Farmpark camera provides at-home glimpse into new piglet brood
Mar. 12—Lake Metroparks recently welcomed 16 new piglets into the world, and members of the public can watch online or in-person as the young animals feed, play and grow.
The young piglets and their sows — or mother pigs — can be seen in-person in the Farmpark's Well-Bred Shed. People can also watch the pigs online through a camera that the park district launched in September.
"It's like a birds-eye view, you can kind of see over, so you can see both of the litters," said Farmpark Livestock Manager Jenny Greskovich.
She said that one litter of eight cross-breed piglets was born "about two weeks" before March 5 from a spotted mother and Duroc father, meaning that they have speckles and "a reddish-brown look." The second brood of eight piglets was born about a week later, with a white Yorkshire mother and "exotic show pig" father.
Greskovich said that piglets grow quickly.
"Even in a week, you can actually see a very distinct difference," she said, adding that "they're one of the animals that kind of grows the fastest, at least on the farm."
The piglets can already walk, Greskovich said. As they grow, they will play around with each other.
"Sometimes, pigs will play-fight and they push each other around and they play on camera, and people seem to really like that," she added.
Public interest in the piglets is one of the reasons why the Farmpark keeps sows.
"We have a few just to show people what different kinds of pigs look like, which may have different purposes, and then we also like them to have piglets, because it is something that the visitors really, really enjoy and they like to see," Greskovich said.
Park staff "try to have a new litter every couple of months" and keep piglets on site at all times, though there may be times when the shed has no piglets, she added.
The Farmpark generally weans its piglets when they are around 6 weeks old, Greskovich said, which is "a little bit longer than a lot of other pig production farms." She added that the park will sell them to other farms any time after that in order to make room for future broods.
"They actually are pretty big once they get to that point," she said. "Sometimes we don't get rid of piglets until they're like 50 pounds."
Greskovich said that pigs are generally slaughtered when they are about 6 months old. If they are not slaughtered, they can live for years afterwards.
She added that the park does not slaughter its sows.
The piglets can be viewed in-person by visiting the Well-Bred Shed at the Farmpark, which is located at 8800 Euclid-Chardon Road in Kirtland. The park charges admission and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays through Sundays.
Greskovich said that the piglet camera is generally on most of the time. It may be turned off at times for reasons including possible complications after a sow gives birth.
The piglet camera and others around the park district can be viewed for free by visiting lakemetroparks.com/webcams.
