Dogs are out…pigs are in.
This post may contain affiliate links. Disclosure here. In my world, dogs are out and pigs are in! Yes, I have a pig in my house and I have a pig outdoors. Today I want to talk a bit about Norma Jean my 6 year old Juliana “mini” pig. No she is not named after Marylin Monroe. I originally wanted a male pig and I was going to name him Norman. However, when I first saw a picture of Norma It was love at first sight. She looked like a baby chipmunk. So I decided to switch the name up a bit. BUT WHY A PIG AND NOT A DOG YOU ASK? Have you ever been to the county fair? Most people have attended at least one in their life time. I remember when I went to the Fowlerville fair when I was 4 or 5. I probably rode some rides and had some junk food but, all I can remember is going to the barn and seeing those beautiful baby pigs. I couldn’t talk about anything else for days. I remember wanting to pick one up and snuggle with it they were so adorable. That is where my pig journey began. I talked about getting a pig for years and years after that. When I was 18, I found out about mini pigs. I was shocked to hear about a pig that didn’t get to be the size of the big mama I saw at the fair. I was on a mission then to find where I could get one. I was disappointed to see that their were hardly any breeders in the US and the cost of the pig was well into the thousands. I was so upset but, every now and then I would look to see if any breeders were in Michigan and what the cost was. Years went by and I would continue with my research about pigs. I found out that they love blankets and would have a favorite one. I heard they would have favorite songs on the radio or TV shows. The list went on about how smart these lovely animals are. They are litter box trained, they do tricks like sit and spin and they had a life span of about 20 years. One Sunday morning, I was doing my typical search for pigs that I would do every now and low and behold I found a breeder right here in Michigan. She had several pigs for sale for $300 each. Norma was the only one that looked like a chipmunk. I showed my husband and I said “I sent a message to the breeder. I want this pig!” He didn’t say no which was a shock but, I think he saw Norma’s big brown eyes and couldn’t resist. The next thing I know we were heading to Lowell, Michigan to pick up our sweet girl. She was already potty trained when we got her so that was a big help. She was three months old by the time we were able to bring her home. She was so scared her first night but, It didn’t take long for her to warm up to us. I would come home on my lunch hour to check on her. The day after she arrived home, I started singing her a silly children’s song. I had read that pigs liked it when you sang to them. She fell right to sleep. That night she was getting a little fussy and I picked her up and sang the same song and again she fell right to sleep. Now every time that she is cranky I sing her that song. Actually, my mom was watching her while we were out of town and my mom called and said she wouldn’t settle down and I asked her to put the phone on speaker and I started to sing her song and Norma stopped what she was doing and laid down. Norma is no longer my little girl. She is actually 150lbs. I know now that there is no such thing as a mini pig. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, don’t believe them. However, she will never grow to be 400lbs like some other pigs. I miss her being little but, I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She is incredibly intelligent and listens when you call her or ask her to do things. Oh and she runs really fast which, you wouldn’t think a pig could do. So in a world of dogs and cats be a pig lover! Thank you so much for reading and enjoy my others posts. See you next time down on the farm. 
10 Fun Facts About Pigs
