# Potbelly Pigs



## newmama30+

A friend of mine offered to give my family two potbelly pigs here a couple months ago. They belong to her teenage daughter and her daughter is graduating and going of to school so can't keep them. I was just wondering does anyone else have this kind of pig? and if so how do you handle housing them? I really can't afford to build any new buildings at this point plus we are under about two feet of snow. We are building a new barn if spring ever shows up. But could they be kept with the goats for the mean time I know last year we kept a couple feeder pigs with them but they were in the old barn with heat.


----------



## KW Farms

I used to have a few. We used hog panels and a flipped over apple bin with a cut out on the side as housing. Works great. Just be prepared, pigs can be great escape artists if they get bored or hungry. They also eat quite a bit. You can usually keep pigs with goats just fine though I never did with mine. I know a gal who raises them and runs pigs and goats together without problems.

I personally would pass on the offer unless you really want to ad pigs to your group. If you aren't raising them for anything, it's more of a hassle to keep them around in my opinion. But that is up to you.


----------



## minibarn

we got 3 pot bellies this past summer and are really enjoying them! they're very friendly and entertaining to watch. they shared the pastures with our pygmy goats but have their own little corner in our barn now for winter. we are in ontario and our barn is not heated and they seem to be doing just fine, as long as they are out of the wind. when they were together, the goats & pigs tolerated each other ok but didn't really seem to like each other.


----------



## newmama30+

Well I have to go talk to my friend today as to going and looking at the piggy's, and arranging a time to pickup/deliever them. And yes these two will be pets, won't be the first barnyard pets or the last I am sure. We already have 3 geese 2Pekin ducks and 3 Rounen ducks here that are just pets, plus the Mini Horses, which the kids wanted for riding but never ride.


----------



## liz

I had one before I had my goats, she was 3 years old and had her own box with pen attached, during her heats she was penned because she was aggressive with my dogs, other times she had run of the place, went to her box at night.

Introducing them to the goats by penning them in a corner of the pasture or barn would be best, so nobody is stressed by the new arrivals and so they know where their home is....cattle panels and a large dog box big enough for both to go into would suffice.


----------



## imaginationacres

I have a neutered pot belly, he is about 7 months old now. He gets to go through the goat paddock supervised to eat fallen acorns and root about the woods, my goats bully him which is why I like to watch because pot bellies can be territorial and he's not that much smaller than my 8 months old goat kids and I wouldn't want something to happen. 
He sleeps in the house and goes through the dog door with my pit bulls, he's completely housebroken. He does have a stall in one of my barns if I need to confine him. He tolerates all weather fine, during the summer though if its warm where you are a kiddie pool or mud wallowing pond is excellent to cool them off. Heat is more dangerous than cold for piggies. 
The only major downside to pot bellies is they are a rooting pig and they will turn over pasture. If you have a garden area you want plowed you can fence that it and send the piggies through. My pig can go right through/under woven wire and had to be trained to electric. Hog panels would work well for piggies.


----------

