They are talking about putting in nose rings for the purpose of keeping them from rooting around and digging stuff up and making big holes everywhere.
Depends on what you want them for. Meat? I keep american guinea hogs. They stay smallish, but they take just about forever to get to a good size. Like 18 months. The meat is really good though. And they are docile, easily managed pigs. You want faster meat, get a bigger pig like a yorkshire, hampshire, berkshire. You want to feed less grain and more grazing getting a pasture pig: guinea hog, kunekune, duroc. So let me know what you want the pigs for and I might be able to help you narrow it down.
I've just not personally seen healthy, under 50 pound potbellies. Some people get them to stay that way by underfeeding them or will only show you parents that are under a year or a year and a half old. Pigs don't stop growing until around 3 years old. Potbellies are supposed to be in the 100-150 pound range. It's just a slippery slope. Your friend might have had small lines and been a good breeder, but it's hard to find a real honest person to get your stock from. All baby pigs are tiny teacup sized. Mine are about the size of a soda can when first born. And the males get closer to 200+ pounds when full grown. I'm just not a fan of breeding potbellies. Especially with all the misinformation and all of them in rescues.
