After giving a forever home to Lucky the Hog, we understood that once full grown, he would tower over our current other “mini” pigs. Remember, a “mini pig” is any pig that is not a full-grown farm pig…so usually under 300 lbs. With Lucky potentially reaching weights of 500lbs+, we knew we had to find a life-long companion that would equal him in size.
We came across a post shared on social media from a loving animal rescuer named Jessica in Elkridge, Maryland. She was looking to re-home a farm pig they had rescued named Stella.
Losing a Sister, Finding a Friend
Jessica had saved Stella from an animal neglect situation. From what we know, a family was illegally keeping farm animals in a zoned area not allowing livestock. Not only that, but the animals were mistreated to the point where rescuers were notified. Stella had a sister who died of starvation from neglect. When Jessica saved Stella, she was a small and malnourished as you can see from the below photograph.
Once in Jessica’s care, Stella flourished and was nursed back to health. She then began to grow…and grow…and grow…until she became too big for her current pen. Jessica wanted Stella to have a home where she had plenty of room to roam with friends, which made Piggins and Banks a perfect match.
On a rainy September day, we traveled to Maryland to pickup Stella. Upon arriving and realizing we would not be able to backup our trailer directly up to Stella’s pen, doubt set in of how we could get her in the trailer to bring her home. Jessica and her friend assured us that Stella would walk right into the trailer. Our own Head Hog scoffed at this…but sure enough…Jessica and family opened the gate and Stella walked right behind them into the trailer to come home with us! Amazing!
Home and Meeting Lucky
Enduring a long trailer ride home in the rain, we finally were ready for Stella to enter her new pen. Just as she had walked onto the trailer, she exited without incident and immediately began to explore her new living quarters. Check out the video:
We have never seen a big pig as gentle and kind as she is! Here she is meeting Lucky through the fence for the first time:
Keeping Stella and Lucky separated for a couple of weeks allowed them to get to know each other by scent and sight. This gradual acclimation greatly decreased the chance of any type of tussling / fighting incidents once they were put together, since pigs always have to figure out their place in the herd. Once we opened the pen for them to be true friends, they bonded right away, and even slept together in the same shelter later that night.
Here they both are having their routine breakfast together happy to have one another as life-long companions:
Help Support Stella
We depend on the support of kind-hearted people to help ensure pigs like these pigs receive the best daily care possible! Please consider making a small donation or even sponsoring her as a virtual pig parent. All donations make a positive difference in the lives of our pig residents. Should you choose to sponsor any pig, you receive a welcome packet, some keepsakes, on-demand updates about him, and even a free ticket to one of our guided tours so you can meet them in person!