This is Auggie, a three month old pot bellied pig. He arrived Saturday weighing a hefty 20 pounds. He’ll spend 30 days in quarantine, and then we’ll introduce him to Miss Piggy. We’ll continue to post photos on the Blog so you can keep up with him prior to his arrival in the Farmyard in mid December.Read more
Posts tagged: #pig
Big Word of the Month: Euthanasia
The big word of the month is a hard one to talk about. Euthanasia comes from Greek and means “good death”. I doubt any two people can agree on what exactly a good death is, yet it is a discussion we have to have in the Animal Department from time to time. When an animal is ill and our veterinarians have run out of treatment strategies we have to consider quality of life issues. Deciding when an animal is sufferingRead more
thanks
Thanks everyone for all your nice thoughts about Pig. I’ve worked out in the farmyard twice now since last Thursday, and it’s been weird without him there. One of my favorite stories about Pig happened around this time a few years ago, when we got a huge truckload of pumpkins donated to us. We didn’t have much room to store them, so kept them right behind our fence in the farmyard where we keep all of our tools. We knewRead more
Rest in Peace Pig
Last night Pig was not improved and still not standing. Calls and emails were made to veterinarians, keepers, staff, and volunteers letting them know. Dr. Mozzachio came early this morning and euthanized Pig. Days like this are hard, and hardest on the keepers, so send them your best wishes.Read more
Pig is not well.
Bad news- sorry to share, but I assume you would want to know. The Keepers found Pig Friday morning not putting any weight on his left front foot. This is not good because Pig has extensive arthritis in his back legs. Dr. Cannedy came out Saturday morning and checked Pig out and give him lots of drugs to hopefully help him feel better. He was no better by Monday morning, so I spent much of yesterday at the Vet SchoolRead more
Big Word of the Month: Piloerection
You may have recently read about our new pig, Miss Piggy; she just moved in with our older pig, Squealer. Pig introductions don’t usually happen without at least some scuffling to establish dominance. During the introduction, both pigs displayed quite a bit of piloerection, or raised hairs. The word piloerection comes from the Latin root pilus, which means hair. Piloerection occurs in many mammals and happens when the tiny muscles at the base of each hair follicle contract. Piloerection canRead more