5 week on PB piglet

Question
Hi Helen,
I reside in South Africa and there is currently very little available for PB pig owners.  I get all my information from books that I have purchased from Amazon and the web.  I have 2 PB's, Violet, who is about 9 months old and a new addition, Oliver, who is only 5 weeks old.  I got Oliver way too early, the people we bought him from called me to say that he was ready at 3 weeks as he was eating pellets and grass and I should fetch him early as I wanted a boy pig! What a load of codswollop! It was way too early and I probably should have done some research before rather than after agreeing agreeing to this. Luckily, I am passionate about these animals, I have a deep love for both my babies and Oliver, I think, has come through the worst of it.  He is healthy and I am exhausted ;O).  Violet we got when she was 3 months old, not the easiest age to get a piglet, she has never been very cuddly, but I am her mommy and she understands and seems to respect that, I am firm with her and although stubborn as hell, we have a wondeful relationship, unlucky for others, she is not a very friendly pig and dislikes children.  I am lucky to have a pet shop in my area that sells me pot belly piggy pellets - NOT farm pig food! or so he says, but Violet has been eating this for a good few months now and she is healthy and well and has a very shiny coat.  I feed her 3 times a day, morning pellets, mid day, fruit & veg, evening pellets, she has a fat belly and I am worried that even though this is a PB trait, am I overfeeding here?

Oliver on the other hand is eating Cerelac No. 1 baby cereal, with great gusto, he wines for food every 3 hours and is going through a box of this a day, I also mix up plain yoghurt with honey and give him this every now and again.  He is eating a box of cereal in a 24 hour period! I am concerned that I may be overfeeding but really am not sure how much I should be feeding him?  Or how long I should have him on the baby cereal before changing to solids? Any advice about feeding a 5 week old piglet would be so appreciated.  My pigs NEVER have and never will eat human food of any sort, i.e. sugar, cheese, scraps of left ovewr dinner.  Also, am I overfeeding Violet?

I bet you get loads of people asking the same questions.  There is a website here is SA for PB pig owners, they are suggesting feeding dog food to PB pigs, is this right?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Kim

Answer
Feeding pigs is more of an art than a science, because every pig is different and every situation is different. So much depends on the individual pigs' metabolism, bone structure and daily exercise. Pigs with short, chubby bodies and snouts tend to develop weight related vision and hearing problems when only mildly overweight.

At 5 weeks, your piglet is ready to be eating pellets. You said - "NOT farm pig food! or so he says" - so I am wondering if you have seen the bag the pellets came in? Pellets look pretty much alike, even experts can not always identify them by visual inspection alone. The only way to be sure the pellets are what they're supposed to be is to see the sealed bag from the manufacturer.

The general rule of thumb is a piglet should gain about 1 lb per week. A piglet should get 1/2 cup per 15 lb of piglet. If the piglet is under 15 lb, then feed the piglet as much as he or she will eat of that 1/2 cup.

Start Oliver on pellets by mixing them into his cereal. They'll puff up and turn to mush. Start with just a few pellets. Each meal add more and more pellets and gradually reduce the amount of cereal.

Dog food is a really bad choice for pbp. The high levels of protein are hard on the kidneys, the high levels of fat cause high cholesterol, the high level of sodium causes high blood pressure. Plus, it affects the pigs digestive system. Normal pig poop looks like pebbles, has little or no odor, and dries quickly (pig people sometimes call them "pig berries"). Pigs fed dog food have poop with an intense, horribly sour odor. It's slimy and the pig often needs a butt washing after going potty.

If you can not weigh your piggies on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, monitor their growth by measuring them. Use the Size To Weight formula here (scroll down to How To Weigh Your Pig Without A Scale)  http://www.pigs4ever.com/PotBelliedPigInfo/size_weight.htm   to calculate their approximate weight based on size.