Bea (and "Boris")

Our guinea hog gilt (young female hog) Miss Bea is ready and waiting for the male who will sweep her off of her feet (um....hooves).  

She was accustomed to Buddy, who took charge, wuffed in cows' faces for her sake, gamboled around the pasture without a care in the world, rushed to her defense but also shamelessly took the best food for himself (amid earsplitting protests from a younger Bea).  

Now that Buddy is gone, the poor girl is in with Buford (aka Twitchy) and Boss, who are not purebred (gasp!) but are growing nicely and their personalities are becoming quite evident.  Bea is holding her own against a very vocal and bold Twitchy, while happily shoving Boss around and using her piggy bulk to her own advantage.

Photos:  A male piglet from Ham Sweet Farm in Michigan....

See the piglet on top of the others in the 2nd photo?  The one with the red collar?  The one who is eagerly taking what is rightfully his (a mouthful of milk from a contented mama) while trampling his littermates to get to it?

This little guy will be joining our menagerie in a few weeks.  As you can see, he's already a "go-getter", "top of the pile" sort of character.  We chose his name months ago:  "Boris".  Time will tell if the name fits the personality.

This piglet will hopefully be the daddy of future American Guinea Hog piglets on our farm (in fall of next year, maybe?).  He could be a take-charge kind of boar, and we're hoping that Bea falls helplessly, head-over-heels for him when he's just a bit bigger and more mature....  

He has a lot of growing up to do, doesn't he?

  

Laura