Are you looking for year-end charitable giving options? Please consider a tax-deductible donation to Hog Haven Farm!
2017 Year in Review
Fundraising
The wonderful world of piglets
Hog Haven Farm does not encourage breeding, and do our best to avoid litters of piglets born on our watch. However, pigs (and animals in general) are driven by instinct, and last May, our sweet troublemaker Dug figured out how to escape his pen. We spent a stressful day fixing fences, installing electric wire in two new areas, and keeping unaltered pigs contained to their respective pens.
Since Dug was loose, and in contact with intact females, we discussed options with our vet to avoid pregnancy, and purchased emergency contraceptive for several females. With a high demand for rescues, avoiding new litters of piglets is advisable, so we don’t contribute to the problem of so many unwanted pigs.
One of our females ended up pregnant, even after emergency contraceptive. We didn’t realize her pregnancy until about 2 weeks before her due date (which we were able to calculate from our expenses to fix fencing). Of all the pigs to become pregnant, it was our Hampshire, Journey; this means adopting out her babies is not an option, because she is 400lbs at 2yrs, and Dug, a Hampshire/potbelly, is over 300lbs at about the same age.
We welcomed a litter of 6 healthy piglets on 8/31, the same day (ironically) that Dug was neutered. Journey gave birth to two girls, Infinity and Maple, and four boys, Bowie, Prince, Beetlejuice, and Timon. These piglets are 3/4 Hampshire, 1/4 potbelly from our best guess, and were so vibrant within hours of birth. They began exploring outside almost immediately, and within a week, were playing in the mud and eating solid food with their mom.
These piglets are so incredibly sweet and curious–more so than any of the piglets born at Hog Haven Farm from pregnant rescues. When strangers approach the pen, these piglets are immediately at the fence to sniff and nibble fingers. They love to play and run around, chew on clothing, and climb all over whomever will sit in the pen with them.
Journey started weaning the piglets at 5 weeks. They are 6 weeks old today, and we let Journey out during the day, but back in with the piglets at night. They still nurse periodically, but have been eating pellets for weeks, so they are fine to be without mama now; she is happy to be out and about during the day with her friends.
We would like to have Journey spayed by the year’s end; the cost of her spay has been estimated at a minimum of $800, given her size. Including Journey and her piglets, we currently have 5 unaltered males and 13 intact females left. Nearly 30 spay and neuter procedures have been done this year alone, and our new policy is to not accept unaltered pigs (unless it’s an emergency). On average, neuters cost $130-150, and spays start at $250, but average cost is $400. Spays are a more intensive procedure, and cost varies by size of the pig.
If you’d like to help support our neuter and spay program, please consider a one-time or recurring donation. You can also call our vet and have a credit put on our account, under Andrew and Erin Burgardt. Not only do these procedures eliminate unwanted pregnancies, they help avoid behavioral issues (escaping/damaging pens, aggression) and promote healthy females. Intact females can suffer from uterine tumors later in life, and much shorter life spans than if they are spayed.
Ideally, neutering and spaying at an early age is best, but quite a few of our females came to us intact and older. Two need to lose weight before they can be considered for surgery, but we are trying our best to take care of these procedures as funding allows.
April Rescues at Hog Haven Farm
April has proven to be a very busy month at Hog Haven Farm! We’ve seen our highest volume of rescued pigs, including two Kunekune breeds. Additionally, one of our rescued pigs gave birth two six healthy piglets on Easter Sunday!
Rescue Operations
Operating a rescue: year in review 2016
A big, big thank you to everyone who donated to Hog Haven Farm in 2016! This closed our second year of saving and helping pigs in need, and to keep our nonprofit as transparent as possible, we would like to share with you our financial statistics.
Q&A of the Day
Q&A of the day! A lot of folks ask us what exactly Hog Haven Farm does as a public charity and why.
Pet pigs are becoming the new favorite exotic pet for a lot of people across the country, but like any new pet, a lot of folks do not research the requirements and needs of owning a potbellied pig. There is a lot of misinformation on the Internet regarding pigs as pets–many people buy into the concept of “teacup pigs,” which is a myth created by breeders to sell more piglets. Once the “teacup pig” reaches a larger size, the owners lose interest and choose to rehome the pig. This is one of the more common problems we see as a rescue organization. Continue reading
Donation dollars at work!
As a Colorado nonprofit organization, 100% of our donations are given to either help pigs in need, provide supplies and medical expenses for our rescues, and to help move our organization forward. We thought we should give you an idea of where our money comes from, how we spend it, and why your generous contributions help!
Ugly Sweater Challenge – For Your Animal Friends!
Hog Haven Farm has announced a new fundraiser! Get in the holiday spirit and participate in our Instagram #UglySweaterChallenge with your hooved or furry friends. To participate, all you need to do is post a picture of your pet dressed up, tag #UglySweaterChallenge on the photo, and donate $10 to our organization! We can’t wait to see what you come up with! All entrants will also be entered to win an exclusive, pet-friendly gift basket! Here are our pets dressed up for the contest:
Don’t forget to follow Hog Haven on Instagram!
2015 Hog Haven Farm Calendar Available for Preorder!
Hog Haven Farm had a wonderful response to our first annual calendar contest; we had submissions from all over the United States (and Canada!) and so many cute pigs to select the winners from! Preorder your calendar today for only $19.95; save money when you order multiples!
2015 Calendar Photo Contest Winners
Well, folks, we had a ton of entries to our first annual Hog Haven Farm Calendar Contest! For that, we sincerely thank you. The 2015 calendar will be put together in the next few weeks, and all sales from the calendars will go directly to supporting the efforts of Hog Haven–especially towards the purchase of our property next year! Each month will feature two “pigtures”–we had so many cute choices, we had to accept more than one per month! If you submitted, check your inbox today for instructions for final, print-ready submissions for the calendar.
Some of our winning selection:
Calendar Photo Contest for Hog Haven Farm!
Hog Haven Farm wants your photos! We are currently accepting entries for our 2015 Calendar. Submit the cutest pigtures of your oinking family members by 10/25/14 to [email protected] to be featured in this awesome calendar!
