Pigs are among the oldest domestic animals or livestock. Already before For over 9,000 years, humans domesticated the wild boar. Since then, domestic pigs have mainly been used as meat suppliers. In 2017, more than 27 million pigs kept – divided between a total of around 23,500 farms. Average life about 1,180 pigs in every company.
Pork is still the most popular type of meat in Europe. Every year, the average European consumes around 50 kilograms of pork. But how old can pigs actually get if they are not slaughtered? With good care, a pig can easily live 10 years. In many cases, their lifespan is even up to 20 years. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest pig is 23-year-old Ernestine from Canada.
In intensive livestock farming, sows live the longest compared to boars and fattening pigs. However, their useful life is hardly comparable with the natural life expectancy of a pig: maximum three years long can a sow live. Boars have with two years a shorter lifespan. A fattening pig is not even allowed to live for a year: already with six to seven months it has reached its slaughter weight and is killed.