Two Little Piggies Came Home

When Robin Wexler, 's Director of Media Relations, emailed 95.9 The FOX, the subject heading read “Crazy Idea.”

“We thought it would be fun and it would make great radio listening. They replied "Sure!" and that they loved our crazy idea,” Wexler said.

That’s how the newest residents of Stamford Museum & Nature Center's Heckscher Farm arrived in style on Wednesday afternoon. The two guinea hogs — a heritage breed — born in June at the Beardsley Zoo, made the trip to Stamford from Bridgeport courtesy of 95.9/The FOX's van.

"Our van smells like a barn but we had a great time driving the pigs," 95.9 tweeted at 2:30 pm.

“They were a little vocal on the way here, lots of grunts and squeaks,” Victoria Marr, co-manager of Hecksher Farm laughed.

At the farm, the piglets were welcomed by a group of four-year-olds and teachers from the Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s preschool. The class had made a paper banner reading “We’re hog wild for our new pigs!” to hold up in front of their new home.

“Hi Piggies!” a chorus of slicker-clad preschoolers exclaimed as the two piglets were carried up the path to their new home.

This won’t be the last contact the preschoolers have with the piglets, they’ll be able to watch them grow up on the farm.

“It’ll be nice to have another animal that can be more hands-on, easier to transport to events and not too large for the kids,” Marr said.  “Everyone has said what a wonderful breed they are — they’re so friendly, and they do a trick, you pet their belly and they flop over on the floor, even the adults do it.”

While each of the female guinea hogs weighs around fifteen pounds now, they’ll soon be between 100-300 pounds each, gaining half that weight in their first six months.

That’s tiny compared to Big Sis, the farm’s current pig who weighs a whopping 800 pounds. The new piglets will be kept in a space separate but adjacent to Big Sis.

“They’re already talking in there — big pig was making noises and the little pigs were making noises,” Marr said. "They'll be able to get nose to nose."

The two piglets will remain just the “little pigs” for a few more weeks — visitors to Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s upcoming Harvest Festival Weekend will have the opportunity to enter the “Name Our Pigs” challenge. In the meantime, Heckscher Farm staff looks forward to getting the piglets adjusted to their new home.

"They're used to human contact and just about every noise possible at the Zoo," Marr said. "We'll be spending lots of time just hanging out with them to get them settled here."