On the day of the pig
01.03.2023
From the perspective of an Aiderbichler
(told by Gisela Pschenitschnig)
About 3 million pigs are kept in Austria. Pigs are food for the majority of people. If you take a closer look at our fellow creature, the pig, you will learn a lot about its physiological and psychological characteristics.
The cognitive abilities of pigs are in no way inferior to those of primates
The majority of pigs lead a life in highly mechanised fattening farms. The pig’s emotions and intelligence are absolutely unimportant by-productsof the animal in such places.
Pigs are not dirty or smell bad either. However, this is only possible if they can lie in a generously littered straw bed. There is no straw on the fully slatted floors of pig farms. Here it stinks of foul-smelling digestive gases, the floors are slippery and: it is not at all about the welfare of the pig, but about its “meaty” rearing in order to fill the refrigerated shelves in the supermarkets after slaughter.
The clever pig wants to be more than just food
Researchers asked themselves the question “How do pigs think? How do they organise their social environment? Can pigs learn? If so, how do they do it?”
From 2014 to 2022, a group of researchers at the Messerli Research Institute investigated the above questions. They got the answer from a herd of 37 Kune Kune pigs. The pigs from the “Clever Pig Lab” are now spending the rest of their lives in their new forever home at Gut Aiderbichl. The behavioural observation project could not be extended, so the search was on for a new forever home for the large herd of pigs. For a few months now, they have been living in a spacious, species-appropriate pig house with an adjoining extensive pasture on an outdoor farm at Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf.
The researchers observed that the Kune Kune pigs are anything but stupid. Talking about stupid pigs is a prejudice that has been successfully refuted by various scientific observations. Pigs observe humans and copy human behaviour. They talk to us using their 244 different oink sounds. Each “oink” has a meaning, which is also defined by higher or lower or quiet “oink” sounds.
My friend Susi
Susi has been living on Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf. She is a former fattening pig that had been left alone in the pig pen of the breeding barn. The rear legswereinjured, the legswere inflamed. and Susi was dehydrated. To get to the water or foodetrough, was not possiblebecause of her injuries. One day, Susi was discovered by a vet in the stable: huddled up, apathetic and in pain, he found the animal lying on its side. After recovering, Susi was taken in at Gut AiderbichlHenndorf.
Meanwhile, Susi recognises me “without words”. She hears my voice, she standsjoyfully from the bed of straw on the sun-Terrase up, to greet me with loud, joyful “incoming calls“. Her legs are so healthy again that she sometimes decides to greet me “with her head held high”. To do this, she stands in front of her enclosure fenceat full height, leans on the top rail and waits until I am with her. Susi smiles the sweetest pig smile in the world. She loves to be cuddled behind the ears and on the back. She also loves silence, stands by the fence and enjoys it when I put my hand on her forehead and I’m just with her.
With this in mind – Yours sincerely, Gisela.
"Just like us humans, animals have a central nervous system and therefore also experience the world very consciously. They can hear, smell, taste, feel and see and perceive stimuli from their surroundings. Many animals can do these things even better than humans."
~ Albert Schweitzer
Relaxation with pigs
We at Gut Aiderbichl see ourselves as a meeting place between humans and animals. We therefore offer companies and private individuals targeted relaxation in the midst of our herd of Kune Kune pigs. Join us on our “Feel Good with Kune Kune Pigs” walk across the pigs’ spacious meadow, meet pigs up close and perhaps from a completely new perspective, and get to know their incomparable characters and personalities.
