NationStates Jolt Archive

you may never be able to eat bacon again if this Mrs sees one:

Mini pigs are big success on farm

A Devon fun farm is reaping the rewards of a nine-year breeding program for miniature pigs.

The pigs, which are about a fifth of the size of ordinary pigs, have been a hit with visitors at Pennywell Farm.

TV celebrity Jonathan Ross bought two of the pint-sized porkers as pets at £150 each and there have even been offers from as far away as Australia.

Chris Murray, co-owner of the farm near Buckfastleigh, began cross-breeding the pigs nine years ago and believes he has the perfect pet pig.

He said: "Pigs are very cute when they are young, but they outgrow a home environment and can be aggressive when they get older.

"These pigs are just at home indoors or outdoors."

Some pet pigs, such as the Vietnamese pot-bellied variety, have in the past been bought for their cuteness.

But they fell out of fashion when it became clear how big they grow.

Mr Murray said: "They are easy to house train and have a good temperament.

"A sow would normally snap at you if you picked up one of her litter, but these are amazingly content."

Mr Murray doubts if they will be appearing on restaurant menus.

"They are too small, he said.

"It would be uneconomic so it's unlikely they will be used for meat and there is already a huge amount of different pig meat available."

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7044897.stm)

can you say no to this face?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/uk_mini_pigs/img/1.jpg

more mind-numbingly cute pictures in the article

I hear pot belly pigs make great pets but they get as massive or more than any other pig. If they managed to shrink that down to small working dog size or smaller, they just created a veritable gold mine.

I hear pot belly pigs make great pets but they get as massive or more than any other pig. If they managed to shrink that down to small working dog size or smaller, they just created a veritable gold mine.

ah but the question on all are minds is "do they have curly tails"

£75 for a pedigree (I think) is quite a good deal really

edit: don't pigs like rolling in mud...

Cute little buggers, smart too from what I understand. Pigs only wallow in mud if they're over-heating, as they can't sweat.

Cute little buggers, smart too from what I understand. Pigs only wallow in mud if they're over-heating, as they can't sweat.

a smart animal that can eat anything you can?

at least the cat don't eat chocolate :eek:

a smart animal that can eat anything you can?

at least the cat don't eat chocolate :eek:

All cats are incapable of detecting sweetness. They just can't taste it, which probably accounts for their somewhat finicky palette.

I just watched them on the news, they are soooooo cute.
Tetley's the cutest though: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_03/TetleyPigletRAN_468x340.jpg

Tetley's the cutest though: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_03/TetleyPigletRAN_468x340.jpg

10 years time we will all have baby pigs in our homes curled up by the fire :)

10 years time we will all have baby pigs in our homes curled up by the fire :)

Not too close of course: http://www.tonychor.com/archive/bacon.jpg

Not too close of course: http://www.tonychor.com/archive/bacon.jpg

TETLEY!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!

Cute little buggers, smart too from what I understand. Pigs only wallow in mud if they're over-heating, as they can't sweat.

a friend of mine has a helper pig (instead of a dog) because it's able to do all the things a dog can, but with less expense.

Advantage nr 1 to having a pig: You have an excuse for a mud pit in your home.

That mud pit, of course, is not for the pig...

a friend of mine has a helper pig (instead of a dog) because it's able to do all the things a dog can, but with less expense.

iirc they are also used to search for trufles (expensive mushrooms, I don't know how to write it)

iirc they are also used to search for trufles (expensive mushrooms, I don't know how to write it)

she is deaf and has little sense of smell due to brain damage, the pig can smell smoke and hear things in ranges the dog was unable to handle well (like tornado sirens, they drive dogs nuts)

she is deaf and has little sense of smell due to brain damage, the pig can smell smoke and hear things in ranges the dog was unable to handle well (like tornado sirens, they drive dogs nuts)

cool, I have never seen pigs help disabled people, only dogs.

she is deaf and has little sense of smell due to brain damage, the pig can smell smoke and hear things in ranges the dog was unable to handle well (like tornado sirens, they drive dogs nuts)

That's just cool... although poor dogs with the tornado sirens (never heard one, high pitched are they?)

A fantastic idea for a pet, especially considering that when you're bored with it, you can eat it.

cool, I have never seen pigs help disabled people, only dogs.

They use miniature horses for it too (saw it on TV), though I would assume a pig would be better.

All cats are incapable of detecting sweetness. They just can't taste it, which probably accounts for their somewhat finicky palette.

And the inability of anti-freeze to control the cat population.

That's just cool... although poor dogs with the tornado sirens (never heard one, high pitched are they?)

they are very high pitched, higher than police and ambulance sirens, the sound grates on my nerves but it has to be a frequency that is both annoying and likely to be heard over high winds/rain/hail and flying cows.

Meh, too small. If that's how bid they are when fully grown. I'd want a pig that was more smallish-dog-sized.

Some Pig

Meh, too small. If that's how bid they are when fully grown. I'd want a pig that was more smallish-dog-sized.

Article I read had them in the large dog size range. Those are piglets.