Before Mama and Papa Meagles began their new life at Far From, they spent 5 months at a rescue centre. The two pigs were abandoned and found living wild after being used as a breeding pair to fulfil the buoyant market that the teacup pig craze created. Whilst in care at the centre, staff discovered Mama was pregnant and both faced problems with human company – Mama craving it, and Papa scared of it. During their stay, Mama had her piglets and Papa had a little operation of his own to make sure no more little piggies could be produced!Â
Although staff tried to help Papa with his nervous and reserved nature, he remained shut off. There was no improvement seen in the whole of the 5 month stay; he rejected all human contact.
We knew we had some work to do when Mama and Papa arrived at the farm. With lots of love and patience, Papa began responding to me within the first 48 hours of his stay. By day 3 he was accepting and even enjoying a back scratch! Papa Meagles is now a happy, playful pig who loves exploring new parts of the farm and rolling over for a tummy rub. He’s not the first Far From animal from the rescue centre to have had this sort of transformation within days of their arrival. Perhaps they feel they’re finally home. We hope the trust he displays to us will in time be extended to everyone who visits our family here.
Mama Meagles is quite the opposite – she loves people and lots of fuss. She’s settled in quickly and is enjoying every day in her new home. We look forward to introducing Mama and Papa Meagles to our new guests.
Like most of our wonderful rescue animals, Mama and Papa Meagles need lots of feeding, care and enrichment. If you’d like to gift Mama and Papa some fruit and veg for snacking, a treat toy or even donate some trees towards our new pig orchard, we’d all be so grateful.
We opened the Far From Holiday Retreat in order to provide us with funds to enable us to continue our work with these beautiful animals. All new arrivals must be microchipped and passported (and normally they aren’t), vaccinated three times, rasped, wormed and given a general health check by the vet – with the majority requiring many more visits to ensure that they are happy and healthy.
If you are unable to come and visit us, you can still help us to continue our work by supporting us financially. We have included a couple of options below.
The pig nuts have everything they need to keep them healthy, however pigs are intelligent animals with a love for food, so a variation in their diet is important. After living with a house pig we clearly see that their appreciation for different flavours and textures is much greater than dogs.
We use Badminton Country Pig Nuts for all of our pigs as it’s a high quality protein source and contains digestible cereal which is great to support their growth and encourages a balanced diet.
Pigs love digging around and sleeping in a deep bed of Barley straw as it offers comfort, warmth and the ability to carry out natural behaviour. Even our house pig has a deep bed of straw in the house.
Pigs need forage and love chomping and squeaking on a bit of hay each day. Often consumed in a horizontal position by the more lazy members of the parcel.
We use Badminton Country Pig Nuts for all of our pigs as it’s a high quality protein source and contains digestible cereal which is great to support their growth and encourages a balanced diet.
The pig nuts have everything they need to keep them healthy, however pigs are intelligent animals with a love for food, so a variation in their diet is important. After living with a house pig we clearly see that their appreciation for different flavours and textures is much greater than dogs.
These treat toys encourage activity, mental stimulation and helps make a happy pig. The pigs love their treat toys and they keep them entertained for hours each week. They are used everyday with our house pig but you have to keep changing the toys around each day, keeping things new and fresh.
We have extended the pig pens and are creating an orchard for the pigs to enjoy. Rooting around is a natural behaviour for pigs and helps stimulate these intelligent animals, mentally and physically. An apple tree will give them years of food and entertainment.