Complete Guide To Buying Your Micro Pig & Finding Reputable Breeders

There has been a strong demand for these little micro pigs over the years, you can see some of them in zoos and petting corners around the Country.  

Buying any new pet is not a decision to be taken lightly and you should consider all implications, including neighbours etc.  It has been difficult for customers to know who is genuine and who is not, to help let us explain where micro pigs originated from.

Micro pigs started out over 15 years ago by Pigs R Us in Cumbria, micro pigs should have originated from this breeder and we recommend you always check this first.  There are a small amount of genuine micro pig breeders in the UK and parent stock should only have come from this one source.  If parent breeding pigs are not from the original breeder continue your research until you find one that does, this is so important as there are so many out there giving mis-information that dont even know the basic back ground to these little pigs and sadly rogue traders selling standard pigs that will grow huge.  It is never possible to say what size exactly a pig will grow to down to an inch but we know the average size of our smallest is around knee height or below an example is spaniel size and we believe these are the smallest pigs in the UK. The larger similar to a labrador but heavier and sometimes longer. It has taken 15 long years of very hard work by the founder to get these wonderful healthy pet pigs.

Our own Company policy is to be open, honest and always provide proof of purchase in the form of an invoice from a registered Limited Company, Testimonials are also available we have many available for you to view and customers you can ring if you would like to know their experience in dealing with us, we have a very good reputation in our market.  We welcome viewing to those who wish to purchase our piglets, to show you our parent pigs and also to show you how we keep them, we are proud of the way our pigs are kept and you will never find them knee high in mud.  This is often commented on by our visitors that our standards of care are high and our pigs clean.

A micro pig should look happy, clean and healthy, not living in lots of wet mud.  Of course they can get a little dirt here and there like other animals do but that is not the same as living knee high in wet mud, pigs like to be clean and living in wet sludge can be detrimental to their overall health, unless it is to avoid sunburn in the summer, in this case they need mud to cool off. We believe there is a mis-conception of how pigs like to be kept ie yes they like to root in dirt for food etc and to get minerals, but they do not like to live knee high in mud, they can not speak for themselves, ours if they have a choice will be exceptionally clean and on the occasion we have had piglets living with us will choose warm dog bed over straw outside in a shed, we give them the choice of both and strongly encourage outdoor living.  A pig does like to root so a pen may be an option to allow your piglets natural behaviour.  Some of our piglets root more than others, we can advise on this. 

There is much discussion on whether micro pigs should be kept singularly or not, generally speaking we feel they are happier with a friend of their own kind.  It is widely known that thousands of pigs are kept singularly in this Country.  Having said this we think it is a good thing for pigs to have animal contact and not live alone.  Pigs do make friends with other animals mainly dogs (depending on your dogs temp) common sense is needed here we can't say whether your particular pet/dog will get on with the pig or vice versa, but we have heard stories of other pets forming a great bond with the new piglet additions, our piglets get on fine with our dogs but they are labradors and renound for their laid back temperaments.  We have found this ourselves, in fact compared to the life they could have had, pet pigs we feel have a great life if you are willing to commit to them and not get caught up in the fad element, if pigs could speak Im sure being a pet would be their choice over ending up on a dinner plate after a very short life, some not even seeing the sun once in their lifetime.  We will not allow any pig to leave us knowingly if it is to be kept on its own in a big field.

Ask as many questions as you feel necessary, genuine breeders have time for you and your concerns.

We do not castrate our pigs at present as we do not feel this is in the pigs interest, our boars are not castrated and are lovely pigs. Defra Health and Welfare Guide which you can download from their site, in this they recommend against castration unless it is absolutely necessary, many vets will tell you the risks are high and we do not want our piglets to go through this and expose them to risk and pain unless it is genuinely necessary, whilst defra do not deem it a decision that should be taken lightly we will follow their advice, if you have concerns about castration or this is a preference please discuss it with us directly, we are happy to help.  To castrate a piglet they are taken away from mum for a short time at a few days old as this is deemed the best time to castrate, our pigs are pet pigs, so it is very hard to subject them to any operation at such a young age or upset the mother to this extreme, we know they feel pain just like any other animal does, castration during the first 7 days is quite often done with no aneasthetic/pain control and the piglet goes through exceptional trauma and will be in a lot of distress, it has also been proven to cause the sow considerable stress and upset we have seen this ourselves when moving sow and piglets to a new pen during the day, mum gets very distressed, even with aneasthetic the pain will return for a few days.

For more informationthe following link will show you that top medics believe pigs suffer for days after castration you need to read the Report castration please visit http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/doc/91.pdf 

If we had to in future castrate our pigs it would be only with good pain control in place and at a minimal stress to the mother. 

Remember pigs may go through "teenage years" like all animals do, see this stage through they do come out the other end just like we did, make sure you are the boss and only reward good behaviour they need to know you are in charge of the herd!

Micro pigs should be fed on good quality pellet pig feed called sow and weaner nuts or equally a good pot bellied pig food, do not give scraps from your kitchen it is illegal.

Pigs do not need walking, in fact too much walking could be detrimental to their health, if you do decide to do a short walk with your pig if its outside your land you would need a walking license and you should not deviate from this route if approved. 

Micro pigs do enjoy straw and chewing as well as burying themselves in it, they should always have access to barley straw outdoors.  Micro Pigs should live outdoors we have always recommended this and continue to do so, fully grown micro pigs indoors is just not ideal, ours pop in for a sleep but we normally send them out to bed at night or at times when we cant supervise them.

Once you have taken your piglet home you should inform animal health who will give you a herd number, all these details are provided as part of our sale so no need to worry.

Please note this reflects our views and some of the information provided we have gathered from Defra and Local Vets.