Pigs at Centennial Farm in Costa Mesa — Live Webcam

Centennial Farm — Living History of Agriculture in California

In Southern California, in the heart of Orange County, there is a place where city children and adults can experience real farm life firsthand. Centennial Farm is a working farm spanning 3 acres (about 1.2 hectares), founded in 1989 specifically for agricultural education of young people. The name "Centennial" (meaning century) was chosen for a reason: the farm was established exactly 100 years after the very first OC Fair exhibition, which took place in 1889. It is a living, breathing monument to a century-old tradition.

The farm is located at 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, on the grounds of the large OC Fair & Event Center complex. This is not an open-air museum but a real working farm where animals are kept year-round. The live webcam allows you to peek into this world at any time — from anywhere on the planet.

Why the Farm Matters to Costa Mesa

Modern city dwellers are often disconnected from understanding where food comes from and how agriculture works. Centennial Farm addresses this issue directly. Here, schoolchildren and their parents can see how vegetables grow, how cows are milked, and how pigs behave in a real environment — not in pictures, but live.

The farm's special connection to the annual OC Fair makes it even more attractive. During the fair season — from July through September — visitors can combine entertainment with the farm's educational program. But even outside the season, the farm continues to operate, and the online camera allows you to watch its inhabitants 365 days a year.

Pigs at the Farm — Who's in Front of the Camera

The main stars of the broadcast are pigs and piglets. The farm houses three types of breeds: miniature, lop-eared, and meat breed. Each is interesting in its own way: miniature pigs amaze with their tiny size, lop pigs with their characteristic drooping ears, and meat breeds demonstrate the classic sturdiness and power of these animals.

The camera usually shows an adult sow and piglets — one white and one black-and-white spotted. They move around the pen, rest on a bed of wood shavings, and approach the feeding trough. Watching their behavior is endlessly fascinating — pigs are remarkably intelligent and social animals, and the live webcam captures every nuance of their interactions.

A special moment worth waiting for in the broadcast is drinking from special faucet-style waterers located in the pen. The pigs approach them and drink water, which looks both amusing and educational.

Other Inhabitants of Centennial Farm

Although the webcam is focused on the pigs, it's important to understand that they are just part of a large farming operation. Centennial Farm is also home to goats, cows, oxen, chickens, rabbits, sheep, and peacocks. All of them are permanent residents of the farm, each with their own character and habits.

If you visit the farm in person, you can see all these animals with your own eyes. In the meantime, the online camera offers a chance to at least partially connect with this world by watching the pigs in their everyday habitat.

Architecture and Development of the Farm

The farm is not standing still — it is evolving. In 2000, the Millennium Barn was opened here — an impressive building with 4,670 square feet of space, featuring a milking parlor and a 47-foot tower with two weather vanes. This building became the new center for the farm's educational programs.

The farm grounds themselves are a well-maintained space with garden beds, greenhouses, animal pens, and utility buildings. Everything is organized so that visitors can freely move between different areas and observe various aspects of farm life.

How to Watch the Centennial Farm Stream

The live broadcast is available free of charge and without registration. You don't need to install any additional programs or plugins — just open the camera page in your browser. The stream runs in real time, and you see exactly what is happening on the farm right now.

The image quality allows you to see the details: how piglets play with each other, how the adult pig rests on the shavings, how the animals approach the feeder. This is not a recording or a staged show — this is the real life of a real farm in California.

The webcam operates around the clock, so you can watch the pigs both during the day and at night. During daylight hours, the pen is lit by natural sunlight, and at night by artificial lighting, which allows you to see the animals even in the dark.

Interesting Facts About Pigs and the Farm

Pigs are among the most underrated animals when it comes to intelligence. Research shows they are capable of solving complex tasks, recognizing themselves in mirrors, and even playing video games. By watching them at Centennial Farm, you can see their cleverness for yourself — for example, when they interact with the faucet waterers or communicate with each other.

Centennial Farm is one of the few farms in the United States that provides round-the-clock online access to its animals via a webcam. This makes it a unique resource for educational purposes, family entertainment, and simply observing wildlife without having to go anywhere.

What You Can See on the Camera

The camera is mounted at a top-down angle and covers the pig pen with a metal bar fencing. Inside, there is a bed of wood shavings where the adult sow and two piglets (one white, the other black-and-white spotted) rest. Along the back wall of the pen runs a long wooden feeding trough. To the right, beyond the fence, you can see an asphalt area with markings; to the left, there is greenery in pots. The view covers the entire pig housing area on the farm, and you can watch the animals in real time — how they move, eat, rest, and interact with each other.