Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pet pigs

Some people that live on the place out back have some animals. Horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, and 5 pigs that they keep as pets. They were small when they got them and they allowed them to run around the yards like dogs. Then they started rooting up the yard so they penned them up. Now they're huge.

I looked up their lifespan and they can live 15 to 20 years. I don't know what they feed them. I've seen them out feeding them and it looks like they're feeding them about 6-8 gallons of commercial feed a day. They haul the feed out to them in muck buckets that hold about 15 gallons and it looks like it's at least half full. I don't know how many times a day they get fed.

It's nothing to me. They don't bother anything. But it seems to me that they're going to be enormous pigs eventually considering the quantity and quality of the food they're getting.

I can't imagine keeping and feeding 5 pet pigs for 15-20 years. That's a hell of an obligation.

The obvious solution would be to turn them into ham and bacon. But I don't think that's the plan. Like I said. They're pets.

It occurred to me that they will never be able to get rid of them unless they're okay with somebody putting them in the smoke house. That's why I said that it was a 15-20 year obligation.

Nobody's going to want a 400 lb "pet" pig. Anybody that took an interest in taking one off their hands is going to have Bar-B-Q in mind.

Not for me.

How long have they had them?

We had one that we let go about 14 months and it was 409 live weight. She wasn’t mean but you couldn’t get her to go anywhere she didn’t want to go.

Probably about that long. Less than 2 years. I can't see them unless I go to the back of my property. The last time I saw them they were all so big that they just lay around.

It'll be interesting to see how big a pig gets when it's kept around and fed commercial feed over several years.

Keep an eye out to see if any turn up with just three legs.

I have absolutely no respect for people who can't kill farm animals.

They never intended for them to be farm animals. They bought them to be pets. I think they will eventually come to the realization that it was a bad idea. 15-20 years is a long time to keep 5 pigs. Especially since they will soon be so big that they can't move around.

We had pigs on the farm when I grew up, decades ago. They were tasty critters. What’s also amazing is the people that keep pigs as pets, “in their home.”

Back in the early '70s there used to be a family in a nearby town of 25,000+ that kept a full grown pig as a pet in their chain link fenced backyard. They lived in a regular blue-collar neighborhood with houses practically side by side. It was huge but friendly and would come up to the fence to be petted and for treats.

Granddaughter had a miniature pig for a while. It and a pony she had at the time became big buddies and anywhere one was the other was always by it's side or very close by. They slept, played, ate together and watched out for each other.

I met some people many years ago that had some type of miniature pig that they kept in the house. It pooped in a box like a cat.

I don't know what kind the neighbor has. They're mostly black with some white. But they're definitely not miniature.

The operation I worked at had V boars that were all North of 700 lbs. The breeding boars were on a diet and mostly didn't get much past 650. The state fair biggest boar is usually 1100ish. I don't think any of the sows hit 600.

Pigs are food not pets.

They sound like Hamps (Hampshires). Dad used to keep a few in the hog lot north of the house. They did a fine job keeping the brush down in the woods there. Good eatin'!

My nextdoor neighbor bought his wife a pot-bellied pig for their 26th anniversary (25 years Golden, 26 Pork?). Cute little critter, but then they decided she needed a pal and got another. They’re housetrained, and hang out with the dogs. They do get a bit rowdy when they don’t get their way. Anyway, the charm must be wearing off a bit as they just fenced the backyard and tossed the little squealers out there, during the day at least. The first one looks to weigh about 60 pounds now. Still cute, but kinda Adele cute, if you get my drift. I honestly don’t mind them at all, never had any sensory evidence that they’re there.

Not for me, but then I won’t have an indoor cat, and doubt I’ll get another dog. Our three goldfish are the only domestic beasts we need.

If you haven't ever been aroundt mature hogs, keep an eye on them.
Most folk don't have a clue how big a hog can get.
Today's meat hogs get whacked at under 300# and just a few months.
That's under half grown. They will go broke feeding 3-4000lbs of hungry hog.

Watch for the Humane Society raid.
That's where this usually goes.
They get too big, too expensive...
End up neglected and malnourished.

They ever heard of dogs?