# Attack pig???



## iouJC (Nov 20, 2010)

I have been doing alot more thinking about defense and at the same time having livestock available for future needs.
One idea that has occured to me is the idea of an "Attack Pig." There is a story behind this....of course. I knew a woman once, who bottle fed and raised a baby pig. The pig grew up following her every where. When it was a little baby, it slept in the kitchen by the stove and as it grew older, it slept on the front porch. When ever anyone came into the drive way, it would "call" the woman by squealing. It eventually got so big, it was no longer allowed to sleep on the porch, because it was making the porch sag. So it had a Pig House that she built for it beside the porch. 
Unfortunately, this woman's husband had a tendency to hit her. One day, they were outside and he hit her in the face when they were standing right in front of the pig. Not only did he hit her and knock her down with the punch, he then kicked her. At that point, the pig apparently had had enough; it started chasing him. It chased him all over the yard, and then up on the porch, which collapsed under it, he ran inside the house and closed the door. Didn't stop the pig....it knocked down the door, and had the guy up on top of the kitchen cabinets trying to chew his leg off...actually biting him, when the woman finally called it off. And it minded her. 
With this in mind.....do you think you could have a sow and raise it that way, bottle fed it, and treat it like a child and it would defend you?? Pigs are actaully quite smart. Then you could have a house guardian that no one wuld suspect would be soemthing to be worried about, and at the same time, with her litters, she would be producing meat.

Whada' ya think??


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## kyfarmer (Feb 22, 2009)

If she is smart enough to do that, don't ya think she would know who was eating her babies? That would be one pissed momma. I do know most pigs are smarter than half of the population lol. Might work they have been stranger things in this world.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

interesting... I'm not entirely convinced of the wisdom of raising an animal for aggression and then giving it a reason to *be* aggressive every year (whelping)... :dunno: something to think about, mull over


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## iouJC (Nov 20, 2010)

I wouldn't raise it to BE mean.....only if I was threatened. Besides, I wouldn't eat/slaughter the pigets in front of her...I'd probably sell the piglets. Knowing *ME*...unable to kill rabbits that I raised specifically to eat, and then couldn't stand to kill, I doubt I would not eat pork AT ALL after I had an animal like this.


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## vn6869 (May 5, 2010)

Real interesting idea, and story. Pigs can be something to contend with.


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## iouJC (Nov 20, 2010)

You see......this is the real VALUE of a forum like this. It allows me to think things out. I suppose it might not be such a wonderful idea now that you point some things out, because *WHAT IF*......my piggy decided it really liked Long Pig flavor!! Then *I* might actually be at risk!! I can think of other things I would like to do than be a pig's dinner!! And, something that BIG would be quite difficult to control if need be.
So.....thank you. Maybe a Potbelly Pig???


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## LegitCitizen (Jan 1, 2011)

iouJC said:


> You see......this is the real VALUE of a forum like this. It allows me to think things out. I suppose it might not be such a wonderful idea now that you point some things out, because *WHAT IF*......my piggy decided it really liked Long Pig flavor!! Then *I* might actually be at risk!! I can think of other things I would like to do than be a pig's dinner!! And, something that BIG would be quite difficult to control if need be.
> So.....thank you. Maybe a Potbelly Pig???


That was a great story. Pigs are _super_ smart. Their brains are as big and capable as ours. If they had the same verbal ability (at least to where WE could understand it) we would be screwed - and probably embarassed.

Boars are like rams and billy goats - always more cantankerous and more destructive. Sows can be super protective of their piglets. Pigs in groups are a force to be reckoned with - and you cannot count on their loyalty. They, like humans, can be self-serving.

