Question About Pot Belly Pigs-----Very Worried

[elevan]

I would suggest that you read some of the threads on BYH regarding the damage done by pots to other animals.

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=10638

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9288

I would never allow them to be ranged or penned with other animals (any other animal) after my own experience and several other people's experiences. Seriously read the posts.

 

[math ace]

My pot bellies are 8 years old and would not dream of going after anything....

The chickens free range with them. The roosters call for treats and the pigs come instead.
They have had cats as bed mates too.
They have never attack or challenged or done anything but be gentle to my children.

Pots are SMART and must be trained.


With that being said....

1.) Pigs are driven by FOOD.... I have had horrid issues trying to feed the other animals around the pigs because they keep trying to steal their food.

2) MALE pot bellies pigs can be more of an issue than females... Their tusks are bigger and therefore more dangerous.
Both of my pot bellies are females..

3.) Pots are afraid of small spaces and being caught in them. My girls will hurt themselves in a PANIC to escape from a space they feel cornered in.

 

[elevan]

It's never a problem until it is.

I'm glad you've been lucky. Not everyone is.

 

[drdoolittle]

My pots are definately going to be in their own area-----and I have read the p[osts on BYHs. I just think it would be o.k. to let them in the larger area when I'm out there---maybe not. I feed the animals separately, so there haven't been issues that way, but I will feel better once they are completely separated.

 

[redhen]

My 3 pots are FINE with my other animals.. chickens/ geese/ cats/ dogs../and (when i had them) goats.

You will NEED to let them out into the yard to associate with the other farm animals...
Pots are waaaay too smart to keep in a pen all thier life. Its cruel.
My pigs are SOOOOOOOOOOO happy when i let them roam my yard.. they LOVE it!
I have a pig house and pen area just for them, and several times a week i let them in my fenced yard to roam around and root up food..etc...
They NEED to be let out of their pen sometimes or they will go stir crazy..they are just too smart to be penned up every day of their lives..

As for housing them..i do not have them housed(locked in at night).. with other animals... not sure i would feel comfy doing that, as pigs can sometimes be protective for their housing.
But again , its ALL in how you raise them.... (actually, when they lived in the house, the cats slept with them...and when i had goats i put the pigs int he pen with my goats and they all hung out in the barn together all day long with NO problems at all.. so...)
The ONLY animal i have seen my pigs go after was dogs... when my dog gets going crazy and runs at the pigs(to play with them)..Hammie and Olivia will turn around and charge her.. to tell her to back off.. which she does.. shes no fool!

They have NEVER bitten anything or anyone...( Well, Hammie and i have had a few squabbles..but thats another story.

)

Also, by letting them out with your other animals it will keep them tame/associated with those other animals,. which they will NEED, to keep them tame with those animals....
And i need pics of the piggies in question..

...

 

[elevan]

My pot nearly took down a full size horse. We nearly had to put the horse down but was able to save him. The pot was allowed to roam the pasture with all of my animals and had his own shelter...was fed separately...yada yada

He became ham and bacon. End of story.

My female pots were allowed to roam the pasture (thinking that the previous problem was a male thing) and they attacked our goats and chickens. They were put into a secure pen with housing. They have an outside yard that is all their own and no other animals are allowed access.

It is my experience...not a second hand story. To each their own and to decide what they will do on their farm, but I will always warn others of the danger of keeping pigs with any other stock. Pots are pigs - pure and simple - they may be cute and smaller than your average hog - but they are pigs.

 

[redhen]

Tis true.. always use common sense with you mix any different animals together... makes sense to me!

 

[CranberryCreekFarm]

my pbp has an inside/outside pen but also roams the large community pen. I have goats, chickens, ducks, a few rabbits all hanging out in there and never had problems. My PBP is about 3 years old and the bucklings are about 15 weeks old. I think it just depends on the temperment of your particular animals.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
This is incredible.... I had no idea, based on my pots behavior, that this was even possible.
I would NEVER own a pot if there were nasty like this.

Out of curiousity, were the pots brother and sisters?
How old were they?
Had they ever showed any aggression before ?
Were they pure pots OR pot/swine mixes?

Your experience is so different from mine AND what I studied about them BEFORE I acquired mine . . . That I am just shocked.
I don't want to HYJACK the OP thread, but I am really am curious.... If you don't feel comfortable answering on the forum PLEASE pm me!

Thanks

 

[elevan]

Quote:
This is incredible.... I had no idea, based on my pots behavior, that this was even possible.
I would NEVER own a pot if there were nasty like this.

Out of curiousity, were the pots brother and sisters?
How old were they?
Had they ever showed any aggression before ?
Were they pure pots OR pot/swine mixes?

Your experience is so different from mine AND what I studied about them BEFORE I acquired mine . . . That I am just shocked.
I don't want to HYJACK the OP thread, but I am really am curious.... If you don't feel comfortable answering on the forum PLEASE pm me!

Thanks

I have no problem answering your questions.

None of my pots were related to each other. All are / were pure pot - no mix.

Porky (the male) was very sweet until the incident that changed everything. He was approximately 5 years old. I would have never seen it coming. He interacted well with the horses, goats, chickens, people...everyone. I let my boys play with him (ages 4 and 6 at the time) without fear for them. And he was our only pot at the time. He jumped up (no provocation) and ripped the horse open from tail to belly cutting 3/4 of the way through the "thigh / hip" area muscle. Who knew a pot could jump like that? I certainly didn't. He was then penned in a stall by himself until slaughter was arranged. The horse is a full grown Morgan mare.

We decided to try again with pots and got 2 girls this time...thinking that the previous incident was related to being male aggression.

Spam and Mugsley were allowed to roam with all of our animals. Again, not showing aggression toward critter or human. As soon as they were around 50# or better, it was almost like a gang mentality...time to pick on the other guys. They never caused any injuries but all it took was them snapping at the chickens and goats (whose only crime seemed to be getting near them) for us to separate them permanently. If they had caused injury they would have been slaughtered as well. Instead I saw their aggression as a warning and heeded it.

Pigs are territorial and while none of the incidents happened in / or near their housing, I am partially inclined to believe that the other animals getting "in their space" (as in close to them) led to the confrontations in both instances. idk...

What I do know is that nothing is ever a problem until it is. None of these pots were abused. None were bullied by the other animals.

For those who allow their pots to run with other animals I can only hope that you never have to see the gory scene that I and several other I know of have had to witness due to a pot attack. I now also don't allow my children around pots. My goodness, what if Porky had did that to one of my kids instead of the horse or even myself...the result could have been death - it almost was for the horse as we almost had to put it down.

The barnyard isn't a fairy tale like Charlotte's Web - it's real life and in real life you deal with instincts, personalities and sometimes tragedy.

My story is a warning - take it or leave it.

eta: for those that think there are mini pots...when fully grown around age 3 the pot will weigh between 50-80# Some get a little larger. And they are very strong even before they reach that weight. They don't stay tiny forever.