Anyone keep pigs as pets?

[Le_Jars]

If so, is it any more difficult than keeping a dog or other pet? We're not thinking of house-training it, just not keeping it for meat. Any info would be great and any recommendations as to which breeds etc.

[Le Petomane]

We kept pigs in the UK. There, they are subject to all sorts of control orders, and I guess it's the same in France. You have to have them properly penned (they are very strong and very intelligent, and can smash their way through anything that would retain cattle), and they are very prone to disease. Get a canary instead.

[Christine Animal]

Here you should be able find plenty of information Le Jars and plenty of pigs for adoption :

http://www.groingroin.org/

 

[Le_Jars]

Thanks Christine :).......and er.....thanks  Le Petomane for your constructive advice ....:(

[Nettie]

A French neighbour down the road a bit from us keeps 5 dogs and a pot bellied vietnamese pig who, I think, thinks she's a dog, she wanders around with them all the time.  They also don't keep their gate shut so you always have to very careful near their house, dogs and pig might be in the lane.

[farmgirl]

We have pet Kune Kune pigs and breed from them.  They make great pets, very friendly and tame, plus they keep the grass down and eat all your household scraps!!

[Eco Ferme]

Hello we breed vietnamese pigs, they are very good pets ,  easy to train -you can train them to use a cat litter tray, they are docile and friendly -good with children and other animals. Thier small size makes them easy to house , in or out. . vietnamese are also very hardy and prolific. They  also love eating table scraps

My mum thimks they are better than dogs, being quiet, less demanding, and cheeper in upkeep.

 

 

[mobey]

I have kune kune pigs as well and shall be looking for a boar which area are you in?

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

So you people end up eating your pets? This is the aspect of pig keeping that worries me.

[Eco Ferme]

All a matter of numbers, if I had a just a few VN pigs I would not want to cull them, but when you have some 50 odd piglets they all look the same. although any differant looking ones always end up being kept. 

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Yes, I'm sure you are right about that. I was reminded of my French neighbours who kept the pig, got to know it, allowed my kids to get to know it, then allowed an 80 year old incompetent to slaughter it, the noise being heard for a considerable distance, including by my kids who cried for days on and off.

That is an extreme case I know and I am sure noone would ever want to follow that example.

[Chancer]

That doesnt sound extreme for my area, pigs and other edible animals are often loved and treated as pets by the children right up to the time of the feast. At least they know exactly where the meat on their plates has come from, and not from a shrink wrapped barquette in a supermarket.

Pigs always make a terrible noise when being dispatched until the blood has drained and yes it does travel a long way, it is where the phrase "squealing like a stuck pig" comes from, not a sound that you are likely to hear in Carrefour.

[Eco Ferme]

Good point J.R.

 People don't think that the porc in plastic at the supermarket was once a big piggy or the lamb chops were also a cute little lamb.

 As for for the 80 year old , he's doing it way it has been done before you were born, he's also been doing it all his life and is an artist. ( and makes a clear job  the abbatoir).

The pig also don't have to sit in a lorry for a 1/2 day with no water, and starting to eat each others tails/ears and bleeding everywere.

Also do you know the french abbatoir hit the pigs on the head with a sledge hammer.

 

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Yes, I appreciate that home slaughter has these advantages and that there is no harm in bringing up kids to see and understand these things. What I didn't say but thought was implied was that the slaughterman was unable to handle the animal and made a very very slow and bad job of the dispatch, whereas when this has been done for the same family in other years it has been neat and clean and quiet. If he had ever been an artist, those days were long gone unfortunately.The owners of the pig were themselves a little shaken I know.

[mobey]

Im desperately searching for a Kune Kune boar to send my girls to or for him to visit can anyone help

[mogs]

our daughter is interested in having a kune kune, we're not ready to take one in just yet due to house move but would like one in about 3 months time if possible.

We only want it as a pet not to EAT so any advice on keeping a kune kune as a pet would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[Juswundrin]

Hi

We've had a breeding pair of Kune kunes for about 18 months now (just had our first litter of piglets born on Monday, as it happens, but we're too far away from you unfortunately).

Firstly, you'll really need to keep two together rather than a single pig.

They're very easy to look after as long as they have a weatherproof house and enough grass (I think 5-6 per acre is the recommended maximum).

Ours are in an orchard, so get plenty of windfall apples & cherries as well as the grass (& scraps from the vegetable garden). Just supplement the grass in Winter with pig pellets and/or barley flour made into a porridge.

Anything specific you'd like an answer to, just ask again or feel free to PM me. You'll find lots of useful info on the web; try http://www.kunekune.co.nz for a start.

Hope that helps.

[TroisChatNoir]

Hi, understand about keeping more than one pig for the company. When keeping as pets and you don't want to breed and have lots of unwanted piglets, are you best keeping two females together or are two males OK?

[Juswundrin]

"When keeping as pets and you don't want to breed and have lots of unwanted piglets, are you best keeping two females together or are two males OK? "

Hi

Well, I'm far from an expert, but my feeling would be that you'd be fine with 2 males, given that:

- males would ordinarily be sold castrated, and

- you'd have no female for them to compete over, plus

- they're an extremely placid & friendly breed (we have ducks that scare me more than our - intact - boar) :D

Hope that helps.

[Jo]

It's not a pet it's a food source, until you name it , and THEN it is a pet. We intend to let our ducks breed over here, the males will do nothibg but fight if we don't reduce numbers, so for their sakes and ours a quick humane kill is on the cards.[;-)]