Beware of these five costly myths about pigs

1. Pigs are dirty animals: 

If you say pigs are dirty, you are likely not to take care of their houses (pigsty) and this will expose them to many diseases and directly abuse its welfare. On the contrary, pigs are not dirty animals. In fact pigs are among very few clean animals. How come? Pigs will not mix their poop with their food. Observe any pigsty and you will notice it will use the furthest corner from where the feeding trough as its toilet. Pigs, when given the opportunity to choose where to lie, prefer a warm and dry area.

Pigs like wallowing in muddy water purely as a means of regulating their temperatures. You realise pigs have few hairs on their thick skin making it poor at thermoregulation unlike human beings. They also do so to control external parasites the occasional application of a muddy layer on their skins both kills parasites already there and prevents others from attacking. Because they are clean animals, they will clean the mud off their bodies by rubbing against a tree or a post once it is dry or has served its purpose.

2. Sweating like a pig

Even the saying “sweating like a pig” is a falsehood because they hardly have any sweat glands. There is also a falsehood that the pig body is full toxins because they are dirty. This is not true because toxins are eliminated from the body through the liver and kidneys and not the skin. Pigs have one liver and two kidneys and sweating is mainly for temperature regulation.

3. Pigs eat dirt and filth

No pigs do not eat dirt and should not be feed on dirt either. Pigs should be fed on a well-balanced diet as required by a certain age. To attain a quick market weight proper feeding of pigs should be done. Pigs like human beings are omnivorous which means they feed on plants and animal products.

4. Pigs are stupid

Pigs are not stupid as many assume. Pigs are highly intelligent and very social animals. Piglets will within the first week be able to pick out their mother from a group easily using their sense of smell so is the sow. The genetic make-up of pigs is also very close to that humans a reason scientists are keen on using pig stem cells in human medical research.

5. Pork is bad for health

Pork is good for all of us and those who abstain do so for religious reasons. Pork has a good balance of fatty acid ratio offers a rich anti-cancer diet. It is also good for expectant women and nursing mothers.