Ambai Mary

A day in the comfortable life of a highlands pig

1. I knew a lady who took her piglets to the market every day with her in an old pram.
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3. Like all of us they need love and affection.
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5. And – just like unruly kids – she couldn’t trust them on their own back home.
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7. Pigs have sensitive skin and need to be protected from the sun or they can get sunburned.
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9. Each morning, my Grandma used to dust them with the previous night’s ashes from the fire then take them to a mud wallow, where they could roll round and get the mud good and deep into their skin.
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11. Then they would be allowed to root around in the shade of the trees until evening, constrained by leg-leashes. Then down to the river for a swim. It is important to wash them free of mud and insects.
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13. Then it is home to bed in the sty – or maybe in the kitchen house in a special pen. They help keep the place warm.
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15. I have slept in a kitchen house with pigs in the pen next to me. It’s rather reassuring hearing them grunting and snoring through the night. (Yes, pigs snore).