Baby Pig. Now What?

[jimmyj]

Hey Eddie, you remember Arnold from "Green Acres" - look what you're in for!!

 

[LBrown59]

Looks like "Spot" is a natural for him.

Or spottie.

 

[EddieWalker]

Mom trumped me on the name, so that's a done deal, but with Spot being so popular, and the fact that his ears are so big and pointy like a Star Trek Vulcan, Mr. Spot might have been an option.

Eddie

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

Since he's colored like that, you should take him down to the Fire Department. He can ride on the engine in the Veterans' Day Parade.

 

[jinman]

My plan is to get him castrated. I don't think it's something I should try myself. I've read the links and it sounds basic enough, but know from experience working on homes that it takes a few tries to get things just right. First time for me, means the odds are good that I'll mess it up.

I don't know what the vet might say or others tell you, but I know my dad always said you have to wait until a pig's "test-nickels" drop before you can cut them. From my experience, you need to wear hearing protection and be careful they don't bite a chunk out of you while you are doin' the deed. The last three we did when I was about 14 and I don't care to ever do it again.

 

[milkman]

I'm more then a little nervous about what he will turn into. Eddie

I would think that if you raise him as a pet, he will be gentle like any other pet, especially if he's castrated. When I was young and we had hogs on the farm, the only ones that were dangerous or hard to deal with was some of the sows when they had little ones. Would be interesting watching him grow up here on TBN if you do keep him.

 

[arpt209]

My sister and her husband actually had a pig on their ranch in CA. They said that pigs are VERY smart and they had house trained it. I think it was one of the smaller breeds and not a full sized one.



I remember my brother raising a pig, Olivia Pig Newton John, She was house trained, did tricks, came when called, knew how to jump into the cab of his truck & sit on the seat. I went to his house one day & he & Olivia were not home. His wife told me it was pretty sad when he called her out to the truck & had her jump in for her ride to the slaughter house.
I don't raise critters to eat. Certainly not condemning anyone who does. My favorite meal is a cheeseburger with a pork chop on it. I get too attached & simply can't part with a family member.

 

[EddieWalker]

I was at a BBQ today and spoke to a woman who's worked for a vet for a dozen years. She's cut more pigs, and othere animals than she can remember. Said she'd do it for me for free, but only if he was 20 pounds.

Looks like Oscar gets to keep them for another 19 pounds!!!!!

Eddie

 

[Zork]

............I'm also working on names for him. Any suggestions?

Thank you for the link on castrating him. .......... What I'm wanting is to calm him down, or make him more docile. Will castrating him do that?

Thank you
Eddie

Congratulations on the name choice. That's a good sign; cause if you had said "yum, yum" his life expectancy might not be long. Good luck! I do not know about the castration. I think the "calmness" will depend on how you raise him. Surely testosterone will give him a mind of his own from time to time, but I have had several male dogs and did not nip them, many of them large, and they have really been no problem. I guess for dogs and cats its more of a reproduction and Ferrel issue. You can alway put a ring in his nose.

 

[clemsonfor]

One thing you might worry about is his tusks. They may not fully develop if he's fixed but you may have to have them removed.

Pigs go feral pretty quick and the other way quickly as well. We will say this pig was a wild pig, but raised in captivity he is likely not to develope tusks. I watched a show on it and tame captive pigs that are released into the wild turn to ferrel animals in days to weeks, acting just like their wild cousins. And it was either the released ones would develope tusks or that the off spring of the capive/released pigs would have tusks now that they are in the wild. Pigs are the only animal that man keeps that will turn this quickly wild/tame, tame/wild.