DF brought home a piglet- need help ASAP!

[JulieNKC]

My DF came home today with a piglet.

I know absolutely nothing about pigs.

My aunt used to live on a hog farm but I was little then, so know nothing about taking care of them. Anyone want to give me a crash course on feeding, housing, etc? He is about 3-4 weeks old. Will post pics soon.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
You'll need to build a good strong pen that is tall enough he can't jump out. They need very little housing if you aren't going to keep him during the winter. A small lean-to type shelter is great, just be sure he can get out of the sun as pigs sunburn easily. Feeding depends on your choices and the reason for raising him? If for eating, you can get good prepaired commercial pig feed at most feed store plus they will eat most any leftovers or table and garden scraps you can spare.

 

[arabianequine]

The pig is not weaned yet at that age....not sure if they still need milk. I would make a really thin mix with milk in it. Maybe some type of mush....corn bread, mash potatoes with lots of milk to make it runny enough to slurp up?

I think the piglet is too young to eat grower or scraps yet.

I have never had a pig that young.

Edited: to fix typo

 

[JulieNKC]

He is still drinking milk out of a bottle. How do I wean him? The friend that gave him to us gave us a bag of sweet feed. Is that ok or does he need pig pellets? We live in the city, can't have an 800lb hog for a pet, so hopefully when the time comes DF will be able to do the deed. I named him bacon to remind him what he's for, lol. We have a 2 acre lot so have room to build him a pen til then, was thinking of making one out of pallets.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
Yep, you are right, I wasn't looking at the age. But it's old enough to start weining it with mash watered down to a slurry.

 

[arabianequine]

They did and don't sweat so when real hot you need to offer more then just drinking water and a shelter for shade. For water we made a man made hole and filled it up at least once a day....maybe fill a little kiddie pool. Sometimes I would leave a sprinkler on my pigs love that. They love to root....electric wire is good around the base of the pen to ensure they don't get out. I think it is cruel to stop them from rooting totally what else do they have to do....people do this with a nose ring. They root for lots of different reasons.

I don't know how to wean a pig but I know they are usually weaned at 8 weeks old. If already drinking out of a bottle and they are sure on age I would not give the mash till 6 weeks. Do this before giving a bottle....so they try and figure out how to eat it when they are the hungriest. I would maybe try putting just milk in a dish now so the pig starts sticking their mouth in it do this now before feedings and if not able to eat it out of the dish after a bit put it in a bottle.

All the pigs I have ever had love mash/mush bread and milk, cake and milk, corn bread and milk, make it real soupy though. No chocolate or meat IMO.

 

[arabianequine]

As they get older....the will eat hay, grains, starter, grower, and finisher from the feed store in order the bags have weights on them as too when to start....you will need to guess probably. I would get a bag of the starter to have on hand it won't last long once bacon figures it out...I normally only do one bag of starter they grow so fast....start adding a little starter slowly to each meal once eating mush from a bowl. I feed my pigs usually a 50/50 mix of cracked corn and grower ONCE WEANED....the starter first and only the starter is medicated. Also every other day sweet grain small amount and a chunk of alfalfa hay. They love fruits and veggies....all your scraps. They love yogurt, milk, ice cream for treats. I get and buy outdated yogurt and freeze it and put out there frozen on a hot day they love it.

I worm my pigs later on with wazine 17 starting at 9 weeks per the bottle every 30 days. It has directions on the bottle and goes in their water.

Start offering fresh water now too maybe that would get the piglet use to getting something out of the bowl with its mouth.

They love to play....old tire, shoes, balls, piece of old garden hose, and mine love plastic feed bags....I only let them play with them while I was out there and too it away before leaving.

 

[6littlechickies]

We have one pig that we got as a piglet for our son as a pet. Ours is a potbelly, but most rules apply. They will need some milk and graduated to hog feed. Eventually you can add in some table scraps, but no "garbage" make sure it is fresh, clean, and free of non edibles. A pig will indeed require a strong pen. A chain link dog kennel will not work long term!!! The pig will eventually bust right through by popping all the connections holding wire to bars. (ask me how I know this and my neighbors garden knows it too, lol) Use wood 2x4's or steel livestock panels to secure him. Pigs can be very friendly if raised around people and given attention. They are one of the smartest animals, much smarter than dogs or cats. They are driven by food though so you can use this to lure them around and train them to follow you around and they will learn to come when called (as long as tehy aren't eating)

. Our potbelly is outdoors and we treat it like you would any other hog. One thing is they are sociable animals so a companion is nice, does not have to be same species. Mine lives with 4 goats and loves it. He will even chase a dog if it goes to close to the goats in the pen. Great to see a pig standing in the pen with a pygmy goat standing on the pig!! Some nights a goat or two will sleep on the big guy and he pays no mind to it. You can find pigs can be fun but realize this one may get pretty big on you real fast. Now if the plan is to use the animal for dinner, care and penning remain the same but you might want to spare yourself the extra attachment and skip the pig training LOL! Good luck with the piglet

this was taken during his stint in the 'pen'--the chain link pen that is

didn't last long...

this is his permanent pen...you can see one of his goat friends, goatie, and his 'owner' our DS Jack (age 5)

and this one was from the day we bought him. How could we say no to that smile? not to mention, it was also his birthday! (the boy, not the pig!

)

 

[JulieNKC]

Thank you! We have an oak tree that I plan on building the pen under, so he'll have shade. It stays pretty muddy, everytime it rains the water collects there. It's not that far from the garden, so I can move the sprinkler over for him easily to cool him off too. Is he ok by himself? Don't want another one, but don't want him to be lonely. Maybe I can finally get my goat I want, lol. I really need to move to the country.

Does it matter how much I feed him? Will he get fat like a potbelly pig? My chickens already have claim to all the kitchen scraps, poor pig will have to make do with pig food.

 

[arabianequine]

Watch for scraps on craigslist, ask at food banks, restaurants, family and friends to save for you....get bread for $3-$7 a shopping cart here full ask for animal feed. Its a meat pig I don't know I did not leave free feed but my meat hogs were never skinny always seemed to be growing and gaining weight. I feed 2x a day and still weighed in at 400 pounds at butcher. My hogs were pretty lean not fat they just get bigger and bigger. The first one the butcher guy said it was really lean we did good. That one was like 330 pounds.

I raised mine the last 2 times one pig at a time and they were fine as far as I could tell.