Pig do's and Donts Tips to help Keep Your Pigger Family Healthy

SO I wanted to help you know what to do for your piggers and what to not do to the piggers so this might be a long one here we go.

First question I am getting a lot would be "Winter is coming what should I do to help my pigger stay warm". There are 2 ways to help outside piggers stay warm and safe. You can use Hay in the pigger houses or you can use blankets and heat lamps. now NEVER mix the two. If you use hot lamps do not use hay because of the risk of the hay catching on fire from the heat lamps. Hay works very good because the piggers own body heat is insulated in the hay NEVER use wet hay or moldy hay mold is bad to breath and wet hay takes heat away from the pigger. having more then one pigger in a house allows them to give each other body heat. But as you might kow not all pigs get along. ;8)

Next I get lots of questions about what is god to feed piggers and not feed piggers. Now when it comes to plants pigs seem to know what is very bad for them but please if you know a plant is toxic do not plant it where the pig can get to it. It is not worth the risk. A piglet under a year of age can eat a 1 cup twice a day, This includes the snacks and but you will want to decrease this as the pig ages and doesn't get up and move as much. The most important thing to remember is that your pigs are very intelligent animals and if they are not enriched with things to do they will be come board and start sleeping a lot. This will cause them to put and keep the weight on. So in a days time your piglets should not get over 2 cups of anything to eat. If they graze you have to calculate that in as well and cut back on the pelletsNever free feed a pig, they will eat until the throw up. Make sure they get plenty of exercise to keep them fit and trim. A fat pig is really an unhappy pig and it causes all kinds of health issues.

DO NOT for any reason let your pig get Moth Balls They are very dangerous to you and your piggers they cause cancer in humans and will kill your pigger.

mushrooms can be toxic in a pasture, melarmine from the recalled pet food, any tomato leaves Tomato plants like pepper plants are part of the night shade family they are very toxic to humans and piggers the fruits are fine no plants please.

Not to much starchy foods and limit fruit because of the sugar content. I can tell you I found out the hard way about the fruits. Fruits are jam packed with vitamins HOWEVER the sugar content rots teeth and very fast there is now why to brush there little teeth so the sugar stays on he teeth. I have a pigger that had to have 6 teeth removed (all my pigs are rescues from bad lives so this stuff sadly happenes) a couple weeks later I brought that pigger back to the vet because her face was stil swollen. They had to remove part of her jaw because it died. she is doing fine now and looks great, so please give your piggers veggies not much fruit.

I cannot express how impotant it is to have fresh water for piggers to drinka nd bath in. Besides drinking water (use flat bottomed shallow pans made for watering small stock and put out multiple dishes in case they tip one over.) they need water for cooling off.
A stream, a pond, a wading pool, or a mudhole can all provide the necessary hot weather relief. Pigs cannot sweat or pant; they must have water they can immerse in to cool off. This is essential. Heatstroke is common. And they must have mud. Just water is not enough. Mud provides insect protection, sunscreen and lubrication to prevent scaly skin. For the best pool money can buy go to PAHeartland for their specially manufactured piggy pools. They have soft sides for easy entrance and napping, are low and skid proof so pigs aren't afraid to step into them and are virtually indestructible. Easy to empty and clean every day as well. (PAHeartland@earthlink.net)

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