Pig Info • Pigs have developed food preferences. Just like us, they don't all like the same foods. Pigs can be very picky eaters. • Most pigs love: cooked broccoli, pitted apricots, cucumbers, dark green lettuce, cooked potatoes, beets, grapes, pumpkins, all squashes, zucchini, snow peas, spinach, yams, kale, tomatoes, chard, carrots, pears, apples, berries, oranges, grapefruit, melons, pitted cherries, pitted peaches. • Some like, some don't like artichokes, asparagus, raw broccoli, brussel sprouts, arugula, eggplant, mushrooms, radishes, peppers, sprouts. • Most pigs detest cabbage, onions, corn husks, cauliflower. Favorite treats for visitors to bring: vegetarian dog biscuits, fresh fruit, uncooked pasta, wild bird seed (for chickens!), dried fruit, unsalted popcorn, unsalted peanuts, anything from the "Pigs Love" list. • Some pigs salivate in anticipation of food. Their mouths will be so foaming it looks like they have rabies. What should visitors do if they see this? Feed them a treat!! • All potbellied pigs have straight tails instead of curly tail like "big" pigs. • Pigs wag their tails when they are happy and content. • Pigs can bark an alarm call as a warning to others when they have been startled. • Pigs are the cleanest farm animals. They keep their sleeping quarters clean and "go" outside in the toilet areas. • Some pigs at the sanctuary have steadfast loyal friendships lasting for years. • It is common to butcher pigs at 5 to 6 months of age. Sadly this means most pigs are deprived of 95% of their lives. • The seasons affect the pigs like they do us. When we have long drawn out gray days of winter in the northwest with no sunshine for weeks at a time, the pigs may be irritable, depressed, short tempered and sleep more. • As spring approaches they are friskier, more social and friendly, and energized. To help the pigs through the winter blues we make sure the pigs get extra treats everyday, such as dried and fresh fruits, peanuts in the shell, popcorn, vegetarian dog biscuits and different types of grains. Something new and different and tasty helps brighten their days as well as ours. Winter is the time of year when we especially treasure our treat bearing, tummy scratching visitors and volunteers. • In a lifetime the average American meat-eater consumes 2,600 animals, including: 2,450 chickens, 118 turkeys, 33 pigs, 12 cattle and calves. You can make a difference three times a day to save animals by not eating them. You will feel better and the animals will thank you. • Our roosters always take care of the hens. If someone throws a treat out, the rooster will not eat. Instead they cluck and call to the hens as he shows them the treat by pointing at it over and over as he calls. Only after hens have eaten will the roosters eat.