And Then There Were 9...

Okay, so, where to begin?! Today was a grave reminder of the fact that pigs are omnivores. A struggle happened and I had no idea until it was too late. My pigs, yes pigs.... ATE a freaking duck!!!!!!

I... I... I'm just perplexed by this whole ordeal.

Somehow, one of my male Muscovy ducks hopped or flew into the pig pen and well, that was the last of him. It's the sad reality of the circle of life. I just didn't think my pigs had it in them.

So let me retrace my steps. At around 1-2pm I decided to go out and do my daily feeding of my pigs. Speckles and Curly by no means starve; they are fat, plump, and healthy. So imagine my shock to go out to their pen and discover a freshly eaten leg bone of one of my ducks. I investigated and found many more duck parts within their sleeping den. It looks to me as though my Muscovy flew into the pen, got cornered, and killed. The rest of my ducks were acting a bit scared and I really don't blame them. They probably saw everything take place and I hope it put the fear in them to not fly or hop over to the pig pen.

It's a dog eat dog kind of world we live in. If you have this cute little idea that pigs are soft spoken and cuddly...boy, are you wrong. These pigs are domesticated; they run up to us when we approach them and let us pet them whenever. It's not like our pigs were feral and mean, but it is ingrained in their blood to eat and eat whatever they desire. I started to research more into if this is a normal occurrence, and what do you know? It is. The bigger the pigs get, the more hostile they can become. I read stories of pigs trying to knock their owners down and bite at them. I even read a farmers story where they put 2 big mama pigs (sows) with 2 baby pigs (ewes) in the back of a truck and drove 45 min to a nearby farm. Once they got there, they opened the truck bed and found that the sows had eaten the ewes-bones and all.

This quickly prompted a talking to with my three year old. He understood what happened, was shocked, but told me he would not go into the pen anymore. The last thing I want is for my kids to get hurt at the snouts of our pigs. It's a great reminder of the fact that pigs are, indeed, omnivores. Which lessens how sad I'll feel when they are butchered this fall. It is a gloomy day here at the homestead, reminiscent of the thunderstorm that just rolled in. RIP Mr. Muscovy Duck, you were a good one.

9 Muscovy Ducks Left