make a nest to sleep in.  Pigs like to wallow in the mud too, they don’t have much hair, only bristles so getting coated in wet earth protects their skin.

Polly is a sociable pig and comes over for a chat as soon as she sees us.  She greets us with a soft grunt ‘hello’ and then we say hello too.   We chat away to her and every time we pause she gives us a response ‘grunt’, yes please, ‘gruunt’ that was nice ‘gruntttt’ more please –  it’s a real two way conversation.  Polly has a wide range of sounds, ranging from surprised grunts to squeaky ones when she’s pleased or excited – it’s mostly about food or wanting her back scratched though!