PIGGYPIGGY

[Wyandotte108]

Okay, so latley i have been totaly in to pigs. I have read anything, and EVERYTHING about pigs, piglets, and rasing them. I really want a tea-cup piglet to raise, and for it to be and in and out door piggy

. Haha, my mom was all over it, and my dad is all like NO PIGS IN THE HOUSE. The only pig were getting is supposedly a meat pig. LOL. Does anybody have any suggestions on convincing him?? I know that pigs arent just going to be like a kitten, and they are obviously going to need food, and shots, and worming..you know, the works.

Mom and I barley got him into letting us buy chickens

haha. Thank god we got that one passed him

 

[Wyandotte108]

C'mon peeeople!

 

[MrsCountryChick]

I know there are smaller pot belly pigs, but even they get pretty large. Too bad there isn't a pig that at full grown is the size of say a shih tzu. They're supposed to be as smart as dogs & easier to "litter" train than cats. & they 'may' need sunscreen for the sun to not burn their skin, but they are supposed to by hypo allergenic so no allergies to them like dogs or cats.

But even at a pot belly size they're still Large, good luck if you get one

 

[Wyandotte108]

Quote:
I know!!! I love pigs, they are so nice and intellegent! And they are more welcoming ive heard

We have a dog that is the same size as a Large Miniature pony!!!

I dont see the diffrence!

 

[Bex]

There honestly is no such thing as a teacup pig. It's a load of bull and any breeder who advertises them as such, is not being 100% honest. Anything you read about 'restricting feed' to keep them from growing large is also a load of bull.

Sophia (my Pot belly) was completely feral when I got her from my cousins when she was 9 weeks old.. She was addorible, she's addorible now, but she is a handful!

When my pot belly lived inside she learned how to turn on the water - note she did NOT know how to turn it off so ran our well dry costing us $400+! She also learned how to get into our refrigerator, eating our groceries, costing us hundreds each month! She destroyed our linoleum in the kitchen.. again.. more money.

To spay her to keep her potty habits in check was $300. (You will need to spay/neuter your pig.)

IMO, pigs belong outside for at least a major part of the day.. and should be allowed to be pigs!! While I loved having Sophie inside and she enjoyed 24/7 food, it is not the life for a pig!

www.pigs4ever.com is probably the best site you'll find.

Edited to add:

"As for the so-called Teacup or Micro Mini pig's, these are just normal potbellied pig's that have been chronically underfed and malnourished in an attempt to keep them small. Their life span is maybe FIVE YEARS. This is because the pig stays tiny, BUT THE ORGANS continue to GROW NORMAL SIZE for a normal size pig. Teacups, Micro-Mini's, European Bluebutts, these are all fancy names made up by breeders. All potbellied pigs within the United States come from the same line. "

^ Taken directly from Pigs4ever.com.

 

[Haviris]

I would say do lots and lots of research! Don't know your dad so no idea how to convience him.

Now as for Pot Bellie's size, long ago before the pot bellied craze we got our first ones, and they were small pigs! They ranged in size from 25-40lbs, they were not starved or underfed! Since then I have no idea what has happened to the Pot bellied pigs, but they have morphed into huge 100+ monsters, I think 60lbs is considered small.

Recently I have met a few other smallish ones, 3 that belong to a friend of mine are as small as the ones I owned and she takes excellent care of her animals, so I believe they are that small genetically, they are the roanish color (I also heard it refered to as salt and pepper). And today I was at a pig breeders house, her's ranged around 40-60lbs, the smallest she just recently got and she said she did not know if she was genetically that small or if she was stunted in some way (she was 3 years old), ironically she was also roan colored (looked very similar to the other lady's and I sort of wondered if they may have been related). Anyway, she said the reason they are now so large is because the original pot bellied pigs were solid black (our original ones were), and they were bred to larger pigs to get more color, and that is why they are so big now.

I really don't know, we may have just gotten some from smaller lines, but I always assumed they were originally small pigs that have just been so over bred they aren't anymore. The last time I was at the place I got my originals from they still had pigs, they seemed abit bigger then before (40-60lbs?), but still all black. I would guess now it'd be harder to find the smaller ones, and you'd have to be very careful about choosing a breeder w/ healthy pigs, and if anyone ever tells you just to not feed them much to keep them small I'd run not walk from them. (but also keep in mind they are prone to obesity, so you'd want to watch that to).

On another note, during the time we had our pot bellies we were given three miniature female pigs (around 40lbs) that we were told we pot bellies, but they weren't, no idea what breed they were, but they were also small pigs (but wilder temperments then the pot bellies).

Anyway, good luck, do lots of research and be sure you are up for the committment!

 

[Wyandotte108]

I heard that part of their obesity is because they are over fed, because they eat all that they are given..

 

[Bex]

Pigs become overweight due to the owner not keeping a check on the animal's diet, giving too many treats, etc.

 

[MrsCountryChick]

Quote:
Maybe you misunderstood, I didn't say there Were Micropigs, I said it would be nice if there were. They are cute just large to handle at such large sizes. & they need both hoof trimmings & teeth trimmings too I believe.? Crazy how a tiny pig can grow Sooo large.

Their huge size they get to can't be good to their bone frame to live long yrs at huge obese weights; not that I know anything about them personally.

 

[Bex]

Quote:
Maybe you misunderstood, I didn't say there Were Micropigs, I said it would be nice if there were. They are cute just large to handle at such large sizes. & they need both hoof trimmings & teeth trimmings too I believe.? Crazy how a tiny pig can grow Sooo large.

Their huge size they get to can't be good to their bone frame to live long yrs at huge obese weights; not that I know anything about them personally.

I think you misunderstood me, lol. My post was aimed at the OP who said she'd like to raise a "teacup pig".