Mini Pig

Meet Mick Jagger

Adoption Story and the Early Days at Nixon Farm

Truth be told, I’ve never had any interest in owning a pig.

All that changed one day when I was looking for a Brahma chicken and stumbled upon a listing for a mini pig on an online classifieds site.

Forget the BFC (Big Heckin’ Chicken)! I needed to meet this pig!

Fast forward a few days and Mike and I are in a barn, meeting him for the first time. My goodness, this cute, shy, curious little piglet wanted so badly to say hello, but was too scared. Mick had not been handled at all, so we couldn’t get very close but he was looking at us intently, bravely stretching forward on his tippy toes to check us out. 

We talked it over that night and decided that’s it! We are getting a piglet. 

Taming of the Shrew (Because let’s face it, he looks like a big mouse!)

After a week of laying on my stomach in his pen (making myself small, less intimidating to him) he finally started eating out of my hand! We hand fed him for a month, until he gained enough confidence to trust us. From that day forward, the little guy came running when we called him. 

Once he was easy to handle, he started coming in the house for a few hours everyday.

Why on earth would someone want a pig in the house?! Well, he is a pet pig, we want him to be really well socialized.

A Mini Pig In The House

Mick is such a cute, sweet, affectionate little fellow who loves to cuddle. He adores our 13 year old Newfie and has been trying tirelessly to make friends with the cat, but she’s a jerk, so those efforts have failed. He tries to give her a kiss and she’s all like; “Ewww! Heck off Bacon Bit!” and punches him straight in the nose.

Mick is also really really smart. Dog/child gates are pointless and he figured out how to open our sliding barn door on his first try. Pigs are excellent problem solvers, they learn and retain information  really quickly and can learn through observation : “Ahhhh so THAT’s how you open the fridge Thankfully, he’s super short, otherwise I’m pretty confident he would teach himself how to drive. Knowing him, he would just go to the grocery store for snacks. 

Much like a little kid, if you scold him for getting into the cupboards and making a huge mess, he gets tears in his eyes. That’s right, pigs shed tears when they are upset. He can also hold a grudge like nobody’s business. We were really late to feed him ONE TIME and he stayed mad for a full 7 days.

Mick wags his tail when he is happy or getting praised, and looks quite prideful when he aces a new trick! Like us, pigs experience both positive and negative emotions and can feel happiness, compassion, sadness, and grief. 

Contrary to what you may believe, pigs are very clean animals. Mick is litter trained, and uses his litter boxes even when he is outside in his pen.

His bed is comprised of a bale of straw and a warm blanket. Every few weeks, we change out his bedding and he gets a fresh bale of straw. However, if he feels like his straw is not fresh enough for his bougie self, he will painstakingly move the straw he deems dirty to his litter box, one little mouthful at a time! 

Mick is incredibly agile and can climb up onto anything, beit furniture, or up onto his hay loft (to try to eat all the hay we are saving for winter, and to push down a fresh bale of straw to make himself the king size bed he feels entitled to).

Mick is a wonderful little being. If only everyone knew how wonderful pigs are! The world would be a better place if  humans were as sensitive and compassionate as pigs…

*Please note that these particular pictures are from when Mick was a baby! Mini pigs grow until they are 5 years of age and will weigh 50-100 pounds when they reach adulthood.

If you are considering adopting a mini pig, please do your research. You are welcome to start by reading my article 10 Things You Must Consider Before Adopting a Mini Pig.