Pigs on a Farm
Pigs, contrary to images of them rolling around in mud, are generally the cleanest animals on a farm. They are easy to feed, and also easy to maintain, with females producing ten offspring per year. Pigs are often kept on a farm for their meat, but they are intelligent and friendly animals that are worth keeping for other reasons.
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Pigs help out on a farm by naturally enriching the soil and by cleaning scraps. Pigs contribute to the soil quality in a variety of ways. First, they produce manure, which enriches the soil. Second, they dig and root the soil, which plows it. This creates a great seed bed, which in turn can be used for feeding the pigs, as well as other farm animals, such as goats. Pigs also eat most natural food they can access, so they will eat weeds and other unwanted plants, or scraps of food left lying around.
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A few times a year, a pregnant sow visits the farm and raises a litter of piglets. Each litter may consist of ten or twelve piglets! Pigs are very intelligent, and contrary to popular thinking, they are one of the cleanest animals on the farm.
