Our trio of potbelly pigs are as different as can be.
Macon (November 1, 2013), it rhymes with Bacon, was the first of our pigs, joining our zoo at 6 weeks old. Macon is the solid brown pig (he usually wears a blue harness). Macon is a quirky boy who spent years in the house before deciding he'd prefer to live outside full time with the other animals. In typical pig fashion, Macon has always been a one-person animal and while he's polite and allows children to pet him, it is a "job" for him. He sets his internal timer and when the scheduled 2 hours are up, his job is over and he's leaving the petting zoo area. But don't feel bad, even our most frequent volunteers are not "good enough" for Macon. He is truly my pig and mine alone, which has led to some entertaining stories of forcing our volunteers to ride in the backseat so Macon could sit up front with me or bringing the pig along on a family outing to the lake because he wouldn't listen to the petsitter.
Macon was sold as a "micro" pig. I purchased him as a teaching tool on the truth of these micro and mini piglets. Macon was only 4 lbs when he was 6 weeks old, smaller than my chihuahua. At a year old, Macon weighed 30 lbs and still fit easily in my lap. But, since pigs continue growing for 3+ years, Macon currently weighs over 150 lbs and is the same size as my non-micro pigs.
Hunter (~September 2013), the black and white pig, found his way to us only a couple months after Macon, when a neighbor spotted a "wild pig" running down the street one night, whistled to scare it off the road, and was surprised when the pig came running instead. Knowing that we had animals, he brought the pig to us to keep until we found the owner. Unfortunately for poor Hunter, his newest owners had already lost interest and didn't want him back. At 6 months old, we became Hunter's 4th, and last, home.
Hunter is not used in the petting zoo, as he has some lingering difficulties from his time before us. While he can be sweet and loves belly rubs, he's also quick to snap if he thinks there might be food and he doesn't often get along well with the other animals. He is the boss pig and maintains a large personal bubble, making petting zoo pens uncomfortably small. When Hunter is out and about, he wears a skull/"danger" harness.
Henry (~2014), the pink pig, joined us shortly before our move in 2019. He was given to us by a family friend and though it was an adjustment, as he never fully integrated himself into the pig herd, he's settled in and happily living in one of our barn paddocks with the sheep and goats now. Henry is a very active fellow, and can usually be found exploring and rooting around, tail wagging happily.
Leah was a bit on an unexpected addition. I always intended to add a full sized gilt or two in the future, with durocs being one of my absolute favorites. I wasn't searching but when I was contacted about by a 4H/FFA student about their duroc gilt, how could I resist?
As big as she is, Leah is absolutely the sweetest of the pigs. She is a complete doll who loves belly rubs and comes running across the pasture as fast as she can whenever she sees people. We are so glad to have her here. Plus she makes an excellent comparison tool for why even our 150 lb potbellys are still "miniature" pigs.
As big as she is, Leah is absolutely the sweetest of the pigs. She is a complete doll who loves belly rubs and comes running across the pasture as fast as she can whenever she sees people. We are so glad to have her here. Plus she makes an excellent comparison tool for why even our 150 lb potbellys are still "miniature" pigs.
Luke (8/18/21) was introduced in 2021 to be our new sire as we slightly expand the pig side of the zoo. Luke is half Berkshire, half Old Spot and should make a neat cross with Leah, our current female duroc. Luke was very slow to come around, but he'll happily come running for some scratches now!