SWINE

Oh. My. Goodness. 

Today was our trip to Cascade Meadows Farm just outside of Sandy, OR. What a nice little 40 acre spot! We went out to learn about American Guinea Hogs and boy howdy, we got a lot of information - well Tom did, I was too busy checking out the piggies. So stinkin' fun! 

These pigs really are quite compact and so personality filled! They love a belly rub and they will come when you call them. When we arrived a couple of the sows came to greet us and stood near us, gave us a sniff and then waited for a little rub on the back side. How fun! The piglets weren't so friendly, but they are still young and haven't been around their farmer people enough yet. 

Our guide, Jason, told us pretty much everything we could ever want to know and more! I like that these are a heritage breed, but still has a status of "Threatened." Without farms like this one, this breed could go extinct as it once did until the 1980s. I like that we'll be able to continue to the Cascade Farm line here in our own back yard. They good job with choosing the traits that they want their pigs to have and culling those whose traits are not desirable.

They do not medicate their stock and the males are not castrated. The pigs are around people quite a bit, so they are used to being handled. 

Farmer Jason and the pigs that will be processed in the near future

The sows and their babies

When these little ones and their momma figured out there wasn't food when they were called...
she plopped down and they started to nurse

This momma is less than a year old and was slated to be processed, until she gave birth to these little ones.

Pigs & chickens get along well...the young pigs weren't far from these chickens