Anyone here own pigs?

[Ibicella]

I agree with River Otter. Pigs are somewhat "advanced" pets if you're getting a typical "pet" pig like a potbelly, and the usual "farm pigs" are NOT pets. I would not allow a small child around either of them. Pigs in general know their own size and strength, and their mouths are filled with very sharp teeth. They are generally very gentle, but they are also unpredictable because they don't see well, and a frightened or angry pig is an extremely dangerous animal. They also will see humans as part of their herds, and pigs get into dominance fights to see who goes where in the hierarchies. Even a small pig would easily overpower and seriously hurt a three year old if they decided they needed to do a dominance test.

So I agree with your wife, a pig would not be a good idea. I grew up caring for a 900 pound hog named Portia, and that pig still gives me nightmares 20 years later.

 

[redhen]

Yep..i agree..pigs arent a good idea for small children..they are SO stinkin smart they will always try to push their boundries. And with a small child that could get a bit scary..
wait till she gets a bit bigger..then sneak in a pig..

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Your daughter is too young for a pig - they are the strongest livestock around pound-for-pound. When she is older, you might want to think about the Guinea Hog. They are a lard type pig that is very rare, and known for thier excellent temperments. They don't get too big (about 200 lbs, which is small for a farm pig). Pot bellies are smaller, and also make good pets.

 

[Haviris]

I agree w/ others that I wouldn't buy a farm pig for a 3 year old. Maybe when she's older, but even then if you want a pet I'd go w/ a pot belly.

Shop around for a small one, I agree that genetics play a much bigger role in adult size then diet, however they are prone to obesity so you do need to watch what they eat.

My pot bellied pig lives outside and free ranges during the day, she does fine, your biggest problem will be preditors, neighbor's dogs probably being the worst. Hilda does really well w/ the kids (6 ranging from 10 down to 2), she even does tricks for them! This is her w/ my 2 year old neice,

 

[gaited horse]

If she still has a love for them after she is nine sign her up for 4-H market hogs or breeding gilts.

 

[pauls clarets09]

Quote:
hi my name is paul blankenship and i raise pigs blue butts to be exact they are the best natured of all swine and raised from a piglet they act like dogs and are really friendly they make great pets and if you want to harvest for food you can up till the age of about 5 after that the become really wild tasting but if you want a free ranging pig be ready to use a shovele alot cause they will dig large holes to bed in and constanly dig for truffles so id prolly keep the free roaming to a min well gtg i hope this helps you and if you need to know ne thing els just fill free to email me at [email protected]


sincerly
paul blankenship byc knows me as pauls clarets09

 

[CMV]

Pigs are not for the faint of heart and they definitely are not for children. I just finished with pigs and all I can say is

I had 2 good pigs and one unholy terror. Pigs are smart, stubborn and very physical creatures. Some will constantly try to escape and you spend all your time reinforcing fencing, filling in holes and chasing pigs through your neighborhood. That gets old very quickly. Prior to owning pigs I never man-handled my animals. I prefer to get animals to cooperate with me rather than trying to physically force them to comply. Pigs do not respond to a hands-off approach. They will use their size to try to dominate you, they'll push you around, they'll bite if they want something you have and you won't give it to them and they'll crowd you and try to pin you against housing/fencing. Pigs also require quite a bit of care and socialization to keep them tame. They drink a ton of water so are constantly needing to be watered. They eat about 30 dollars in grain per month each so are expensive to keep. They stink to high heaven. I worked on the stink- rotating pens, using lime to combat the odor, keeping them as far away from the house as possible-but nothing worked. And they destroy your terrain. We used them to remove stumps, saplings and rocks from an overgrown site. They did a great job at that in about 5 minutes, the remainder of the time they were with us they trampled the heck out of their areas making it so nothing has grown back, girdled trees, dug huge car-sized holes for wallows and basically decimated any area where they were located for more than 2 weeks.

Basically, I am saying do not gets pigs for your child. It would be a huge mistake. Your wife would probably have to kill you.