Hughie & Rodney
Rodney and Hughie are Kune Kune pigs but Kune Kune pigs bred specifically for the "pet" trade.  Kune Kune means "all black" so Rodney is closer to the real thing than Hughie, humans have bred them to be pink with black patches as it is deemed to be more appealing!  They are also smaller than the true Kune Kune who can, like the Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig, grow to be quite large.
 
Rodney and Hughie were born in 2006 and came to us in January 2009 from an owner who adores them but had to move from where she was living into the centre of Edinburgh.  Deb thought it would be easy to find someone to look after her pair of beloved pets especially as she was quite prepared to pay for their keep but she eventually rang us in desperation as nobody would take them on.  They are mischevious, handsome and very loveable pigs and looking after the pair of them is a pleasure but we do have to keep our wits about us as they will sense an open door and be straight through it to see what they can steal.  They also do not abide by the boundaries here and have to spend their days in the sheep field otherwise they are off down the road to see what's what!!

Lilly

Delilah

Lilly and Delilah
Lilly and Delilah are both Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pigs but as you can see they differ somewhat in appearance and that is due to the modifications breeders make in order to get pet pigs to look different or what they consider more attractive.  Lilly is the original VPBP, no cross breeding there, whereas Delilah has had other bloodlines introduced.  Lilly was bought as a pet but at six months old got stroppy with the dogs she shared a house with and came here in 2008 in order to have a proper pig home.  Because Lilly was so young and so small on arrival it was decided that she needed a young companion of her own and Juanita had just happened to meet Delilah the previous week and asked her owner if she would part with her to be Lilly's friend.  The two of them get on very well together, Delilah is slightly older but Lilly is definitely the boss!    

George

George arrived here along with his brother Dunhill and the goats Morris and Sutty in November 2002, he was estimated as being about two years old at the time.  On Christmas Day 2008 Dunhill tragically died and on the evening of that day when we went to bring George into his loose box for the night we found him trying to get Dunhill onto his feet.  A decision was immediately made to move two young lady pigs into George's loose box in order to keep him company and hopefully stop him pining.  Pigs are very territorial so it was with some trepidation that we coaxed Lilly and Delilah into George's space and then stood back to see what would happen.  The loose box is very big so we knew the girls had plenty of space to get away from George should he turn angry and we had put piles of straw into the box so they all had plenty to play with, pigs love rooting through a new bed of straw and picking out bits to munch on.  At first if either Lilly or Delilah moved too near to George he barked at them and when they settled down to sleep he moved into their chosen space and made them leave it, presumably in order to lert them know that it was in fact his space!  Eventually things settled down and we felt easy about turning off the lights and leaving them for the night.  First thing the next morning we were greeted with the sight of George fast asleep with Lilly tucked into one side of him and Delilah tucked into the other!  Lilly, who absolutely adores George, and Delilah have become George's handmaidens and it is lovely to see them strolling about the place together and such a relief that George did not have to spend a lonely middle to old age. 

Missy in the sunshine

Missy

Missy is a pink with black patches Kune Kune pig ; we were told when she arrived here in late October 2007 that she was fifteen years old but she is so active we think she must be younger.  Missy has spent her life breeding piglets but when she retired from breeding we agreed to take her in here as she and Brenda had become good friends - though it has to be said that a very best friend would not steal the fruit out of a friend’s food bowl!! 

Missy is a very large lady, she likes to go for the occasional stroll around but is nowhere near as active as her friend Brenda.  Missy is human orientated and likes nothing better than to lie on her back having her tummy scratched, she lifts her legs so that you can reach her armpits as well!  She is very intelligent and will meet you out on the yard and lead you into her box so that she can lie down in comfort in order to be scratched, it is difficult to tell between having a scratch and eating exactly which Missy’s favourite pastime is.