http://crueize.com/doc/PigTales_AndTails.htm

I thought I'd share this link for the surprising discovery that free-range pigs will eat stray dogs (and not the other way around!):


"So far, for about six months in the year, when there are sufficient chestnuts and acorns, this feeding is symbolic and intended only to keep in touch. The rest of the time they draw their health and happiness from roots, insects, earth, grass and leaves, and the occasional fox or, since this is a hunting area, stray dog."

If they're lucky, the animals may get a chain or a plastic football to play with. But since there is rarely enough light to see by (pigs are quieter in the dark), fighting and biting are more common than playing. To minimise the effects of this, the vast majority of piglets' tails are routinely docked soon after birth, and their teeth clipped, again in breach of EU rules.

Routine tail-docking in particular, Brooke and Baaij both argue, is a good general indication of pig welfare: pigs reared on extensive farms, outdoors, with plenty of scope for foraging and rooting, rarely need their tails docked. "If they've got plenty to do, they're happy," says Baaij. Otherwise, basically, they go for each other, with tails and ears the favoured targets. And once a pen full of pigs gets the scent of blood, the consequences can be catastrophic; pigs are, after all, omnivores.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/06/animal-welfare-food...

http://www.rspca.org.au/campaign/pigfarmissues.asp

I used to live on an upland farm in Wales. There are a number of environmental grant schemes for these farms, and they all require extensive farming, which means that the stocking of the farm with animals (sheep, cows) must not exceed a maximum number of LU's (livestock units) per hectare. This prevents overgrazing and assists the recovery of hay meadows and other pastures so that they support a diversity of native species.

I think the terms "extensive" and "intensive" farming are correct (please see Wikipedia definition of "extensive farming" below). As for "porcino", our neighbour had a pig farm and "pig" was the term we used rather than "hog" -- applying to Wales, that is.