3 week mini pig wont eat!!

Question
QUESTION: Ok yesterday morning I got a mini pig that will be 3 weeks on wed. I bought the milk replacer at tractor supply and vitamin d milk. I first tried the replacer milk warm in a bottle and he WOULD NOT TAKE IT AT ALL!!! So I tried it in a saucer nope nothing.  So today I tried the vitamin d milk warm in the bottle and in the saucer nothing again. PLEASE HELP ME IM NEW TO THE BABY THING! I'm really worried! He has also peed about 5 times and has not pooped AT ALL!

ANSWER: A three week old piglet is very young to be away from mom. Piggy is not weaned and does not know how to eat.

Goat milk is best, but the replacement formula is Ok too. Keep offering the goat milk in a very shallow pan, at room temperature or just very slightly warm, NOT hot. Piggy will not poop unless he eats.

If piggy does not eat in a day or so, contact a veterinarian for help. It's cruel and unethical to take a baby away from Mom so young, especially one that does not know how to eat on his own. There's a good chance this unethical breeder also lied about piggy's age, piggy could be even younger and may need vitamins and colostrum. There's a list of vets that see pot-bellied pigs at www.farec.org

I highly recommend the book Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training by Priscilla Valentine. Pris really understands how pigs think and why they do the things they do. She goes into much more detail than I can here. Her book is available at amazon.com

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BENTLEY   QUESTION: Follow up!
My piggy was never "taken" away from the mother, she died and I took on one of the babies.  The baby is true to age because I was there to witness the birth.  He is eating now thank goodness and now im just waiting for him to poop to relieve my worries.

Answer
I'm relieved to hear piggy is eating! I'm glad to hear that piggy was not deliberately taken, though I am sad to hear about his mom. Your situation is unusual, almost every time someone has a young baby like this, it's been sold by a breeder.

If piggy doesn't poop in a day or so, try stirring a little bit of canned pumpkin (plain not the pie mix) into his milk, and take him for a ride in the car.

Good luck with your baby!