My pot belly has had a swollen vagina for 10 days now

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,
I am not quite sure how old my girl is exactly but I bought her in mid October, she was 8 - 10 weeks old so I thought. About a week and a half ago I noticed that her vagina was starting to swell and is bright pinky red, also her disposition changed, she became moody but only for the first couple days or so and she peed in the house a couple times. A friend of mine that belongs to a rescue took a picture and sent it to the rescue, they said she is in heat. Could I be wrong about her age? maybe she is a bit older...and is it normal for her to still be swollen like that?? She loves her food, eats, sleeps and is active as usual. I will be spaying her but I didn't think they went into heat this early, she is about 20lbs if not a little bit more.

ANSWER: Yes it is most likely heat. Pigs can come into heat as young as 16 weeks and give birth as young as 26 weeks.

The average piglet gains about 1 lb per weeks, some more, some less. If your pig was 10 weeks on 10/15, she'll be 18 weeks now. Using the average guide as a yardstick, your pig may be 2 to 6 weeks older than you thought.

The important thing with piggy weight is that piggy looks good for her body size and shape, not the numbers on a scale. I assume your pig is a good weight for her size because your rescue friends would have said something if she was overweight.

So healthy weight for her size + her actual weight + her behavior seems to add up to being in heat. It's probably her first. Sometimes everything works right the first time, sometimes bodies need to go through it a few times before things settle into a regular cycle.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your answer, last night she started pushing her nose into my legs constantly and today as well chasing me around the house, plus she is trying to mount me...how long does this last for? Apparently she can not be spayed until she is finished her heat.

Answer
Yes, there is a risk of excessive bleeding when a pig is spayed during the heat portion of her monthly cycle.

Heat usually lasts anywhere from 2 to 5 days. But as she is young, hers could be just a bit longer. I would say that after one week her heat should be over. That is everything from the swelling to the behaviors to the body changes that cause the bleeding risk.

A pigs cycle is usually about 3 weeks long, from heat to heat.