Micro Pigs - peoples thoughts?

cleopatra4485

I was watching the news yesterday and they were doing a story on the new pet craze of micro pigs

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218472/The-700-teacup-sized-pigs-latest-celebrity-pet.html

My partner and I have our first home together and a baby (almost) and would like to complete our family with a pet. We have both had cats and dogs.

I am thinking a pig would be more of a family pet as aparently they are very intellegent, clean and affectionate and live for 18 years simular to a cat or dog.

What do people think of the £700 price tag? would it be worth it for the above benefits?

Does anyone have pigs, what would vet fees, insurance etc accumulate to?

Money_maker

Do they mind being left alone if you have a day out? Will they dig up the garden? Do you have cover in the event of holidays/emergencies?

So close to giving birth, I would hold off on any new addition which will need a lot of attention.

cleopatra4485

Money_maker wrote: »

Do they mind being left alone if you have a day out? Will they dig up the garden? Do you have cover in the event of holidays/emergencies?

So close to giving birth, I would hold off on any new addition which will need a lot of attention.

Oh yes haha would be a few months yet before I would actually go through with it, would see how we go.

But good points. family also big animal lovers so wouldn't be a problem with pigsitting.

I cant imagine they would be any worst than a cat or dog with digging up the garden.

I think this would be alot of research before I would actually go ahead with it, but reading the article, they do seem very low maintence compared to cats and dogs, fewer health issue. It may be a better option of pet when you know all the facts

Fire_Fox

Are pigs happy being an only pet or are they better with a friend? Can't use your Daily Mail link (my computer!) but another site says the micro ones grow to 90 pounds which is still pretty hefty!
http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/tiny_teacup_pigs

cleopatra4485

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Are pigs happy being an only pet or are they better with a friend? Can't use your Daily Mail link (my computer!) but another site says the micro ones grow to 90 pounds which is still pretty hefty!
http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/tiny_teacup_pigs

Yes it doesnt answer the friend question, i would also like to know that.

I would probabaly want to look at a fully grown adult in the piggy flesh but the article says - At two years old they are fully grown and weigh in around 40-65lb and are about knee height at 12-16in tall.

picklepick

I'm no expert but from what ive read, pigs are highly intelligent animals. Easier to train than puppies but if not trained properly they can be right little !!!!!!s!

Perhaps you could join a dedicated pig keepers forum. They do exist! And do some reading on there. I know they need vaccinations and boosters and regular worming, like any other pet you might keep

shelley_crow

I looked into these a while ago and even though they are micro, you still need a movement licence from DEFRA for moving them on or off your property.

Whitewillow_2

Scroll down on this link http://www.pennywellfarm.co.uk/wealsodo.html and they give you the info there, also as they supply them they have an email address for further info HTH

MrsTinks

Pigs are generally very clean animals but you would be restricted in exercising the animal... due to foot and mouth mainly you wouldn't be allowed to walk your pet pig off your property as it would increase the risk or spreading any potential infections and trust me - you would NOT want to be at the sharp end of a farmers lawsuit if they thought or knew you had potentially infected their herds with F&M! Unless you're secretly a billionaire that is...
would you even be able to get insurance for this type of pet? You might want to look into that...
My personal view is that yes pigs can be kept as pets - but not in an urban environment. Not to mention that you may find there are bylaws preventing you from having livestock where you live if it's not a countryside location - I know there is where we live which is a village backing onto fields... If you got a livestock animal like a pig and it was against the laws the animal would be removed and destroyed.

As for fads... *sigh* well I doubt that the breeders have been particularly interested in breeding healthy animals - the only way to acchieve a drastic change like this to a breed is by severe inbreeding - this usually means there are massive increases in the risk for hereditary problems and diseases. If you want to continue encouraging inbreeding on the scale of puppy farms then I suppose a mini pig might be attractive - if you have room for a pig though I'd suggest getting a healthy pot belly from a rescue myself And yes they WILL trash your garden more than a dog! It's their nature to root for goodies under the ground... not ideal if you are going to have a toddler crawling around soon...

louisdog

I kept pigs and would say that you need to keep two really, also I think they would wreck your garden by digging it. You cannot take them out and about without a special licence. Personally I wouldn't think they would be as rewarding as a dog or cat, sorry, also I think they would get pretty large so you'd need a big garden (think they may reach about 20kg so labrador sized). Mine used to bite quite hard and were harder to train than my dogs because they were intelligent but less keen to please. They were great fun animals though so don't let me put you off!

cleopatra4485

some very helpful feedback. I really wouldn't want to encourage inbreeding and poor health in animals.

I may email or call the farm place from the link above to get their take on things.

Looks like it may be a little pug puppy instead :rotfl: