Animals doing things out of the ordinary are often a cause for concern, and one man in Mississippi expressed such concern when his pigs allegedly started to eat rocks. Initially, he didn’t know what his pigs were doing with the rocks or what kind they were. That said, Reddit user Git, the pig owner, posted photos of these rocks on r/whatsthisrock to ask the community what exactly he’s looking at.
“I can’t dig a hole anywhere on my property here in East Central Mississippi without hitting tons of these,” Git wrote, remarking how they seem to be everywhere. He added that they break easily, and the inside of the rocks is brittle and grainy-looking. Reddit identified the rocks as shale, a type of sedimentary rock that is made of mud, silt, and clay, which is why they’re easy to break.
As to why his pigs chose to dig up shale, some people assumed they were just digging as pigs do. Since shale is commonplace on his property, it’s the one the pigs will dig up. “[They’re] looking for tubers or whatever to munch on,” wrote a Reddit user.
On the flip side, hundreds of other Redditors were certain there was a reason this man’s pigs were determined to excavate. One well-informed commenter said that pigs were rooting through shale because they were doing geophagia, the practice of chewing on rocks.
Reddit Claims the Mississippi Man’s Pigs Are Eating Rocks Due to Boredom or Malnutrition
“Your pigs may lack nutritional minerals that the shale can provide,” the Redditor explained. They continued, “Also, since shale is destructible, it will keep their interest longer. Shale is highly porous and can be fragrant (to pigs at least), and that could also be contributing.” The USDA does indeed report that pigs often chew rocks as “play behavior,” while various other sources also support the claim that pigs stone-chew for some sort of nutrient.
The Mississippi pig owner seemed fairly satisfied with the answer and wrote in response, “That sounds reasonable.” Based on how much shale is on his land, Git’s pigs have plenty of rock to munch on for quite some time.
