FEEDING YOUR PIG *New* | pmmjulianapigs

FEEDING YOUR PIG

I constantly see things online about feeding mini pigs. There seems to be so many misconceptions about the amounts of food you should feed your pig. How do you know what to go by? An average rule of thumb is that a pig should be eating 2 to 2.5 % of their weight of food per day. (Oddly enough, it's about the same for a human, in fact a human eats less in most cases!)There are some articles that tell you that a pig cannot survive on an 1/8 cup of food. These articles are obviously put out by people that do not have experience with these little bitty pigs or by those who claim that there is no such thing as a mini pig. Some people can't help themselves, they just have to be negative. My daughter takes pictures almost daily of our piggies and I can verify that our pigs have never been underfed throughout their lives (in fact, they are more chubby than not most times), and none of them are over 35 lbs full grown. The Julianas are a true mini and anyone who tells you there is no such thing has clearly not experienced these cutest little pigs in all their tiny glory. And for the record, it's true, an older pig cannot survive on an 1/8 cup of food, but a baby only needs 1/8 cup, two to three times per day. Bare with me while I explain.

How Much To Feed

When your piggy arrives, it will most likely weigh less than 3 lbs. 2 % of it's body weight is less than one ounce of food, which is about 1/4 cup. Now, because your piggy is a baby and needs to be fed more than one meal a day, (you do not want to starve the little thing), so you split that between two or 3 meals, which in turn ends up being about 1/8 cup of food per meal. However, my recommendation is that you feed 3 meals/day for the first 4 to 6 weeks that you have them home, and then if you would like to cut back to 2 meals, you may do so. All the while, feeding 2 to 2.5 % of the piggies body weight in food total for the day. A good breeder will ship a couple of pre-packaged meals for your baby to show you what they are used to eating and how much. If you absolutely feel guilty and you want to increase the amount of food, ad an extra slice of carrot or celery. Something that does not contain a lot of calories.

Now, obviously your piggy should begin to grow, but these little pigs (Juliana) do not typically grow very fast, if fed correctly. They are not like a puppy that is fully grown in 6-8 months. They are not fully grown for 2 - 3 years so they are suppose to grow at a slower rate. Therefore, what you feed is extremely important. We recommend Mizuri Mini Pig Adult Formula food. Do not feed these pigs the youth formula as it has different levels of proteins and has been tied to seizures) It is extremely IMPORTANT that you never feed your mini pig any kind of hog 'grower' or 'starter'. These types of foods are made with products to induce growth for feed hogs. Your piggy is not going to be a feeder pig, you do not want him gaining fat. He needs to have a healthy diet of food made specifically for mini pigs. I cannot stress that point enough.

Make sure you give your piggy plenty of water with each meal and they should have fresh water available at all times. You will notice, however, that they will drink mostly while they are eating.

What To Feed

Along with the piggy pellets, your pig will require fruits and vegetables. We mix the food for each meal with between 25% to 40% fruits and veggies and the rest is pellets. Because we are a breeder, I am peticular about what I feed. We plant a garden soley for the pigs. Fall looks something like this at our house. All those extra zuccini that we used to have on the counter now feed our piggies and they love them! Note that they also have excellent hearing, so our kitchen lights up with little piggy faces as soon as they hear us slicing and dicing their dinner.

This is a 1 cup measuring cup filled with the amount that we feed a 6 to 8 week old pig. Note that the veggies take up about 40% of our meal. Also take into account that if you give treats, those need to be healthy and be included in their daily intake of food. Even grazing on the lawn should be taken into account. As little as a teaspoon of pellets can make a huge difference in weight gain.

What do you do with your leftover jackolanterns? We put them in the freezer for winter food supply. Piggies LOVE pumpkin!

We put up pumkin, squash, kale, carrots, green beans and peas for the piggies to feed through the winter. When I do buy veggies from the store, I buy only organic. Yes, it costs a little more, but I feel like their health is crucial to producing quality babies, so we only feed them the best.

Pigs love just about any kind of food, but that doesn't mean they should have it. Fruits that are good to feed them are apples, pears, and such. Stay away from citrus and anything that has a pit in it like cherries or peaches and apricots. Though they can eat the fruit itself, do not let them have the pits. Not only is there a choking hazard, but the inside of the pit contains cianide.....aaahhhh! (My grandmother killed a pig feeding it leftever slop that had apricot pits in it) Slop is a bad word at our house. My husband claims the pigs eat better than he does, lol.

This is what each meal looks like at our house. Sometimes it has fresh, sometimes frozen veggies, and sometimes fruit to mix it up. I love food and so do my piggies, but I don't like the same thing everyday, and they probably don't either. We spoil them, but we love them!

How Do I Know If My Pig Is Getting Enough Food

There are some key things you can do to maintain your piggy at a healthy weight if you know what to look for. Because pigs are very efficient at processing their food, changes in too much or too little food can be recognized within just a couple of days. Likewise, can be corrected in just a couple of days too.

When you look at your piggy, they should be lean, but not skinny. You should be able to feel their hip bones and ribs, but not ever see them. If you can not feel these bones, your piggy is too fat. They will also have a double chin if they are becoming obese. If this is the case, cut back on their food. Though a chubby piggy is a cute piggy, it is not healthy for them and a pig will convert that fat, when they are young, into growth, ending up taller and longer, therefore ending up as a bigger mini pig. This is why it's crucial to monitor their weight extensively for the first couple of years. See examples below.

Below is Piggy Lu at about the same age. She does not have the chubbiness around her jowls. The difference in these two girls now is that Lola ended up being about 1 1/2 inches taller and a little longer in size than Piggy and they are only a month apart in age. It's all about how you handle their feed.

Treats

What kind of treats are ok? When we give treats, we only use fruits and veggies. Little chunks of apples are a favorite of every pig I've ever met. And....they become used to only healthy if you discipline yourself to only feeding them 'healthy'. Just out of curiosity, I tried giving Piggy Lu a a small peice of a chocolate chip cookie once and she turned her nose up and wouldn't eat it because she had never had anything like that before. My pigs do not get cheerios and such except in their very first bath. I sometimes use them to keep their attention on something other than the panic of thinking they are going to drown.

Salt can be poisonous to a pig, so you'll want to steer clear of anything with added sodium.

Below is a picture of Lola Mae currently. She is lean but not skinny, yet not overweight and she has plenty of energy to race around and buck through the house and backyard....which she does regularly.

Below is Piggy Lu from Early February. She is a tad bit overweight in this photo, but not enough to concern me. Winter is a good time for a little extra insulation.

Below you have a picture of Lola Mae as a baby about 2 months old. Note that she has some serious chubbyness around her jowls. She is adorable, but overfed.

The point I would like to emphasize is this. If you have a pure Juliana pig, and you feed it a healthy diet within the guidlines I have listed above, it's not going to end up being any bigger than the standard size of a Juliana because that is in their genes. You should never underfeed your pig to keep it small, and if fed correctly, you wouldn't need to anyway. An undernourished pig will end up unruley and sometimes aggressive because they are starving. (I would be grumpy too) An overfed pig will end up lazy and inactive because it is harder for them to move around with all that extra weight. They will live a long and healthy life if you care for them properly.