My feeling is that the woman in the tale had an exceptional pig. Or, since she'd been bottle raised, she might have been bonded with that particular woman and not people in general. Pigs are animals that like to be part of a group. If the pig in the tale was a pet, who had been raised by the woman, and hadn't been exposed to other pigs, it might explain her loyalty. But pigs are smart... they recognize fear shen they smell it and violence when they see it. They are smart enough to hold a grudge. The pig in the tale might have behaved just fine toward the husband after the event - until she saw him in the same clothes he'd been wearing the day of the attack. Pigs are super, super smart - and well equipped to dole out some porcine justice.

Once you get even a hand raised sow around other pigs, or she's bred and has some piglets, all bets are off. Sows can get well over 600 pounds - and you're not going to stop that if it wants a piece of you. Most market hogs that you see are upwards of 250-300 pounds - and they're hardly half grown.

I don't know that I'd trust my life to a pig... but... there are many varieties of pigs... some genetically engineered, some heritage breeds... temperment, size, and muscling vary widely... I have heard that heritage breeds run smaller with less fat than the genetically modified market hogs. But even a pot-bellied pig can get to be 300 pounds...

Sounds like you've found yourself a fun little research project. Good luck... and, if you get a pig, post pix!!!


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## iouJC (Nov 20, 2010)

Again....this is the value of forums!! 
The pig in the story above weighed 900 pounds. Nevre got to find out if it would attack the husband again, because like most bullies, he liked to operate in secret and without any threat to himself. When my friend went to the store next time, he got someone to come and get the poor thing and took it to the butcher. The SOB!

However, now that I have thought about this some, I think that none of this is such a good idea....I checked out pot belly pigs on the net and they are really UGLY when they are grown!! And too delicate...prone to pnemonia and like to root all the time with insatiable appitities.....I could just imagine if that monster got into my preps!!! Then I probably would want to have pork chops!!

I suppose much of this comes from the fact that as a child, I used to rake up all the grass clippings in the neighbors yards and haul them in a wheel barrow over to the pig farm about 2 blocks away....boy those pigs LOVED me!! They would coome runnin' when they saw me comin' with the wheel barrow. 
Was lots of fun until my parents found out! They FREAKED!!!! They told me that a liitle girl had gotten eaten by pigs....OH not MY pigs!!! I even got my mom to go over to the farm with me and let me dump the barrow over the fence.....that scared her even more when she saw how the critters all jumped on the grass clippings and gobbled them up. She told me I couldn't do it any more and my Dad backed her up......which I knew not to disobey my Dad...not only becuase I loved him, but 'cause he had a belt!!
I guess my dogs will have to be the vanguards, I'm just always afraid with the barking, someone would come prepared and either shoot them or poison them...which would then result in mayhem and other various assorted vengeance on my part.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

The thing that keeps Pigs from getting to the top of the food chain is their inability to rotate their head (jaw will only be a few degrees rotation from the plane of their feet) never try to kick a pig near its head it it gets you foot you won't like it. they would prolly make decent perimiter guard animals as long as you had a good solid fence between them and you.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

vn6869 said:


> Real interesting idea, and story. Pigs can be something to contend with.


 No kidding ... them and banty roosters ... :gaah:


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

iouJC said:


> They FREAKED!!!! They told me that a liitle girl had gotten eaten by pigs....


My Grandpa told of a story ... when he was a baby ... A sow pig did try to 'eat him up' ... the story goes that the sow picked up Pa and tried to get away with him ... It took two dogs and Great Grandma with a hoe to get him away from the sow.

So I will say pigs are smart ... and keep a hoe ready. 

And that goes for banty roosters also!


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## iouJC (Nov 20, 2010)

WOW!! 
I never had kids but I can tell ya right now that if some pig tried to steal or eat one of my kids...."even" one of my fur kids....that thing would be pork chops before dinner!!!!
HMMM. This thread has actually been very useful, at least to me, in that it has promoted severa new lines of thinking. I already knew pigs were omnivores, but I had never considered that they might "be at the top of the food chain" but it does make sense if you think on it awhile. It has also clarifed my thinking on the possible problems of having such a very large animal that would essentially be "uncontrolable" at times and the problems that could arise.....

