Pot Bellied Pigs

What can you tell me about raising pot bellied pigs for food? Are they hard to raise? How much room would I need for 2 or 3? Are they hard to breed? How long would it take to take one from birth to butchering age? I'm sure I'll have more questions on this later, but we're thinking of getting some and I'm trying to learn before we do. Thanks.

They are not hard to raise. They can be kept in an electric fence like the big pigs. The big pigs take 6 months to top out so I am guessing they are the same. ( I will check to make sure) I have heard they have more fat on them than the regular pigs. The topic was discussed on another forum and it got some people upset about it. They are just little pigs. The same as the big ones. And I say why not. People are giving them away left and right around here. You do not need much room for them at all. The more the better but in the factory farms they raise pigs in small areas and have small farrowing crates so the big pigs do not spin around. I can tell you they are great to till up a garden in the fall after you are thru with it. Then put your chicken tractors over it and you have it made. Fertilizer, tilled and the chickens eat the seeds the pigs turned up. The fence is 4 inches from the ground then 8 then 12. They get use to it really quick. The rings in the nose is a good idea if you do not want your pasture rooted up. Only two of ours have them and they still dig just not as deep. They are not hard to bred at all if you have a good boar. He will worry them to death if he is in the pen with them. They bred and can have three litters a year. They have a litter in three months three weeks and three days. Our big pigs have had 9 and 12. They will lose some of them at birth and after. We ended up sith 6 and 9. This was their first litters. They are intelligent and can be made big pets (our breeding stock is that way). We have one that wants to be petted instead of eating. She expects you to come over to her first thing or you will get knocked down (she is 750 lbs)

When I was about 15 my parents got a regular sized sow with 4 piglets. One of the piglets fell in the water trough and drowned. The other 3 were very tame. I was a city girl, only use to dogs, so I treated them like dogs. When it came time to butcher them I had a tough time with it. Now that I'm older and a little more seasoned (LOL) I am ready to try raising some for food. The reason I want the PB is because of their size. I only have 2 acres and already have 3 goats and 14 chickens and my garden. So, I'm trying to keep with smaller breeds. Thanks for the info. Any other info you may have on PBPs would be appreciated. I'm going to start researching them and figured I would ask here first. That's going to be our next venture.

We have 2 1/2 acers and have 2 bee hives, we had 18 pigs until I sold some now we have 12. 2 horses, close to 100 chickens, 3 ducks, and are getting guineas. We also have a pyrenese dog and a pomerianian (hubby says he doesnt count he is to small). We want a Jersey milk cow but havent found the right one yet. We live out in the middle of no where in a little place called waylandsprings tn. Near Lawrenceburg tn and Florence Al.

I know where Florence is. We lived in Haleyville, AL for a few years. Adopted our son from Birmingham. Ok, I'm not sure I would want that many pigs to keep up with. We have a lot of pine trees on our property too, so not sure I want as much on my 2 acres as you have on your 2 1/2, but may consider regular size pigs. Have to talk to Joe about that.

We keep ours in a pen about half of the barn. They have an outside area and an inside area. We have one farrowing pen that is big enough for her to turn around in and get comfortable. There is a blog called sugarmountainfarms. The man is named Walter Jeffires. He has a lot of information about raising pigs there but he does it on pasture. He also feeds them Whey. I can not get that here in the amounts needed. I feed mine corn, veggi scrapes and grass, and clover. They love pasta water too. There is another site called pigsite.com. (they also have a chicken and cow site) If you look at the breeds list they have info on every kind of breed. We have landrace (they are long pigs) Duroc (she is red and hairy) and yorkshire (your standard pink pig) . All of ours are over 600 lbs a piece. They are less than a year old. We are looking into worming with DE so they will be all natural.

Hi there. I have two pot bellied pigs. One is a male, and the other is a female. I keep them in a 10 by 10 kennel. This is the kind that you can buy for dogs. It has chained links. It has been very effective in keeping my pigs caged. I also have a few chickens in there with them, as well. They all get along great. As far as meat is concerned, pot bellied pigs can and are used for meat. In fact, this is why I have them in the first place. They originated due to lack of space and people who still needed them for food. They are a bit fattier, however, that just makes them taste better. Think about how you cook a ham or pork loin......fat side at the top so all of those wonderful juices seep into the meat as it cooks. Yummy! Butchering age.....depends on the growth of the pig. For a male, you can butcher as early as 6 months of age. For a female...a little older. However, you must note that these pigs are not fully considered completely grown until 3 years of age. I like my pigs. They need less space and less food...yet providing sumptuous food for the table. I hope this helps. God bless you on your endeavors.

It's nive seeing you posting Chicken Freak. Unfortunately, we found out that we aren't allowed pigs on our land. We can have goats and chickens, but no pigs.

Oh no! That's awful. Pigs can be so much fun. I love their individual personalities. Sorry that you aren't allowed any where you are. Have you thought about going before the town during one of their meetings and presenting a change to them in regards to this?

I hadn't thought about going before the town meeting to see about changing it. That's a good idea though. I like pigs. They're smart critters, not to mention they taste good.

I am going to cross post this in the Equine folder too.

We just got back into having equines in the last year. We have two mini donkeys and two mini horses. DH has been so interested in getting the barns fixed up and repaired. This summer he put in lots of fencing so that we have four small pastures which are connected by gates. He also built pens and a loft in the barn for hay. He absolutely loves taking care of the animals and being out there with them, and they don't require daily maintenance as far as milking or birthing so it's working out well.

Our farrier has told us about a horse situation that she is concerned about and would like us to take in a 12 year old Welsh brood mare that the owners don't want any more. The owners have other horses and seem to have moved on. The mare has a weaned filly that they were going to keep. But it turns out another of their horses had a foal so now they want to get rid of both the Welsh and her filly.

They also breed pot bellied pigs and they are being kept in less than suitable outdoor conditions. My heart just goes out to all these animals. They also breed goats and dogs but they seem less of a concern.

DH has good days and bad days. He feels really good in the summer, but can't deal with this cold weather, he's inside most of the time.

So we have a decision to make - possibly take in the Welsh mare (our farrier might want to take her filly). And we'd have indoor space for a couple of the potbelly pigs, which we know nothing about other than what I read online last night.

Any thoughts?

One thing I know is that you often see pot belly pigs in rescues or animal shelters. People get them as pets and then can no longer care for them. I know some people that adopt the pigs, keep them long enough to get them in good physical health and then butcher them.

Pot bellies do have more fat and bone that the modern pig, but they are still quite good eating according to what I have been told.