Pot Belly Pig - Adequate Accomodations?

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KimKimWilliamso

KimKimWilliamso

Chirping
7 Years
Mar 11, 2012
208
9
93
Nanton, AB, Canada
We are looking into adopting a rescued pit belly pig to add to our "hobby" farm in the next few months, and I was curious what type of shelters people provide for these guys. I will probably section off a peice of the Hens run for a shelter and muddy area for the pig to use until we become "bonded", and then I will move him to the pasture with horses (sectioned off there as well).

Id live to see your pig set ups, with runs and shelter included. Also, any advice you have for someone who has never owned a pig before would be appreciated, though I should ad that all the "never get a pig" warnings will be ignored. Im aware they are a pain, and destructive. Im the type of animal lover who doesnt consider the typical "inconveniences" of exotic pet ownership to be a detterent. LOL Just ask my parrots.....most people wouldnt tolerate the abuse they subject us to, but I do, LOL I consider the companionship enough of a reward for all the hard work :)


That being said, if there is someone in the Southern Alberta area looking to rehome one or two of thier pot belly pigs, let me know :)
 
Hmm, how strong is "strong"? LOL Everything I see online is just regular fencing wire.... I was just gonna keep him behind some wire fencing similar to this stuff:
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=thick...4&start=41&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:41,i:182

Ive done quite a bit of research and after speaking with some rescues in the area and reading for days and days, I have learnt that most "mini-pig" breeders are yanking peoples chains on the actuall full grown size of a Miniature Pot Belly Pig. I have read that they will sometimes even go to such extremes as breeding immature pigs at 5 months old (40 pounds or so) and say to potential purchasers that the mother is Full grown, and that the baby wont get bigger than the mother when full grown. I have also heard many unethical breeders will encourage people to limit the pigs food intake and living quarters to keep them small.

In fact, as I understand it, Mini pigs, mico-minis, tea-cup pigs and Pot Belly Pigs can actually grow to the physical size similar to that of a 60 Pound Labrador retriever and can weigh as much as 200 pounds on that small frame. The term "Miniature" is in reference to the fact that Standard sized pigs can be as much as 1000 pounds.

Im not sure if this happens everywhere, but here in Canada these baby pot belly pigs are often sold as designer house pets with a series of lies indicating the pig will stay as small as 50 pounds and be no larger than a large cat, LOL TONS of pigs end up in Shelters, Sanctuaries and abandoned on the streets when these people realize they were lied to and thier pig is WAY too big to live in a house. You might want to call those people stupid, but until I did the research, I truly though Mini pigs were small, and stayed that way. Were I not the obsessive researcher I am when it comes to acquiring my pets, I would never have known, and may have ended up a victim of one of these horrible breeders!

Anyhow, I guess my point is that I am not looking for a standard size pig, just a pot belly pig. And I know that means the pig will still be huge. LOL
 
That's why I asked... didn't want someone getting something that they were lied to about.

The are very smart and can be barrier trained if not simi-feral. But if they want to go through they are pound for pound stronger then most dogs even not full grown.
 
I know that if a pig wants out good luck keeping them in. I have a sow she is awesome doesn't have to be in a fence just hangs out in my yard. Then I got a boar (that is going to be neutered) and he doesn't stay in anything. He destroys wire fences, crawls under tight barb wire and runs through electric fence. It wouldn't be a problem but he runs away from home even when my sow was in heat he took off. So make sure you have solid fences if you want your pig to stay in one spot.
 
I rescued my pot belly as a six year old spayed sow. her name is petunia, she was abused and obviously beaten with a pig pole, she will lunge at you if you are holding anything looking like a pole.at least she used to when i got her, i have had her six months, i kept her in a six by ten trailer when i got her for a month to get her used to me and no chance of escape, she has since bonded with me, i can rub her all over and she loves her belly rubbed but i wouldnt trust her out of her pen not to take off, she doesnt like to be cornered, and acts very panicked, again i think due to the abuse, she now lives in a large pen made of wooden crates screwed together, she doesnt try and get out but im pretty sure she could break the pen very easily if she ever got it in her head to do so, they are very smart, and can be trained like dogs, some will stay in, some will do anything to escape.........it depends on the pig. she has a lean to for a shelter, with lots of hay to burrow in, she is very picky about her bed and has a large peice of tyvek she pulls over herself to sleep under like a blanket


 
LMEggs, I am sooooo glad to hear that you are a reputable, experienced, kind and loving breeder. Sadly there ar emany people who dont operate under the same practices as you. If I had to go to a breeder as apposed to a rescue Id hope theyd be like you. Im shocked to hear of the size though....I had just been told by so many vets and rescues that they just dont stay that small. Anyhow, good job!

Petunia is ADORABLE! yeah, we are hoping to find a rescue as well, and usually rescue translates to "baggage" LOL But she is gorgeous and lucky that you found her nstilwater.
I see some people DO keep them in with the chickens. Thats what I was hoping to do, though it sounds like my gates/fences arent strong enough. But you have never had any trouble with the pig harming the chickens?? I figured it might be best if we got a piglet and raised it in with the chickens as apposed to an older pig who may never have seen chickens, but I was really hoping to get a rescue and often times there arent piglets available. There isnt even many adult pigs available in my area for rescue, only non adoption sanctuaries.
 
Yes, Ive been wondering how I am going to divide the feeding stations up. I thought maybe I could raise the chicken feeders on a platform that a pig cant climb. But then I dont know how I would keep the chickens out of the pig food. LOL

Can I see where you keep your pigs? Your fence? Their sleeping area?
 

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