A Piggy A to Z - " H " is for Hay!

Hi!  We're Butch and Sundance from the Prairie Pigs, and we're here to talk about a subject near and dear to any piggy's heart --- HAY!!!  As you can see, we are already experts on this topic and like to keep our skills sharp by sampling as many new kinds of hay as possible.

Any type of grass hay is good for guinea pig tummies and teeth.  There are many varieties to choose from and many places to buy it.  If you're lucky, you might be able to find a farmer nearby who will sell you a bale of fresh hay, and a good pet store will stock different sizes of bags and types of hay.  Piggies are hay connoisseurs and can tell good hay when they taste it, so if your piggy doesn't approve of the first bag you buy, keep trying until you find one he likes!

Here we are with a selection of our favourite kinds of hay: small bags of Meadow Grass and Oat Hay on the left, and a slightly larger bag of Orchard Grass on the right.  Behind us is a huge cardboard box containing fifty pounds of Orchard Grass hay!   We didn't even know you could get so much hay in a cardboard box, but we think it's a wonderful idea!

Our lucky pal Jasper was selected to perform the quality control test on our new giant box of hay.  Here he is, looking quite blissful as he munches away. Who wouldn't be happy if they were sitting on top of fifty pounds of delicious hay?  Mmmmmmm!!!

More photos of the new Piggyfriends. Part 2.

Hazel and Bonny were not quite as amenable as Miss Bonbon and her girls when it came to facing the camera but, after a few rear end views and a bit of climbing up the back of the sofa, they decided that they could cooperate after all.

Here is Bonny.

And here she is again with her sister, Hazel ( on the left.) They are all such sweet girls.

More photos of the new Piggyfriends. 1,2,3.

1. Here is Mama Bonbon.

2. Adding her daughter, Miss Marple on the right.

3. Adding her other daughter, Bella, on the left of the photo.

They all sat perfectly still for their photos. No jumping off the sofa or turning round. No bribery needed. Obviously well trained to be show pigs, as they would have had to sit still for judging. You could learn a lot from them Kiwi! Bella's eyes are not quite as red as they appear in this photo but they have a deep ruby colour.

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.

A Piggy A-Z. H is for Honeydew

 Hi my name is Honeydew. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North
Carolina. My slave also calls me Honey-do-do because I love to leave
lots of do dos in my bed and on her lap.

This is my pink piggy bed that my Grandma Colette sent me for my
birthday. It is my favorite bed but it has many uses.  My slave carries
me around in it. She makes me feel like I am the Queen of Sheba. My bed
is also a piggy hide-a-way. Whenever a rabbit or turkey walks by I just
jump in and become invisible. It is like a piggy Tardis. My slave thinks
it is a Piggy mobile. She lets me drive it around on the kitchen floor.
Wheee!!! Sometimes I even nap on top of my bed. But I would not let my
slave take a picture of me napping. I think my slave enjoys this pink
piggy bed as much as I do. Stay tuned for more adventures of Honeydew
and Squirly in Piggyville.

A Piggy A-Z. H is for Hazel ( and Bonny too ).

Hello readers. It has been a long time since the Piggyfriends posted. Slave has not been able to help us with our typing for a while but now we want to tell you all about some new Piggyfriends.

A dear friend, who shows piggies, asked us if we would like to give a home to some of his "retired" piggies. We did not know that piggies stop going to shows when they are 2 years old. Slave did not know anything about showing piggies but we learn something new every day.

Of course, Slave jumped at the chance to bring some more piggies home so, without further ado, let us introduce Hazel.

Here she is in the carrier that Slave took to bring our new friends home. Hazel is on the right and her sister, Bonny, is under the hay.

They were understandably nervous after their journey but Slave took some quick photos before putting them into their new pen. She put them both in an upturned wooden house so that they did not scuttle away under the furniture. This is a photo of Bonny.

And this is Hazel. It is not the best photo in the world but as it is her first proper photo we thought that you would like to see it anyway.

Here they are enjoying a pile of grass. Bonny is on the left and Hazel on the right. They are what we call Shelties in England but Slave thinks that they are called Silkies in the US and is not sure about other countries. They are like Peruvians but their coats grow back away from their faces.

When they are shown, they have to have their coats intact but our friend gave them both a haircut and a shampoo before they became Piggyfriends. Bonny is at the front and Hazel is behind her. They have settled in well and it was not long before Bonny was at the front of the pen begging Slave for veggies.

Please welcome our new little friends. We will tell you about some more new friends in another post.

A Piggy A-Z. H is for Harvest

Now it is springtime in England and the grass is really starting to grow. Our Slave has just returned from visiting her friend Roly's farm and she brought back this lovely Harvest.

Roly grows lots of veggies on his farm but we all think that his grass is the best so we wanted to share a photo. Now we are going to eat it all.