Age, feed, litter

Question

Olivia   QUESTION: I just got Olivia a week ago today and I was so excited to get her home and love on her, I didn't ask many questions.  How can I tell the approximate age?  she is about the size of my foot... She seems to be very healthy but now that I have read some of the different articles, I feel like I am not feeding her very healthy... Also, they told me they broke her teeth, so she couldn't bite us hard... so she is eating/drinking her food... I am giving her 14% protein pellets soaked/watered down with cow milk... Can you give me some advice on how to care for her or if I am doing ok?

Thank you so much for your time :)

ANSWER: Baby pot-bellied piglets should gain at least one pound a week. So if she's 3 or 4 lb, she's about 4 weeks old.

The "broken teeth" are the baby teeth that piglets are born with. Most breeders trim them so they can't hurt mom when they feed. She'll start loosing those teeth and growing new ones when she's about 4 weeks old.

Goat milk is better than cow milk, especially if she's eating a regular feed instead of a starter feed. What's inside the bag is more important than the name on the outside. The first few ingredients should be recognizable grains, like oat, wheat or alfalfa.

I highly recommend the book Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training by Priscilla Valentine. Pris really understands how pigs think and explains why they do what they do. It's much easier to start off with good habits than to try to undo bad habits later, and this book can help you do that. She goes into much greater detail about piggy care and training than I can here. Her book is available from Amazon.com or her website valentinesperformingpigs.com

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QUESTION: Thank u very much! Also, should I try giving the goats milk to her n a bottle to help her get more used to us? And I have 2 kiddos that r 2 and 3... I want her to b used to them, but they r rowdy, so do I keep them away from her til she is more used to her new living situation and me, or do I let my children play w her (obviously supervised by me) for a little while each day to get her used to their voices and personalities? I just don't want her to b scared of them forever! Haha! I want them to take part n the bonding, but just don't want her to get traumatized!  Also, I work during the day but spend time w her n the morning and evening, it seems like I have to keep regaining her trust... Like starting over every morning and every night... Is that normal?

ANSWER: It's cute to watch babies drink from bottles, but baby pigs tend to aspirate while drinking from a bottle and that can lead to pneumonia, so it's best to just let her eat from her dish.

Baby pigs are rarely far from their mother's side, so your baby is a little scared and confused. It isn't normal for a baby to be alone all day long, and it's probably hard on her. So it will take longer for her to bond with you and potty training may be harder, too. Give her lots of toys to occupy her time, or she may quickly become destructive out of boardness and loneliness. Piglets like dog toys, cat toys, and infant toys. An empty 2-liter bottle with holes punched in the side and filled with pellets or popcorn (make sure the food is small enough to fall out of the holes) will keep her busy for awhile.

Start by sitting quietly and let her come to you. Hold her dish while she eats, get her to sit on your lap while she eats. Once she feels safe and comfortable with you, you can introduce her to your kids. Keep the interactions fairly short until your pig is a little bit bigger.

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QUESTION: I am trying to housebreak Olivia... So I got the bright idea to use dirt n the litter box... Is that ok? I thought it would make it more natural and an easier transition to outside pottying.

Answer
The two issues I see with using dirt are weight and, well, dirt. Dirt, particularly sandy or clay soils, can be pretty heavy when it gets wet. My other concern is dirt sticking to little piggy feet and getting spread all over.

Pigs, unlike cats or dogs, think about the actual spot when they potty, not what kind of box they're in or what kind of litter they're using. In other words, if you put a litter box in the corner, piggy will always think of that corner as a potty spot.

So for potty training, take her outside to potty as often as possible. She'll be about a year old before she's able to "hold" her potty all day, so she'll need that box. One big problem people have with potty training is they don't realize their little piglet is having little "accidents"; instead, they think that piggy is "holding it" a lot longer than he really is. So, piggy gets used to making little "accidents", that get bigger as piggy gets bigger. Eventually piggy thinks it's ok to use that spot, because he's been using it undetected for a long time, and the owner thinks piggy has forgotten all the potty training. So make sure piggy goes to her box or outside very frequently.

Piggies sometimes try to eat litter, so do not use clumping cat litter. Regular clay litter is Ok, but it can weigh a lot when wet, and some pigs find it a particularly attractive snack. Recycled paper pellets are not available everywhere, but shredded newspaper is a cheap alternative. Some people use no litter at all, instead they put a rubber mat at the bottom, dump the box after use and rinse it out.