Thank you all who contributed!


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

iouJC said:


> WOW!!
> I never had kids but I can tell ya right now that if some pig tried to steal or eat one of my kids...."even" one of my fur kids....that thing would be pork chops before dinner!!!!
> HMMM. This thread has actually been very useful, at least to me, in that it has promoted severa new lines of thinking. I already knew pigs were omnivores, but I had never considered that they might "be at the top of the food chain" but it does make sense if you think on it awhile. It has also clarifed my thinking on the* possible problems of having such a very large animal that would essentially be "uncontrolable" at times *and the problems that could arise.....
> 
> Thank you all who contributed!


Pigs are not the only large animals that this happens with ... basically any farm animal if provoked (or as you have mentioned even conditioned to a certain stimulus) can be dangerous. Usually it is fear but animals are not stupid and once they learn that humans are not as strong as they are perceived to be then the real trouble starts.

I personally know of a rancher who was beaten to death by a bull that had had a 2 foot length of heavy chain hung from his nose ring when it was put it. He had learned as a young calf that when he swung his head he could hit you with it and would do so to get your attention if you had the feed bucket or he wanted to be petted.

Men who had worked for the rancher told us that they had to keep this particular bull in a metal-fenced enclosure because he would beat down any wire or wood fencing with the chain when he wanted out.

Apparently one day he decided he didn't want to go from Point A to Point B. The rancher grabbed the chain and yanked on it (as I heard he was prone to do) and the bull decided he had had enough. They found the rancher dead with chain and hoof marks all over his body.

And let me tell you ... you haven't lived until you have been in the closed end of a horse trailer and had a "tame" horse go beserk! :surrender: (Yeah, that would be me ... forgot to check the door in the front ... it was locked.  I was lucky ... banged up pretty good and limped around for a month because of a solid kick to my thigh but I never made that mistake again.:sssh


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## iouJC (Nov 20, 2010)

I am very aware of the strength and potential of most animals...Never will I forget the ride across the farm-facing backwards-on the billy goat that was not that big, so I sat lightly on his back in order to hold him still while I trimmed his back hooves!! He was up and across the pasture and I swear he grew two inches because I wasn't that tall before....I could stand with him between my legs (1 of my 198 Angoras I had for years). 
And horses and I have not gotten along since I was a teen and rented a monster that should never have been riden!! Must have been 6 and a half feet to get on his back and his neck was so wide two big men MIGHT have been able to join hands around it! He not only ran off with me, but bashed my head on a tree limb that left me unconcious....and it was intentional! Since then I have not been able to ride because they can smell the fear on me. Even small pintos will try to bite me now....I can ride , but it is not enjoyable anymore. 
Cows....yeah, they are rough when frightened or angry...or there are calves involved. Just never had any contact with pigs, since feeding the "piggies" as a little kid, and was sort of enamored when this woman told me her story. 
Even rabbits will "shred" your arms if you aren't wearing long gloves and they are frightened. I have the scars to prove it....all up and down both arms, from when I raised them. 
After consideration, I think goats are about as big as I can handle alone. Although I would LOVE to have a Dexter or Highland cow. But I suppose I do have to be realistic.....I'm getting to be an Old Fart,  :dunno: and I have years of experience with goats and they are about as much challenge as I can handle at this point. 
But then, that 's what these forums are for, IMHO...to help each of us determine what "fits" for us, what the drawbacks and benefits of each decision might be and how to go about the things we decide to do.....


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## LegitCitizen (Jan 1, 2011)

Y'know... what I was a kid, one of my neighbors had a bunch of guinea hens. They were great perimeter alarms. We always hated when the ball flew over the fence and would draw straws to see who had to go get it - the guineas raised such a fuss whenever strangers entered their yard. I don't kow if all guineas are like that... but, I tell ya... to this day, I catch myself thinking twice before crossing a guinea...LOL


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