Happy New Year 2020!

Here is Bonny Piggyfriend to wish you all a very Happy New Year.

" There won't be fireworks, will there?" asks Bonny.

"Not if I can help it, " replies Slave. " I do not like them either. If there are any nearby, I will put on a CD to drown the noise."

" I do not mind the pretty ones," says Bonny, " but not the ones that go BANG!".

"Me neither," replies Slave. " Luckily not many people live near us so we should all be OK."

The Piggyfriends all say HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS! If you have a New Year photo of your piggies, please share it with us.

Happy Christmas Readers!

Carter Piggyfriend here. On behalf of the Piggyfriend herd, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

I hope that you all received lovely presents from your Slaves and that you are full of carrots and other good things. Now all of you be good piggies and let your Slaves have the rest of the day off after preparing Christmas feasts for the humans.

Slave Penny says Happy Christmas to all the readers too.

Sometimes posing for a pigture is a little bit scary.

Martin Piggyfriend here. Slave is taking lots of Christmas pigtures ( there is no stopping her once she gets out her camera ) and she wanted me to pose with this huge reindeer.

How come Bonbon and Magnus got to pose with the pretty things from the boxes? This was a step too far so I ran and hid underneath it.

Slave's son is home for Christmas so he picked me up to show me that the reindeer was not really scary just BIG compared to a little piggy like me. Actually, up close, he looks rather friendly so.....

.....I agreed to sit next to him and this is the result.

After all that excitement, I flaked out for a nice nap. I was too tired even to tackle that chicory leaf  ( but I did eat it later ).

We have received a Christmas card!

"Look piggies! We have received a Christmas card," says Miss Marple Piggyfriend.

" And it has lovely piggies on the front. I will prop it up so that you can all see it."

Miss Marple shrewdly suspects that she has seen these piggies before and she is right.

She opens the card and detects that it has been sent by our friends the Surrey Squeakers.

" Thank you Squeakers," say all the Piggyfriends in unison " and thank you to Slave Stefanie too."

The Piggyfriends cannot help but notice that the Squeakers are eating grass, which is in short supply here at the moment as Slave's friend's farm is flooded due to the endless rain.

Magnus is helping too.

Here is another box of pretty Christmas things from the attic. Maguns is helping to unpack them.

" Mama Bonbon said that there might be carrots in the next box," says Magnus.

" I do not think that this is what she had in mind, Slave. This is a nice, jolly carrot and it is fuzzy and orange just like me but it is not what I was expecting."

" How about this one sweetie?" asks Slave. " Now that is more like it," says Magnus. " Thank you! I will share it with Martin."

I am helping.

Hello readers. Bonbon Piggyfriend here.

Slave brought boxes and boxes of pretty things down from the attic and I am helping.

"Look!" says Slave. "Candy canes."

"Well, yes, they look very nice but I am not sure that they are edible. Maybe there will be carrots in the next box."

Are your Slaves doing weird things like this?

More photos of our new girls.

Bounty loves his new girls. Our pigsitter came to visit and he held them on his lap so that Slave could take some better photos. Please excuse the tatty towels but Slave did not want him to end up with soggy trousers.

Here is Saffron

And here is Ebony.

Slave loves an agouti because they are a different colour underneath. You never see this so here she is in an undignified pose so that you can see her orange tum.

Our new girls have settled in really well and have discovered the radiator that runs along the back of the pen. They would rather nap here with Bounty than use their wooden house. Slave tried to take a photo of them all in a row but they saw the camera coming and scattered. Maybe next time!

New Piggyfriends!

Hello readers. Bounty Piggyfriend here. Slave found a piggy rescue online called Pooh Piglets and she called them to see if they had any piggies needing a new home as I have been on my own. The lovely lady that runs it knew Lyn and Liz from Palace Piggies, from where many of the Piggyfriends came before they moved away and she also knew our wonderful retired Rodentologists as she went to see them for lessons. She also knows Jason, who gave us Bonbon, Bella, Miss Marple, Hazel and Bonny as they both show their piggies. Slave says that it is a small world. Well piggies are pretty small.

So last Monday, Slave took me to meet some piggies. I was in charge of the sat nav as Slave did not know the town to which we went and she did the driving. Miraculously, we parked in front of the rescue on time and we went into the shed to meet some piggies. Slave was hoping for a baby boar to be my companion but they did not have any.

Slave put me into a pen on the floor whilst she looked at some prospective dates for me. She was spoilt for choice but she saw this little lady and she put her in the pen with me.

