Young Pig with Smelly Diarrhea

Question
I purchased a mini pig about 3 weeks ago. She is 9 weeks old and has been eating and doing well. We got attached to her so fast that we went back and bought another pig. Long story short, the first 2 1/2 weeks there were no problems and now she has foul smelling diarrhea. She had been using her litter box since the day I brought her home until the last coule days and now she just goes potty wherever she is.   The breeders of these pigs told me to feed them whole milk with bread mixed in it so that is what I have been feeding them. I have pellets out for them but they haven't started eating them yet.

Answer
Pigs wean their babies at about 8 weeks. A 9 week old pig needs the nutrition from pellets, and should be able to eat them.

Several different things can cause diarrhea, from e. coli infection to a sudden change in diet. Goats milk is much better for piglets, it's much easier for them to digest.

Try giving her a mix of goat milk, cow milk and banana. If the diarrhea doesn't clear up on it's own in a day or so, piggy will need to see a vet for medication.

Start her on pellets by eliminating the bread and mixing in a few pellets. Let them soak a while to nearly dissolve. Add more and more pellets at each meal, until the meal looks like cream of wheat cereal. At this point you can begin to reduce the milk until piggy is eating dry pellets, or switch from milk to water.