I’m sure you all know pigs love to eat. Such the saying, eating like a pig. Pot belly pigs are like humans though, and I’m sure a lot of other animals, if they eat too much bad things can happen. In a pot belly pig, they can develop heart and joint problems if they are overweight, just like a human. Also in that, and don’t laugh, pigs can get what’s known as fat blindness. It’s literally they are so overweight that around their eyes is so fat they can’t see. It’s really a sad sight, can be funny, but in reality it’s not funny. It means that pig is struggling and needs help. In saying all of that, my point is, pigs love to eat. When I come out with food, I always feed Bacon bit and Pork chop first. The other pigs pink at me and cause such a fuss until they are fed. I do limit their food since I don’t want health problems for my pigs. I want them taken care of. In reality though, it’s really a funny sight.

We put a pool into the pen with Spam, Treat, and Gus. Thought maybe that would help with this crazy Arkansas heat. That was the thought anyway. For weeks, they have been drinking out of it. I had seen several posts on my piggy groups that other people’s pigs love their pools. I thought eventually they would get in it to cool off. But, they hadn’t. They had been digging in the ground and laying in that to stay cool. And playing in the mud some when there is mud. At least that’s what Treat is doing. So one night I walked out and saw Gus in the pool. I was so thrilled about it. Except for the fact that he was just standing there. When he saw me, he got out of the pool. A couple days later, he did it again. Then I noticed the flies. Then I noticed the complete nastiness of the pool. Apparently pigs use pools as a bathroom. Lesson learned. Yes, there is still water in it and now I change it out everyday. Looks like what happens in a piggy pool, literally stays in the piggy pool...and floats!! Oh what a mess!!!

Pretty sure I haven’t told this story yet and as I realize, I’ve posted so many stories that I really don’t want to go back through to find out if I have or not. This one is about Gus again. I’ve been telling a lot of stories about him, but he is my only friendly pig as I’m sure I’ve said a bunch of times. This is before I knew him very well and was just trying to get him to be comfy with me. So, one night I was petting on Gus and all of a sudden he just fell over. Literally just fell over. I thought I had killed him or something. He was stiff in his body and everything. The other pigs even cane to check on him. And then, he just jumped back up. I was thinking, ok, what just happened. So I kept petting him and rubbing on him and he did it again!! It was then I realized that he was rolling on his side so I could rub his belly. Sometimes I’m a little slow to figure things out. Anyway. I continued to rub his belly and he just loved it. Now he does it all the time and I understand what he is doing and why. Cracks me up that it scared me so bad the first time. But, I have no idea what I am doing with these pigs. I’m just learning as I go. They all have different personalities and are so much fun.

If you remember, I was so worried about the 3 bigger pigs: Spam, Treat, and Gus. They didn’t like each other at first but they have made so much progress in such a short amount of time.  Gus is such a sweet boy and the other two are still not friendly with me, but there is progress with that also. I think Gus is helping with this matter a lot. It is amazing the therapy these three give me on a daily basis. I go out to the pen 2-3 times a day during the week and spend hours out there on the weekends with them. My goal is to socialize Treat and Spam. Nd honestly, Gus is such a little lover that I like spending time with him. They make me really happy. And honestly, these three have bonded so much lately. It makes me really happy for them, too. I don’t have to worry about them anymore, except when there is food around.

Remember my post a few days ago about the mineral block?? That I got the wrong one and it was a reproductive block instead?? Well, funny story... I got a text today from the lady we got our goats from. She said she had finally decided to sell some of her female goats and they were not related to the goats we had. I laughed to myself about this. I mean I had just written about it. I texted my husband and we laughed about it. We are actually thinking about getting a few females to put on the farm. Not sure yet if we will or not but it’s definitely a thought. It could also help with financial stuff around the farm. What do you guys think?? Little baby goats running around would be so cute. There again though, I get attached and would be hard for me to sell them. Maybe it’s not a good idea. Hmmm... something to think about.

Came home from work today and had one of those freak out moments. Gus has some kind of spots all over his skin. I, of course, think the worse and start googling. Well, anyone that has ever googled an illness in humans knows that nothing you find is good. It’s the same with animals. I read things like sudden death and get to a vet immediately. I started to panic. I reached out to an online piggy group and posted pics. So, I got a few comments on what it could be. One of them was called dippity pig syndrome. This is what I originally thought it could be. It’s a rash on the skin. But the other symptoms, Gus didn’t have any of those. For example, not being able to stand, dipping his back, pain when touched. This is caused by stress apparently. Well, the only thing he had were the spots on his skin. He was eating and drinking just fine and when I was rubbing on him he acted like my normal sweet pig. The last thing someone mentioned to me on the site was that it looked like he had really dry skin, which he does and that her pig does this when he gets water droplets on him. Well, it rained a few minutes before I got home. So, I’m starting to relax. I went to check on him a few minutes ago and some of the spots are already fading. Whew!! I’m just hoping all of them are gone in the morning.  And now that I am talking about this, I did seem to notice a few spots on him a couple days ago but didn’t think anything of it because they went away so quickly. I am praying that really it is just the water droplets which means I just need to work on his skin in general.

My husband isn’t the kind of animal person I am. Sure, he likes animals alright, but he isn’t an animal fanatic like I am. He can take them or leave them, leaning more toward the leaving them. Hahahaha!! They can be a problem. They can be expensive. They can tear stuff up. They can get on your nerves. The list can go on and on. Anyway. I said all of that to say this. My husband might not be a huge fan of animals, but he would do anything in the world for me. He borrows trailers to go pick up animals, he builds shelters, he buys food, etc. The pigs are definitely not his favorite creatures, but I think they might be growing on him. He was actually petting on Gus. He did try to pet Spam and Treat, but that didn’t happen. They really aren’t friendly. I pet them, but I think I have tried so much that they are just giving in. Like ok, the sooner she pets us, the sooner she will leave.