February 2018 - Apple Hill Farm NC

This is part 3 in a series of posts about a rescued pig, Mr. Pickles. To go back to the beginning of the story, click here https://applehillfarmnc.com/Part 2 of the story can be found here https://applehillfarmnc.com/pig-rescue-p2/.

Finding a purpose for Mr. Pickles was not something we planned or had meetings about. We watched as it developed over time. It started with some in-stall training for pieces of treats. Quickly we were able to get him to leap up into his sandbox, stand on his back legs and bump a fist with his nose, a safe way to give pig kisses.

Location, location, location.

Mr. Pickles’ physical location, his stall in the barn, put him right in the middle of everything. He was next to the dog food closet, where we prepare meals twice a day, across from the people bathroom and the steps that lead upstairs to the store. Not only was he front and center, he made sure he was seen and heard. If he was in the outside pen and a visitor came in the big barn doors, he trotted back inside with a ‘groint, groint, groint’ and his tail wagging. And when it was feeding time he imitated the squeeky dog food closet door with a “gweek, gweek, gweek.”

How to win friends

Mr. Pickles was the first stop on the tour, even before we went to meet the alpacas. As the guide shared his rescue story, he made a variety of noises as if to punctuate the happy and sad parts. His tricks were met with cheers and claps from the whole tour. Mr Pickles took the attention he received and reeled the visitors in making himself a popular personality. He had a way of turning a foe into a fan.

Jerry, a neighbor farmer who grew up raising all his own meat, came by when he heard we had a pig. He wanted to give us some advice, about raising hogs. Mr. Pickles was inside and came running out when he heard Jerry’s voice in front of the barn.

“Weeelllll…he’s not big enough for a ham biscuit!” Jerry exclaimed before doubling over with laughter.

Mr. Pickles answered with long loud grunts as if he understood what had just been said.

“How big do you think he will get?” Jerry asked.

“It’s hard to say, but hopefully he’ll stay under 30 pounds.” I answered.

“That don’t even make sense, my dog’s bigger than that!”

Even though a pet pig was silly to Jerry, he became a fan. On his next visit, Jerry went over to Mr. Pickles’ stall to say hello before he came to find me.

Event pig

In those days, we went off the farm with alpacas to events to let people know about Apple Hill Farm. As the months warmed up and events were scheduled, Mr. Pickles became part of our plans. Pet festivals, Arts and Crafts fairs and a local herb festival. He was a hit and small crowds gathered around his pen.

When July came around, we outfitted a red flyer wagon with a crate big enough for Mr. Pickles and we pulled him in the Banner Elk parade. For years we had walked llamas in the parade and carried a banner. Mr. Pickles was a hit. ‘Look, its a pig!!” Unlike the llamas, who folks often thought were Emu’s, they knew he was a pig!

A combination of things happened one unusually warm weekend that sifted Mr. Pickles role. He and his smart nose figured out that the food people were eating as they stood beside his cage was yummy Kettle Corn. When he smelled it, he begged with a gweeking noise, until by mid morning, he was hoarse and grumpy. In order to make sure that he didn’t bite anyone, one of us stood with him in the pen. As the afternoon grew hotter, we put him in his crate with a light cover to take a nap and rest his voice. Meanwhile, as we were in town trying to keep him cool, a customer came to the farm, primarily to see Mr. Pickles. And he wasn’t there. It was the final sign we needed. From then on, Mr. Pickles stayed at the farm when we were open.

That didn’t stop him from being invited to make appearances, though. One such request was as part of a fundraiser at Will’s school. The kids donated money toward the teachers in their grade and the winning teacher had to “kiss the pig”. Dressed in a bandana in school colors, I held Mr. Pickles while teachers male and female dressed in wigs and put on lipstick before receiving a wet nose bump on the lips from Mr. Pickles. Each kiss was followed by laughter and applause. For the last teacher, who happened to be Will’s teacher, Mr. Pickles pooped during the kiss sending the school into near hysterics.

Brianne was working with Knox, one of our Great Pyrenees dogs, training him as a therapy dog and to do tricks. When she had the idea to train Knox to pull a cart, a light bulb went off. Knox could pull Mr. Pickles in a wagon. It took months of training, outfitting a radio flyer wagon with rails and a harness. By the 4th of July, Knox was ready for the Banner Elk parade. They were a huge hit and a new tradition began. Llamas, and a dog pulling a wagon with a pig.

The Odd Couple

That winter, as he outgrew yet another dog crate, we outfitted Mr. Pickles’ stall with a dog igloo, which we referred to as his Pigloo. Pig’s favorite place to go at night and in bad weather. We started noticing that Snickers, our female barn cat was in his stall occasionally. A few months later I noticed her in his stall every night when I went to the barn at tuck-in time. Eventually, Snickers just moved in with him permanently and we added a cat bed for her. They were the odd couple, best buddies from a distance and shared the sunlight that streams in through the door on a cold winter day.

