The pig that became our pasture pet
What’s better than coffee? Bacon! It wasn’t planned, but the pig named Bacon became the TnF Farms mascot. We adopted Bacon and his brother Pork Chop from a neighboring farm as juveniles. Bacon’s mellow take on the world and gentle demeanor spared him from “freezer camp” when we started taking mature pigs in.
Bacon quickly learned his name and would lazily follow us around. He would even roll over to get his belly rubbed. We have places to sit in the pasture. When we sat down, Bacon would lay at our feet so you could scratch his ears and rub his tummy. He was a “pig” for attention and if you stopped scratching or rubbing, he would nudge your hand. The other pigs and goats like to get in on the attention but Bacon always had to be the closest. We never leave the pig area with out what we call pig kisses – muddy nose prints on our legs.
Bacon was a very social pig
When Bacon was not following us around he usually hung close by hoping for treats to get thrown over the fence. Eventually hunger would kick in when were not giving him attention. Bacon would fill up on forest vegetation or root around in the dirt. And on hot days, he would go and soak in the wallow or in the stream in the lower woods.
When he was in proximity, he learned the sound of the garage door and the creak of the gates. Otherwise, all we had to do was call. He came a-runnin’ with a stampede of smaller pigs squealing behind him.
“Bacon” eventually went to freezer camp. It was a sad day for us. He had grown very large and lived a long, easy life with plenty to eat and lots of attention. We have a saying at the farm. “Our pigs have a lot of good and great days and one bad day.”
