Lessons From a Pig

For two years Barbara lived in a 5x5 concrete pen. Socialization with other pigs was nonexistent considering the 3 inch walls that separated them. She wasn’t spoken to except the mere: “Here you go” when fed by her original farmer. She was given the cheapest livestock feed on the market, her water was dirty and to top it off, Barbara was pregnant.

I was doing my weekly craigslist search when I stumbled upon Barbara’s listing. “Kune Kune sow, two months bred, $350, Tennessee.” My ears perked. A kune AND she’s pregnant! I texted the owner and it was easy to tell he wasn’t exactly Mr. Personality. We made the deal, I sent a deposit and one week later, on Valentines Day, the unnamed, neglected pig we now call Barbara came to her new farm. It was an impulse buy I will never regret.

When Bobby arrived with her on the back of the truck in a massive cage I was taken aback by her size. Instantly it was clear she was not in fact a full breed Kune like the ad suggested. She was massive! We scratched our heads trying to figure out how to get a 300+ pound pig off the back of the truck, through the chicken run and into the new fenced in pig area.

Bobby opened the latch to her cage. I grabbed an ear, he grabbed an ear, counted to 3 and we started pulling. She flipped! Barbara jumped out of the cage and took off. Instincts kicked in and both of us ran, tackling big ol Barbara. I laid my entire body over her back while Bobby got hold of her ears and tail and someway, somehow, we redirected her to the chicken run.

By this time night had fallen and it was difficult to get a good look at her. From what I could see though, she was not healthy. Barbara had a significant amount of hair missing and her coat was dull. Still, I was pleased with my Valentines gift and went to bed.

Over the next few days, slowly, Barbara and I got to know one another. By day 2 she let me pet her rump and by day 5 I was petting her face. By then I could see she had a serious lice infestation, hence the poor coat. She was also slightly underweight. Over the next couple of weeks, I wormed her, gave her necessary shots, brushed her, tackled the lice, and provided her with nutritious vegetables from the gardens and broken eggs that the baby notoriously drops from the coop. Barbara and I had fallen in love.

On March 5th, 2020, it was raining and cold outside. I went out to the sty to feed Barbara, but she failed to greet me like she normally would. I knew in my gut she had be close to having her babies. I checked on her in her house. There she was laid out on her side, too tired to get up. Today was the day.

Three hours later I went out in the rain to check on her. A piglet! Yes, Barbara had a piglet! I studied her more closely and realized there was a second piglet. This piglet wasn’t nearly as active. I picked the babe up. She was cold and lifeless. Quickly I wrapped her in my coat and cleared her airways. After 15 minutes of tending to piglet 2, I began to worry. Barbara should have pushed out another piglet by now. I laid the piglet under the heat lamp, lubed up to my armpit and went in to see what I could find. On the very tips of my fingertips, I felt a snout but for 10 minutes could never reach to get it’s head. Things were looking grim. I yelled for Bobby to call the vet. Thank God my vet in Franklin just happened to be down the road. They came immediately. For over an hour we tried to get the third pig. Finally, it took a heavy chain to lasso and pull the now dead piglet out. Barbara’s eyes were on me the entire time. She was desperate. It was still raining, and it was colder than ever.

We ultra-sounded Barbara and surprisingly there were no other piglets. Her parts were terribly swollen and she was beyond exhausted. Her first piglet, Buzz, suckled fiercely but still, Barbara was truly sad. Later that evening I had no other choice but to put down the second pig. She was stiff, wouldn’t eat and was clearly on her way out. It was a most heartbreaking day. As the days passed, I spent countless hours with Barbara and Buzz. Once Barbara recovered from her trauma, she proved to be the most attentive mother to her one baby piglet.

Barbara and I really bonded that day. I felt her sorrow, her pain. It was devastating really. Today Barbara is my favorite pig on the farm. She is a happy girl who greets me with snorts and loves for me to pet her and just hang out. She runs at full speed to greet me. It is wonderful.

Several people laugh at me for having pigs just to feed them. What they don’t understand is why? Barbara has taught me a lot about farming. She taught me how to approach a new pig. How to wrestle a pig. She has shown me how to gain a pig’s trust, how to discipline them gently but firmly. Her birth experience helped me learn how to stay calm in an emergency and do what you must. Barbara has given me joy through her gratefulness for the life I give her. She has further developed my sense of responsibility and she is a daily confirmation that even animals have feelings and emotions like sadness and excitement. Barbara, a 300-pound pig, loves me, and I love her. That is why she will always have a home on this farm.

Today Barbara and Buzz live in a spacious fenced in area behind the coop. They love to root up rocks and have likely killed every tree back there with their powerful snouts. They love pumpkins in the Fall and garden veggies in the Spring. In the Summer months they each love coconut oil rubbed on their backs and ears. On cold days they enjoy laying out in the sun and receiving a fresh bale of hay in their hut to burrow in.

Isn’t it fantastic that God gifted us with animals? I believe they have a purpose beyond food. God’s creatures give us a lesson in compassion, patience, love and grace. Consider this, perhaps if we practice these traits regularly with our pets, our gardens, our land, we will be better equipped to practice them with our fellow brothers and sisters.