Slave loves an agouti and said that she looks just like Kiwi, my neighbour at home except that she has a little crest on her head. Her name is Ebony, even though she is not black. She came to the rescue from a breeder who did not want her any more and she has had lots of piglets. She was rather nervous but she came and sat next to me whilst we ate chicory and Slave looked at the other girls.

She thought that this piggy looked pretty ( and so do I ) so she was put in the pen with me and Ebony. She did not even have a name poor thing and she also came from a breeder. We all got on well together and I was hoping that Slave would take these nice girls home with us.

The lad who helps at the rescue went to get some more piggies. He came back with a cosy full of baby sows and Slave said that my pen at home is big enough for more piggies. She would have added one or two of these little girls but the sharp eyed lad noticed that one of them had fungal in her coat and Pauline, the rescue lady, checked them all out and they had to be returned to the other shed for treatment when we had gone. All the humans furiously washed their hands and Slave looked at a cage full of feisty Abbies instead but when she saw how well Ebony, the nameless girl and I were getting on she decided that she would just take them.

Slave had taken an extra carrier just in case she found me some new friends but Pauline said why not put them all together for the ride home and here we are.

A bit of a squeeze but it was nice and warm in the car and we were all full of chicory so we fell asleep on the way home. Slave decided to name my second new friend Saffron.

Ebony had only been collected from a show the day before we went and, having only spent one day at the rescue and then being driven a long way to our house, she was understandably nervous. Here you can just see her peeking out from behind my house. She and Saffron explored my home.

Slave gave us a pile of grass but my new friends were unsure what to do with it. They said that they had never had grass before. How dreadful! They had a sniff at it and ate a few blades but....

.....Saffron preferred the broccoli leaves.....

.....and so did Ebony.

I love my new friends. When they have settled in, Slave will take some more photos to share with you. In the meantime, please welcome Ebony and Saffron to the Piggyfriend herd.

Happy Hallowe'en to all of our Readers.

The Piggyfriends would like to wish you all a Happy Hallowe'en with lots of treats. We apologise for the paucity of suitable seasonal decorations but Slave cannot open the little cupboard where they live. These were all that she could come up with as they are too big for the cupboard.

"Will you help me light this candle please Slave," says Bonbon. "I have never done this before."

Take care with the candles everypig!

A VIP visit. A Very Important Piggyperson comes to see the Piggyfriends.

Not long ago, we had a VIP visit us here at Piggyfriends. GPDD readers will know Ann Evans, our very good friend and the world's best Rodentologist.

She and her husband, Paul were on holiday in England, visiting lots of friends and they came to see us! What an honour!

Here they are with our Bonbon.

And again with Martin.

We all got cuddles and then it was the turn of our Carter. He had been having trouble eating and our Slave suspected that he had oral thrush and treated him accordingly. He is all better now but it was a while before he could eat properly and when something like this happens, our teeth sometimes overgrow a bit.

As we knew that Ann would be coming, we asked if she could bring her piggy dental kit with her so that, rather than have Carter undergo anaesthesia at the vet, he could have a thorough inspection with the expert.

Here he is, getting ready for the procedure. You can see some of the equipment at the bottom left of this photo. One of the separators and a file.

In the picture below, he has the buccal separators in his mouth so that Ann can see right inside. Ann has him in a little drawstring bag so that his paws do not get in the way. Our retired Rodentologist used to tightly wrap patients in a towel. Both methods work well as we tend to get our feet into everything and the person wielding the instruments needs to see clearly what is going on.

Now for the scary bit. Ann is looking inside Carter's mouth and has clippers and files at the ready.

Carter had some little bits filed from his molars and when it was all over, which did not take very long, he was sitting on Ann's lap tucking into some favourite pieces of veggie.

We do miss our Rodentologist and hope that no pig needs any dental treatment until Ann's next holiday.

Carter says "Thank you Ann! Now I can eat  properly again."

Exciting news! New baby piggies

Earlier this month we told you about the new piggies adopted by our Junior Slave. You may remember that Zelda was the victim of a hoarder and it appears that she was part of an attempt at a breeding programme. Oh dear.....

It was not long before they could feel the movement of baby piggies inside her and one morning they came to give out breakfast to their little herd and they found these.

Zelda had given birth in the night to two little mini mes. Two sweet little chocolate babes were scuttling around the cage as if they had always been there. Sadly they did not get to see her give birth but mum and babes are doing well. Our Slave says that watching piggies being born is a magical experience. We are just glad that they are all OK and we got to see them on Skype when they were just one day old.

