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rubbing his nose on anything

22 9:13:59

Question
QUESTION: i got a 5 week old pig on memorial day and ever since i got him, hes been rubbing his nose on mine and my wife's leg. than as more days pass its been different objects as well such as blankets, and pillows as well as on our heads, and stomachs. he sleeps with us at night and out of no where he would start rubbing his nose on us.

how do i get him to stop that?

ANSWER: The nose rubbing is nursing behavior. That's what baby pigs do when they nurse on mom pig. When your baby starts to do this, distract him by giving him something he can rub his nose on, like a stuffed animal, pillow or a rolled towel. Breeders often take baby pigs away from their momma early, momma pigs usually start to wean their babies between 8 and 12 weeks of age. So when your baby reaches about 12 weeks or 3 months old, this behavior will decrease dramatically on it's own. Because your baby was weaned early, he may not stop completely until he is about 6 months or so.

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

QUESTION: My pig now has diarrhea or watery poop, but we give him fresh water everyday and give him clean food. also we keep his litter box clean. a little bit of the poop just oozes out so i don't know if it is diarrhea. is it that hes over fed? we give him a 1/4 a cup of pellets a day, but he always eats grass outside. so what could be the cause of it?

Answer
Normally, a 5 week old piglet is still nursing and just starting to sample new foods. The grass could be a little hard for him to digest. As long as his poop is mostly formed, like "pig berries", he's fine, even if the fresh "berries" are soft and moist.

Piglets should gain 1 lb per week. A 5 week old piglet should weigh 5 or 6 lb. The general rule of thumb is 1/2 cup of pelleted food per 15 lb of piglet, with a minimum of 1/2 cup for a weaned piglet. Your baby is a bit younger and smaller than weaning age, and probably could not eat a full 1/2 cup per day, but he probably should be getting a bit more than 1/4 cup, especially if he is eating adult pig pellets. Starter pellets made for babies have more fat, calories, etc. so babies can get plenty of nutrition in a smaller amount of food.

So if you increase his food slightly he may eat less grass and you'll probably see a change in his poop. When he gets older he'll be better able to digest grass, roots, etc.