Manipulated for Us: Introducing Hamlet and Lily

Hi Everyone,

At the beginning of 2023, I wrote a post titled 'Manipulated for Us'. The post discussed how people manipulate the world around them for their own perceived benefit. It discusses both the good and bad aspects of this manipulation. However, most of the post focused on animals and animal breeding.

In the video, I continue the discussion on the manipulation of animals through breeding. With me, I have my two good companions, Hamlet the Happy Pig and Lily Goat. Both of them have been bred to be a particular way.

Hamlet the Happy Pig

Hamlet is a product of many breeding practices. Initially, her ancestors were bred to be big and muscular for the purpose of being eaten. More recent generations were selected to be bred as pets. Pigs with short legs and/or spines were bred to produce offspring with shorter legs and spines. This type of breeding has only been practiced for a few generations. Therefore, a new breed has not been officially created but the pigs through this program are considerably smaller than their ancestors bred purely to be eaten. These smaller pigs are often refereed to as pygmy, miniature, mini, or Juliana pigs (particular type of small pig). Sadly, some of these miniature pigs die young because of skeletal problems and weakened immune systems, which is also a product of their breeding.

Lily Goat

Lily is a pygmy goat. She is really small. This is again because of breeding. She has not been modified to the extent as Hamlet. She has been bred to be considerably smaller than other goats but her body proportions are not radically changed because of breeding. As far as I am aware, the breeding to reduce size does not seem to add any medical complications. I expect pygmy goats immune systems are still compromised. Goats, particularly small ones, can fall sick very quickly. Other than the first week she arrived, Lily has been in great health. She was a bit ill from the stress of being cooped up in a small space while the fences were being put up in the garden.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Hamlet Attacks Water Trough

We had an after filming accident. I think Hammy got angry with the water trough. Not to worry, I had a new one in reserve.

If you want to read any of my other posts, you can click on the links below. These links will lead you to posts containing my collection of works. These 'Collection of Works' posts have been updated to contain links to the Hive versions of my posts.