Not Generally a Picky Eater

Pig likes to eat and rarely turns up his piggy nose at anything I give him.  When he first came to us, he was eating dry dog food and dog biscuits.  We weaned him off the dog food and started him on "Pig and Sow" feed that we get at Tractor Supply.   I supplement his pig feed with leftover vegetables, salad, corn on the cob, the ends and peelings of cucumbers, celery, watermelon, tomatoes, mangoes, etc.  Pig also loves apples, carrots and raisins, which we purchase for him at the store.  And because we are indulgent parents, we usually put a leftover roll, or a cookie or muffin, in his bowl at his morning and evening mealtimes.  In the course of the past year, we have discovered that Pig does not like broccoli, onions, or yellow squash.  He will eat watermelon rind, but only if you cut it up into small pieces.  When we feed him, he roots around in the bowl and goes for anything sweet first. 

Henry uses dog biscuits to train him to do tricks, like sitting on command.  Pig doesn't see well, so we make sure we bend down so he can see our ASL "sit" command.  We've read that it is important to avoid giving treats without requiring Pig to earn them.  We can lead him into his baby pool by dropping a dog biscuit into the water.  He will step into the water and find the biscuit and eat it by putting his face under the water.  We keep a tub of water for drinking in his pen, and refill it every other day or so. He loves water, but also loves it when I have occasionally given him the last few sips of my soft drink.  I think he likes Orange Crush best. 

The temperatures have been extremely high lately, breaking records all over the Southeast.  It's been over 100 degrees here for days, and only starts to cool off around 9:00 p.m.  This is hard on Pig, who copes by staying under the deck or in his pen where there is shade.  So far, I haven't seen him get into the baby pool on his own, but he does occasionally wander (on purpose?) into the area of the yard Henry has been watering with the sprinkler.  Pig seems to enjoy getting wet, but it apparently makes his skin itch, and he'll spend a long time rubbing up against anything he can find, in order to scratch the itchiness.  His favorite time of day is early morning, before it gets hot.  I agree with him on that!

As Promised, Photos of Pig and His Friends (Human and Other)

Summertime for Pig

Pig's favorite things about summertime are the prevalence of June apples that fall from our tree, juicy watermelon rinds and the occasional ear of corn that we toss to him from the deck, and the fact that we humans are outside more to play with him.  Henry has arranged our back yard with a badminton court, a croquet court, and a horseshoes court.  Whenever we are out playing one game or another, all our animals -- two dogs, four cats, and Pig -- are right out there with us, enjoying the coolness of the early summer evenings.  I'll try to get a photo of this  phenomenon to add to this post. 

Yesterday, I let Pig out of his pen and noticed that he had knocked over his water tub.  When I took it to the outside spigot to refill it, Pig followed me and started drinking thirstily as the tub filled.  We recently had a good, soaking rain, and our creek, which had gone nearly dry, is full again. Pig loves to go down to the creek and cool off.  Even when the water level is low, he enjoys wallowing in the mud.  Occasionally, he will appear back at the house, completely covered in mud.  Thankfully, he doesn't seem to mind being hosed off.  Perhaps I will replace the plastic baby pool we had for him last year....he's bigger now than he was last year and would be able to get in and out of it easier this year.  Pigs do need a way to cool off in the hot summer temps, and because they sunburn easily, they need to be able to get out of the sun.  Pig spends a lot of time under our deck or under the trampoline, resting in the shade.