Local Fame

Mr. Pickles doesn’t have just one purpose, he has many. As a favorite ambassador at the farm or delighting the crowd as a parade pig. His rescue story is memorable and touching for all ages. Mr. Pickles has even crossed the feline divide to be a companion and roommate for Snickers. And through all his many roles, he has reached local celebrity status. A fact we are reminded of every 4^th of July as we walk in ‘the best hometown parade in America’ and the crowd claps and yells his name. “Mr. Pickles!”

This is Part Two of three part series of stories about the pig rescue of Mr. Pickles. To read Part One go to: https://applehillfarmnc.com/pig-rescue-p1/

Mr. Pickles arrives at Apple Hill Farm.

Judy brought Mr. Pickles to the farm, with a crate, toys, blankets and a wardrobe of sweaters. She sat in a chair in the store with Mr. Pickles in her lap and a cup coffee on the desk next. We peppered her with questions to make sure we knew everything to make his transition as smooth as possible. And then there was silence between all of us as Judy worked up the nerve to say goodbye. Tears were shed and promises made to come back and visit, before she got back into her car to leave. And with zero pig experience and an hour of training, we entered the world of pig rescue.

Mr. Pickles transitioned well, accepting us quickly, a testament to all of Judy’s hard work and time. For the first few months, he went home with a team member every night both for warmth and companionship. It was the best way we knew to keep the momentum in healing his past trauma and build on his acceptance of humans. Having rescued many other animals, we were confident that for him, love was the key.

The breeding of tiny pigs is an inexact science, some pigs end up staying small but many end up 100 pounds or larger. A strict limited diet is key, to keep them from growing beyond their leg capacity, while genetics decide the ultimate outcome. Our goal was for Mr. Pickles to be a ‘pet pig’, able to live inside and walk on a leash, knowing full well that we might end up with a ‘barn pig’. However it ended up, we had the space and we knew he would be well loved.

Lessons in Halter Training a Pig.

On warm winter days, we continued to work on his halter training, closing the barn doors, and using food, the best motivator for a pig. He would go anywhere in the barn for a piece of carrot or a cheerio, his little hoofs making a clip, clip, clip noise on the concrete floor and his tail wagging. We set up an empty stall for him to explore with an old raised sand box filled with dirt for rooting around with his nose. He picked a corner for his liter box and spent long hours snuffling around for pieces of hidden food or napping. At night we brought him inside to my office to his crate and blankets.

As spring rolled around, confident in our pig training and taming abilities, we looked forward to expanding to leash walks outside the barn. Not for long though. A walk outside with Mr. Pickles was a one way street to wherever HE wanted to go, usually a place that had food — grass, the scattered grain outside the chicken coop or the weeds in the soft soil of the garden. Any attempt to change his direction was met with loud, shrieking pig noises that brought the horses charging at the fence to see what was happening. Treats that we had used in the barn were useless in this outside world. Eventually we sectioned off a part of the garden, where he could just be a pig for limited time periods as a way to successfully walk him on leash to a source of food. Then we tried every training trick to walk him back to the barn. Most walks dissolved into full blown pig tantrums and we ended up carrying him back to the barn kicking and screaming, literally.

Learning to Listen.

Finally, we surrendered our ‘pet pig’ plan and Mr Pickles became a ‘barn pig’. During the day he stayed in his stall where he was happiest. He had continued to grow in weight, size and at 20 pounds outgrew his crate or any desire to come inside at night, so we let him sleep out in the barn. He still loved attention, though. When I came out to give carrots to the horses every night, I wrapped Mr. Pickles in his blanket and picked him up. I stood in his stall, rocking back and forth while I sang lullabies. Eventually, he stopped cooing and became restless. Then I laid him down on his bed.

As fall approached, during the day he ‘talked’ excitedly to anyone who came near, loved back scratches and rolled over for a belly rub. He wagged his tail often signaling that he was one happy pig. At night though, he didn’t want to be rocked any more and he was only willing to be held for a short period of time. It was like he had a love tank and we had somehow filled it. A bittersweet moment, as we shifted our interaction to meet his need. When I came out at night, I greeted him singing “his” song, to the tune of Rubber Ducky, “Mr. Pickles you’re the one, you make tuck in lots of fun. Mr. Pickles I am awfully fond of you!” And tucked him in with a piece of carrot and a kiss, just like the horses.

It wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, but we had transitioned Mr. Pickles through a new home and out of the trauma of his first home. Animal rescue is a mixture of meeting physical needs, providing love and listening to the needs of the animal. And in that way, Mr. Pickles was a whole pig, no longer in active ‘pig rescue’ and ready to move on to finding his purpose here on Apple Hill Farm.

This is Part Two of a three part series. If you missed Part One, click here to go back and read how Mr. Pickles came to Apple Hill Farm.https://applehillfarmnc.com/pig-rescue-p1/

A Pig with Purpose

Mr. Pickles gets rescued