The most frequent question you will ever hear when it comes to buying a piglet is, “How big will it get?”
My answer is simple: Pigs love food and they will eat anything you provide for them.
- Fact: They’re missing the part of their brain that tells them when they are full. So … they will eat until the cows come home (or until they are physically ill.)
- Solution: You have to be their portion controller. Set them up with a limit of their actual pig food & what you will fill in the remainder of their diet with each day.
- Suggestion: Feed them 3 meals a day – Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. For the in-between meals treat, offer part of an apple, strawberries, grapes, watermelon, or blueberries in the morning & give them a large salad of lots of greens in the afternoon! They will also graze in the yard for grass or root in the dirt, but they love some chopped romaine! Mine gets it every now and then (but I usually don’t make a special trip to the store just for her lettuce) 😉
- Tip: Pigs love their water! They always need a large bowl of fresh, clean water to drink 24/7. If they are sleeping in the house, be sure to leave them a potty pad during the night. Once they get older, you can provide water until you’re going to bed and then remove it until morning, or simply leave a potty pad – up to you!
- Feeding Example: Finley eats 3/8 cup of her mini pig food a day. I divide this into 3 meals, so she gets 2Tbsp of food per serving with a large bowl of fresh water. She loves to take a sip of her water with every bite of food – and any food that falls out in her water dish, she blows bubbles to reach it! Below is an example of Finley’s feeding schedule.
- click here to view her entire day schedule!
- Early Morning: Mini Pig Food & Water, Belly Rubs, Plays in the Sunshine/Shade in a little outdoor setup!
- Mid-Morning: Handful of Fruit & Water
- Lunch: Mini Pig Food & Water, Playtime, Nap Time
- Mid-Afternoon: Large bowl of chopped lettuce – can be topped with a little fruit or unsalted pumpkin seeds (and water on the side, of course!)
- Evening: Mini Pig Food & Water, Snuggles in a blanket in the rocking chair for an hour (or longer…), Bed time.
- Side Note: Pigs love sleep and don’t wake up a lot in the night. They also occasionally like to sleep in late! There have been times I will go to get Finley up in the morning and she doesn’t want to leave her blankets and let’s out deep oinks as if she’s grumbling and telling me no. It’s the funniest thing! So – if you have somewhere to be, go ahead and shake the food to get them going – or just … let them sleep until they let you know they’re ready to start the day!
Click Here to View: Mini Pig Food Recommendations
