piglet problem

Question
i took in a rescue pig a few months ago. they said she was spayed but guess
what she had three babies 16 days ago. i did just check on her a half an hour
before she had them and when i returned there were 3 babies 2 dead and one
very cold and pushed to the side. i put him on heat and within a few hours he
was walking. i tried to put him back with his mom but she tried to kill him
instantly. he has been eating goats milk with rice cereal and doing great. he
is friendly had has doubled in size since his birth. he lives in a 3 foot long
clear tupper wear storage bin in my bed room. i put towels on the bottom
and a little poop box which he always uses. yesterday morning i noticed his
left front leg looked a little swollen and he was favoring it. today it is worse
and i am worried. he is still eating and does not act like he is in pain but his
leg is quite swollen. it is not hot or red like there is an infection, but his
hooves look a little discolored. i called a vet in my area that is supposed to
treat pot bellies but he never returned my call. please help, i love this little
guy. thanks. hollie

Answer
Thank you for rescuing the Momma pig. It's shockingly common for dumped females to have unexpected babies. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to visibly identify a spayed female vs intact female. But now that you know for sure the Momma pig is intact, and not interested in being a Momma, it is safe to have her spayed ASAP.

Piglets love to run and jump. They will leap in the air, twist around like a cat, land, and run again. This is how they escape predators in the wild.

I am not a vet, but it sounds to me as if your baby might have accidentally sprained or strained his leg while playing.

Pigs hooves can be strange colors, sometimes black pigs hoofs are dark red, pinkish, or grey; white pig hooves can be grey/white, pink, black, or red. Pigs can also change colors as they grow, and so can their hooves. The new coloration on the hoof may be a natural color change.

Goats milk is a great diet for baby pigs, but it isn't his Momma's milk, so you might want to switch him to a baby pbp food soon, and possibly add vitamins to his diet. Older piglets do well on an ordinary children's vitamin, but he is very young. Your vet might be able to recommend a dietary supplement, or give a booster injection.

Heartland Animal Health makes excellent products, including baby piglet feeds and vitamin supplements. If you purchase through Darlynn's Darlin's  website at http://www.darlynnsdarlins.org/pigsupplies.htm Heartland will donate a portion of the proceeds to the pig sanctuary.

Yahoo groups has several groups devoted to pot-bellied pigs. PigInfoAndChat and PotSpot both have members who are very experienced in hand raising abandoned baby pbps.