About Laneie's Size?

Part I

Hello Kathleen, we have read all your " stuff ", and find it most interesting, and helpful !

We have a couple questions, and have had no success getting any answers on other pig lines.

We are curious as to when, or if our POT will stop growing, it is irrelevant if she gets to be 300 pounds, and 8 feet long , she is and always will be a " special " member of our family, but we are just trying to be prepared for any outcome.

We have had her for 2 months, and she has doubled in size, but she is not a fat body, she is 3 months old, and weighs 30 pounds, and is about 12-18 inches long.

Joann & Roy & Elaine Bennis Patterson, aka Laneie

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Hi there,

Thanks for your kind words. We are glad you found our site helpful.

What Will My Pig’s Size Be?

Excerpt from The Complete Guide for the Care and Training of Pet Potbellied Pigs

Potbellied pigs continue to grow until they are at least three years old. Some people believe that they continue to grow until they are five. Personally, I think that by the time the pet pig is about three, it can be considered fully-grown. Usually by two years it is skeletally fully-grown. The last year or so potbellies put on their mature weight. This may be the reason people believe potbellies continue to grow after three years. As a pig puts on weight it looks bigger and in fact is somewhat taller and longer due to the increased fat and muscle layers. With proper nutrition and feeding, it can be assumed the pig is fully grown by three years of age. Piglets are born weighing between four to eight ounces. They grow very quickly in the beginning. If they were in the wild, they would need to keep up with the herd. As a matter of fact, as the piglet gets older it will seem to grow in spurts. By the time they reach one year their rate of growth slows down considerably.

There are several factors that determine the size of a potbellied pig. The most important being genetics. Many people are misled by misinformation about the size of a mature potbellied pig, which can be supplied to them by unscrupulous breeders. Some people are told the mature weight of potbelly pigs will be only 20 to 30 pounds. Unfortunately, a few breeders continue to use terms like micro-mini, teacup and dwarf to describe their pigs. All potbellies are considered miniature when compare to the average domestic hog. Some breeds of commercial hogs can easily weigh up to 1000 pounds. You can see how the potbellied pig weighing an average of 90 to 120 pounds can be called miniature.

On the other hand some people believe all potbellies grow to the 175 to 200 pound range. Both of these size beliefs are wrong. To my knowledge there are no normal, mature 30-pound potbellies. And, not all pet pigs grow to be 175 or more pounds. Today there is a broad range in size for the mature, healthy, purebred potbellied pig - from 60 pounds to 175 pounds, from 13 inches to 28 inches tall. The normal mature weight of a pure bred potbelly is somewhere between 70 and 150 pounds, with the average currently being 90 to 120 pounds. These same pigs will be 14 to 24 inches tall, with the average height being 18 inches tall. It should be noted that the weight of the pet pig is very deceiving because of their very dense bodies. Of course there are some potbellied pigs that are smaller and some bigger than the sizes related above.

Another myth about a pig’s size is that a pet owner can control how large the pig will be by controlling its diet. This is only partially true. It is possible to make a genetically predisposed pig of 90 pounds weigh 150 pounds by over feeding it, but it is impossible to make a genetically predisposed pig of 150 pounds weigh only 90 pounds. Underfeeding (stunting) a pet pig will only produce weak bones, poor skin, hair and hooves. Stunting can actually cause conformation changes, hocking in the back legs and curvature of bones, along with temperament and behavior problems. In worse cases stunting can even cause death. Actually there is no way to make certain a potbelly stays small, except by being sure the pig’s parents are well fed and are genetically small. And even that provides the pet owner no guarantees. Within any given litter of piglets there can be a range of sizes. At maturity any of the piglets can be from 1 to 2 inches taller and 5 to 10 pounds heavier than its littermate.

Copyright © 2000 by Kathleen Myers

Kathleen

Ponderosa Mini Farm

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