Meet the main pen piggies!
It’s a snowy day, but not super cold; meet all of the piggies in our “main pen” while they enjoy an early dinner! One of our largest areas, this pen is home to 17 rescued pigs 🐷 #rescuesaveslives #pigfriends #pigrescue #hoghavenfarm #snowday
A winter storm is in full swing today. It is completely miserable outside, with high winds and drifts all over, but the pigs all have full bellies and warm beds. Pumba and Peetie get warm meal service every day 🩵
We heard it’s national cookie day, and there is one pig at HHF who loves cookies so much, he even has a special cookie face!
Of course we had to share cookies with Morty today ❤️
It’s a $5 Friday and a big vet appointment day for two of our boys! Any little bit you can contribute will help support this important care 🩵
Over the years, we’ve had a handful of pigs diagnosed with dental disease; when tusks aren’t appropriately trimmed, or if they break and microfracture, bacteria can seep into their gums and cause persistent infections and periodontal disease. We are currently dealing with this disease in 3 of our resident pigs, and today’s visit will include dental X-rays, an abscess drain, and treatment plans with possible surgery.
We loaded the boys up early and in the cold; here’s a video of Pickle reluctantly getting out of bed to go to the clinic 😂
This might be the biggest pumpkin we’ve ever seen! Our best guess is that this weighed nearly 50lbs. Big thanks to Nikki from Strasburg Vet for donating this behemoth for our pig friends to enjoy 🧡
Billy loves dragging tumbleweeds to bed—after he plays with them for a bit, of course 😂
This handsome man has made huge strides in the two years he’s lived at Hog Haven. Rescued from the Indy case in 2019, he spent a few years living at KCPRN, an organization that finds adoptive homes for all of their rescued pigs. Billy and his best bud, Tylor, needed more specialized placement, as they both could be aggressive; given their size, they aren’t really candidates for the average private home. We partnered with KCPRN to bring these boys to sanctuary, while they brought in a few HHF pigs who were great adoption candidates and not having luck finding forever homes.
Billy and Tylor have learned to trust, and while Tylor is still unpredictable, Billy has become a very sweet man. We love seeing all pigs blossom, learn to trust, and thrive!
Poor Katniss was stuck in a shelter all by herself during the snow storm, and hasn’t been able to get back over by her friends. She lives in one of our larger pig pens, and she was in the fanciest shelter (what we call Razzy’s Palace); the shelter is downhill from the other shelters in her pen. We spent time this morning shoveling a path so she could reunite with her friends, and she’s a very happy girl this afternoon 🥰
Lots of little sparrows are hanging out in the barns during this snow storm, keeping cozy with the pigs 🥺
We are forecast for another 16” of snow over the next 48 hours, which is a little overwhelming. Andrew and I (Erin) will be spending the day shoveling paths for the pigs, replenishing water, and adding more straw for the pigs.
Henry loves his mama 😍
This handsome big boy is feeling so much better, and is still loving life in his new area with smaller friends. Last night was the first freeze of the season, and the littles were grateful for a big friend to help them stay extra cozy!
We had a rough weekend with our big kids, and ended up needing to separate Henry from his friends 🥺 We have consulted with our vet team, and are treating him for an upper respiratory infection right now, but he did get beat up before we moved him.
It’s not uncommon for us to need to shuffle different pens around when a pig develops a health concern, so we moved Burgie’s babies to a different area on Sunday (with their old friends). Yesterday, these gals let us know they weren’t happy with the new arrangement, so we put them back in their usual area, with Henry. And they love each other!
Now Henry doesn’t need to be isolated, and is with pigs who won’t bully him 🩵 They all shared pumpkin this afternoon, with no drama. And Henry seems to be feeling a whole lot better after 2 days of antibiotics—it’s a win win!
Pigs being pigs 😅
Big Mama (Lydia) is one of the largest pigs at Hog Haven, weighing approximately 850lbs. Her latest activity is to climb into the water trough and have a splash, rather than in her giant wallow. If you’ve spent much time with pigs, then you know it’s next to impossible to keep their water clean every day. Refilling waters is our most grueling task in the summer time!
