By Lorenzo Cisneros

On Aug.16 the AG department welcomed 60 pigs into the new pig barn which was completed in April.

“The new barn is great. It is an amazing livestock facility.  It has many benefits throughout it; such as better lighting, better environmental controls, enough pens so that students do not have to share, a more efficient layout, however the greatest benefit is the size,” swine barn supervisor Melvin Pouncy said. “We are able to raise more animals than we ever have before.  This year we still had to turn a few away, but at least it was less than before.”

Some of the newest inhabitants of the barn are owned by senior Mary Lavender, who welcomed 12 new piglets into her pen on Aug. 31 when her Hampshire pig gave birth. She currently has eight piglets that are just over three weeks old.

“I plan on keeping a couple of the good ones to show at San Antonio, giv[ing] one to my sister, and selling the rest,” Lavender said. “It was really cool to see the birth of the pigs happen because I had been waiting for three or four months and I was excited to see what they looked like!”