She ended up with intense front leg and shoulder pain, which our vet suspected was caused by a fracture due to low bone density. Another tiny pig who came to the Sanctuary had been on a strict diet of yogurt and oatmeal (per her contract from the breeder). People who buy these pigs sometimes become overwhelmed by the pigs’ medical issues and, you guessed it, end up relinquishing them to a shelter or rescue group.Īt Best Friends, we took in one micro pig who was so delicate that her pink skin bruised at the lightest touch. Inbreeding can indeed create smaller and smaller pigs, but it can also produce animals with low bone density, reduced immunity, failure to thrive and decreased mental capacity. It may result in offspring with the desired trait, but they usually also have unintended undesirable traits. Continually breeding parents to their babies or breeding siblings with one another are unsound breeding practices. Inbreeding is another tactic that breeders use in their attempts to create very small pigs. It is not uncommon for pet pigs to be surrendered to rescue groups and shelters for this reason. If they don’t get enough to eat, they can become very food-aggressive: charging the dinner table, biting people’s legs or feet while they’re preparing meals, and even tearing apart cupboards, couches and carpets in search of any tiny morsel of food. The same thing can happen with underfed pigs. Think about it: If you were hungry all the time, you’d probably get cranky. The lack of food can also cause food-aggressive behaviors. The result is that the pig’s growth can become stunted, which can cause major medical issues. Often, the prescribed amount of food is nowhere near enough to support a growing baby pig. Extremely restrictive dietĪnother tactic that some breeders use is sending their piglets out to new piggy parents with a contract stating that the pig should be fed exactly what the breeder recommends - no more, no less. A pig from that litter could be anywhere from 50 to 150 pounds when full-grown. Even if two 75-pound pigs are bred together, there’s no guarantee that the pigs born of those parents will also be only 75 pounds. They are relinquished because their unsuspecting owners had no idea their pigs would grow so large. Size is one of the primary reasons that pet potbellied pigs are surrendered to rescue groups and shelters. The pig produced from these two will surely be small as well.” The problem is that pigs can breed at four months of age, but they typically reach full height at around three years of age, and can continue to fill out and add weight until they are four or five years old. One of these tactics is breeding young pigs to one another so when a potential buyer comes to look at the parent pigs, the breeder can say, “Here are the parents look how small they are. And sometimes breeders use deceptive tactics to convince buyers that they’re getting a small pig. The truth is that very small pigs do exist, but producing a tiny pig comes with negative repercussions for both the pig and the owner, such as a shorter life expectancy and costly medical issues. (They’re also called micro-mini, Juliana, nano or dandie pigs.) Is it all hype or is there such a thing as a mini pig? One of the pet trends in recent years is the sale of so-called mini or teacup pigs.
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