Mini pigs that are not so mini

Something happened. 🙂 We adopted two mini pigs! Everyone that met them so far or has seen pictures, is surprised about them being so big. Yeah well…that’s because of false advertisement that many people fall for.

Pigs grow until they are up to four years old. When we decided that we want to adopt adult pigs, we knew that those could weigh everything between 30-100kg and built the enclosure and the sleep hut accordingly.

We found an add without any pictures just saying that two 2-year old female pigs are looking for a new home. So I sat down and wrote a little text about us and the home we have to offer. I got a quick response and things happend. We agreed to pick up the pigs only a few days later.

It was a 2.5 hour car ride one way. The previous owners were super nice. It was just this classic situation that makes mini pigs end up homeless. The pigs were taken in as piglets as a gift for the daughter who lost interest by now. Also following the recommendations for regular pigs when it comes to nutrition and training. Giving their pigs table scrapes.

Yes, people say that pig can eat everything. But that thinking is more for pigs that are held for slaughter. Those pigs get slaughtered while they are still young.

I want my mini pigs to live a long, healthy and happy life.

We got a picture of one of the girls, Ester. She is awfully cute. But not of the other one, so I was a little nervous how she might look 🙂

When we arrived I understood why…Doris (the second pig) is very overweight caused by a wrong diet and also her being the dominant pig and eating Esters portions in part.

But nevertheless, they were both absolutely adorable! With great teamwork, we managed to lure them into our car without stressing them too much. No skrieking. No chasing 🙂 I wanted our relationship to start relaxed.

After another two and a half hours of driving, we arrived at home and had to get them as relaxed into their enclosure. They couldn’t wait to jump out of the car and started roaming. Now we had to try make them walk into their enclosure…

With some yummi treats and some patients they walked through the gate and we could close it.

Pigs are really suspicious towards new things. So were Ester and Doris. The sleep hut we built them didn’t seem save to them. Since we’re still having minus degrees at night currently, I was super worried that they would get too cold if they don’t go in. I filled the whole hut with hay and straw. Every hour I went out in the dark, sitting by the hut, speaking calmly to them, trying to convince them that it’s not dangerous at all…

Before bedtime Martin went out one more time and finally Ester was brave enough to go in. Doris followed shortly. I was happy.

The next morning and every morning since we got them, I’m getting up an hour earlier than I have to, just to spend some time with them before I have to go to work. 🙂

Now is the time to bond. Doris really like scratches und would just stand right behind or beside you to get some attention. Ester is still quite shy. We’ll take our time to get to know each other.

For now they live in a fenced in area with a little shelter that keeps them dry and where they can hide from wind.

In the long run I’m hoping to be able to let them out when we’re in the garden. Or possibly even take them with us for our dogwalks. They for sure will help us digging the plant beds that are to come. They already proved their skills in that. 🙂

First priority right now is to get them used to a healtier diet. Doris is not a huge fan of vegetables, but at least she loves the special mini pig feed I bought them 🙂