Here they are again. Zelda is enjoying a well earned rest with her little ones. Aaah!!


So please welcome more Pigpenpals. Ripley has temporalily been transferred to another cage as the babes thought that she would also provide milk and that was a bit much for her. Well done Zelda. Virtual hugs all round.

New Piggyville Girl!

Hello! I am Tilley, the newest member of the Piggyville clan. I am two
months old and a red American piggy. I was born in North Carolina to a
cavy breeder. She decided that I was not show quality so I was adopted
by Ann & Paul. They think I'm a Top Quality piggy. I am named Tilley
after the Canadian hat that my Mum always wears. My nickname is Tilley
put-put because I make little sounds when I'm walking.

Here is a picture of me being introduced to Squirly and Honeydew.
Squirly is sniffing my chin. I think she can smell my favorite
treat....carrots.

It wasn't long after we were introduced that we all sat down for a yummy
pile of grass. Honeydew told me that Mum walks far and wide looking for
different varieties of grass and edible plants for us to enjoy. Squirly
said that Mum always wears her Tilley hat when she goes looking for
grass. There is even a secret compartment in her hat were she hides
edible plants that she finds in the forest. Gosh I am lucky to have been
adopted into such loving home even if my new Mum is a little strange.

New PigPenPals.

We have received some wonderful news from our one time Junior Slave, who now lives in the US. They have had two additions to their family and have sent us some photos.

Please say hello to Ripley.

And also to Zelda.

They have only just gone home and there will be more pigtures later. Zelda was one of 52 piggies from a hoarding case and is settling in well with her new friend. We are delighted to have some new PigPenPals and these two bring their number to six along with Mama Rin, Nico, Maki and Noodle.

We often get to chat to them on Skype along with their cat friend, Nova.

Watch this space for more news.

A story from the Piggyville Girls In North Carolina.

Our friends, Honeydew and Squirly have sent us this true story.

"Hey Squirly did you hear a knock at the door?" asks Honeydew.
"Well yes I did. It looks like Little Red the squirrel is knocking

"Hello Squirly and Honeydew," says Little Red Squirrel. "Please tell your Mum that the bear ate all
the sunflower seeds that she puts out for me and the birds."

"Oh no!!!!" say the Piggyville girls.  "It is not good for bears to eat
birdseed."

"Whew!!! Another exhausting day making sure that all the forest creatures
are fed."

Introducing a new family at Piggyfriends!

In our last post, we told you about Hazel and Bonny and now we want to tell you about a little family that have joined us. They also belonged to our dear friend, Jason and they are retired show pigs too.

This is Mama pig. She is called Miss Bonbon. She is a big girl and she brought her two daughters with her.

Here she is with her daughter, Miss Bell. They were not keen on posing for the camera but this pigture shows what a large lady Bonbon is. She is the one on the right. It helps to tell them apart as, other than their size, Miss Bell does not have the ginger patch at the back.

And finally, this is her other daughter, Miss Marple. They are all Coronets, which are Shelties but with a little crest on the top of their heads. This pigture does not do justice to her colouring as she has a lot of agouti in her coat.

We will post some more pigtures when they are a little less camera shy. Most of us are used to posing for silly pigtures and we are sure that these five girls will soon learn how.

Please welcome the new additions, who are bringing joy to us all.

Stop press! Slave just managed to take a better pigture of Mama Bonbon and Miss Marple after being bribed with lettuce. Miss Bell snatched hers and ran into a house with it. Please excuse extraneous poo.

Here it is. We won't show you the pigture of Miss Bell as, although she is looking out of the house with her lettuce, someone has deposited a pile of poo right in front of the house. Better luck next time. Slave always says that boars are much more fastidious than sows.

Happy Easter Everyone

All of the Piggyfriends think that this is really a celebration for Slaves as they get to eat lots of chocolate eggs but we love to share our photos with our readers.

Here is Casper Dangermouse investigating Slave's cache of Easter decorations. " I hope that they are not real rabbits" he says. " We do not like them coming into our garden and eating our veggies."

" Don't worry Casper, they are only toy ones," replies Slave. " I do everything that I can to keep real ones out of our garden."

" Thank you for sitting still so nicely whilst I took these photos," says Slave. " You know that I will do anything for chicory," replies Casper.

Slave wanted to take some of us outside to take photos today but it is really hot out there and Slave has had to get the fans out of the attic. It should not be like this in April. So Slave took a photo of some of her tiny daffodils instead.

We hope that your Slaves get to eat lots of chocolate and that all the piggies get yummy veggies instead. Happy Easter everyone.