🐷 Pigs Sounds - Grunting and Screaming
Channel: Karpaty
Date: 2024-01-27

Harnessing the Melodic Symphony of Pigs: Exploring the World of Grunting and Screaming Sounds

What is the sound of pigs?
They make a wide range of sounds, from deep grunts to squeals of excitement, but ones we particularly notice are:
1. a hollow cough-like grunt used for greeting (either other pigs or people they know).
2. a quiet grunt to keep in touch, “I’m OK, are you OK?”
3. a high squeal of excitement when food is en route
4. a squeak of pleasure whilst having a back scratch
5. a deep roar of annoyance when telling off another pig
6. a squeaky roar of outrage when being told off by another pig

I should add that our much-loved pigs are very rare Large Black Pigs and are free range. This is Twiggy, our senior sow:
Pigs are renowned for their expressive grunts, which serve as a multifaceted means of communication. The low, rhythmic grunting often heard in pig pens is associated with contentment and relaxation. It's the audible manifestation of a pig at ease, relishing its surroundings. However, grunts can also convey a spectrum of emotions, from mild irritation to a more assertive demand for attention or food.

What do the pigs mean when they say “oink”?
Swine engage in a diverse range of vocalizations to convey various emotions and messages to one another, employing grunts, barks, and squeals as their primary modes of communication. Their verbal repertoire consists of approximately 20 distinct sounds.

Among these utterances, the grunt stands out as the most prevalent. While the English interpretation is commonly known as "oink," the French equivalent is "groin groin," and in Polish, it takes the form of "chrum chrum." The term "oink" exemplifies onomatopoeia, capturing the characteristic sound associated with pigs.

Pigs emit grunts in response to familiar sounds or during foraging activities. The duration of these grunts conveys nuanced meanings, with brief grunts expressing excitement, while longer ones serve as either contact calls or manifestations of contentment. Squealing or screaming emerges when a pig experiences agitation or distress. Notably, larger and more dominant pigs have been observed emitting barks, employing this vocalization as a means to intimidate smaller, submissive counterparts.