Monday, March 28, 2011

Size, Weight & More...

This is one thing that can't be stressed enough. Please do not confuse a pigs size with his weight. Potbellied pigs are very dense. Thus, there is a lot of weight in those little bodies.

The average size of our pet pigs should be that of a medium sized dog. However, the average weight is around 120 - 150 pounds, with some weighing less and some weighing more. Just because some of our pigs weigh 200+ pounds does not mean that they are fat or overweight. Some are just bigger.

There are breeders out there telling people that if they don't feed their pig very much it will stay small. All this does is make for an unhealthy pig.  The same goes for over feeding your pig. And now we have come across a few vets that want a skinny pig and are telling people not to feed them what we would consider a normal feeding. Pigs are not skinny animals they are pigs and should be plump or that pot belly, hence their name.

Please don't fall for these so called Miro Mini, TeaCup, Royal Dandie pigs that some breeders are selling. There are now a number of web sites with info about these so called tiny pigs. Always remember that the breeder is interested in your money, not always the welfare of the pig.

This is my favorite example on feeding affecting the size of your pig. If you have a Chihuahua and feed it say 4-5 cups of chow a day it is not going to get any bigger. Fatter yes, bigger no! The size has already been determined by genetics. The same principle applies to our pigs. So why are so many people literally starving their pigs by only feeding 1/4 cup of feed a day? Because they were either told to or thought that would keep the pig small. We don't do this with any other animal, but for some reason think it is okay to do to a pig.

The first year of a pigs life is the most important as that is when they are doing most of their growing and building their immune system. This is why they need that pig chow. It has the proper amount of protein and nutrients. However, it doesn't help if they aren't getting enough.

We suggest an average of 2 cups of pig chow a day. If the pig is really hungry then you will up the feed. You are going to have to determine if he is really hungry or just being a pig. :)

This will not affect your pig’s size!!!

1 comment:

  1. Yankees you for having information my Wilbur is 5year old he is over weight and we are trying to get it down

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