Pigs | Suidae
Pigs, or swine, are medium-sized animals in the family Suidae with a typically stocky barrel-like body with thick, sparsely haired skin and a mobile snout. Suidae are social, companionable, highly intelligent (considered to be more intelligent than dogs), creatures that love mud baths and foraging. Suidae are omnivores and feed on fungi, roots, fruit, earthworms, and more.
Female suidae and their young will typically travel together, while the males are more solitary. Litter sizes for females can range from one to twelve which the female suid will give birth to in grass, or similar, den that the young are able to leave in about 10 days. Suidae display sexual dimorphism, and the males are usually significantly larger than the females.
What a group of swine is called depends on the ages of the swine. A young group of swine is called a drift, drove, or littler. A group of older pigs can be called a sounder of swine, a team of hogs, a passel of hogs, or a singular of boars.
Pigs are omnivores meaning they feed on both plants and meats. Wild pigs typically eat flowers, fruits, leaves, grass, roots, mushrooms, tree bark. They also eat garbage, worms, dead insects, and carcasses. Domesticated pigs eat farm grains like corn, oats, barley, and wheat. They also eat soybean meal, hay, and vegetables.
The meaning of the phrase “when pigs fly” is that something is not likely to happen at all. The phrase most likely originated in either Germany or Scotland since there are various examples of the expression being used to describe an occurrence that is not physically possible.
