Piggies...revisited

Long ago, back in July of 2008, John and I were headed north to go to my nephew Jake's wedding. Along the way, we decided to stop and visit his aunt & uncle that live in Virginia. They are a great old couple that have a huge farm. At one time, they grew tobacco, but have since stopped the tobacco growing and now spend all their time and energy on pig farming.

Pigs are a wonderful thing. But they are just as their name implies...pigs! They smell bad, like to wallow in mud, and eat like there is no tomorrow. These pigs aren't even pigs really...they are full blooded HOGS! They grow to be about 500 pounds which is great as several times each year they send the pigs (hogs) to slaughter and end up getting a lot of meat out of them. Some of it they sell, some they give away (always kind to those in need), and a little bit of it they keep for themselves. It's funny because when we stay with them, Aunt Hilda will make us bacon and eggs for breakfast. The bacon never comes from one of their pigs. They don't care much for the pig bacon...they buy it at the store just like the rest of the world that is not pig farmers! And, just so you know, they aren't big fans of sausage either, yet each time they slaughter, they make several hundred pounds of sausage and keep very little for themselves. Most of it is sold off to people who put in their orders months before the slaughter!

Anyway, back to my original story. When we visited in July, one of the momma hogs had died giving birth. Only 4 of the piglets survived. If you look back at my August blogs, you see I posted a video of the piglets. They were so darn cute!

Over the holiday, we stopped to visit Aunt Hilda and Uncle Aubrey on our way home from Erie. Upon our arrival, we found out that one of the pigs had just had a litter the night before. There were 8 new little piggies on the farm! These are the "small" pigs on the farm. (Not the best picture, I know, but these little guys were trying to get as close to momma as they could as it was pretty chilly outside!)

About 8 weeks prior to this, another one of the hogs had babies. She had about 12 little piggies, now 8 weeks old, roaming around the pen. These guys are truly "hams" too! (Yes, I know there's a pun there. Pretty corny, but it worked for me!) When they saw me focusing on them for the picture, they "struck a pose" and didn't move until the flash of the camera went off. Then they scampered back to their momma. These are the "medium" pigs on the farm.

We also went to visit the piggies from July. They weren't the cute little piggies from 4 months ago, but now were getting much bigger. They had to be about 100 pounds each, except for Runt. She was still a little on the small side compared to her brother and sisters, but still growing. I'm sure she'll catch up to them at some point. Although they had grown, they were still cute pigs. Actually, if you had a pig for a pet, these would probably be the perfect "full grown" size. But they won't stop there. They'll keep growing. These are the "large" pigs on the farm.

Finally, there were a couple of female pigs that they believed to be pregnant, plus the momma's that had given birth recently, and of course, big daddy...the proud poppa of them all! These guys rounded off the line up as the "super industrial size" pigs on the farm. (They were also a bit more shy about getting their picture taken, so I allowed them to keep their privacy. You know how you feel when you're pregnant and just want to be left alone. And daddy, well, he worked hard too and needed his beauty rest!) Weighing in at anywhere between 400 to 500 pounds, these little ladies, and studly gentleman, made the farm count complete. We had basically had every size of pig imaginable on the farm. Of course, this time next year, most of those babies, from newborn to 4 months, will be old enough to become part of somebodies sausage and egg breakfast!

The circle of life will be complete.