I have adopted a baby abby/peruvian cross pig this week - her parents were part of a mixed group of males and females rescued after being found being kept together in poor conditions. I am a little concerned about her weight and am hoping for some advice on whether I should step in with some extra feeding and if so, which feed people would recommend. She is currently just over 8 weeks old and weighs 230 g. She's around 12 cm long. She feels very bony but has quite a round little tummy, which also made me wonder if she could have any kind of parasitic infection going on? I am planning to take her to see my exotic vet over the weekend or early next week depending on my covid status but want to start feeding before that if people think its needed.
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Advice about rescue baby's weight
- Thread starter Sasco
- Start date
Hi!
Please have your baby vet checked and if needed lab tested if your vet concurs with your suspicions but feed her a normal, mainly hay based diet for the time being.
In any case, your baby is young enough to catch up in either case - whether she has a health problem or not - and will on a good normal diet reach her genetically determined optimal weight/size before she reaches adulthood. Concentrate on the quality of your general good quality hay based diet, which with the inclusion of the odd fresh herbs/forage for trace elements, no root veg and ideally no grain and only a modicum of pellets (2 tablespoons until 4 months if you wish to and then just 1 tablespoon per piggy per day), is in my own experience the biggest long term health and longevity booster.
My Begw was 210g when she was surrendered to the rescue I adopted her from as a supposedly 8 weeks old boy and paired up with my neutered Dylan straight away to pass her mandatory quarantine with him.
The 'boy' part was very obviously wrong and because of her low weight the rescue assumed that she was rather a 3 weeks old than a two months old. I have however revised the rescue's estimate since Begw (Welsh for Peggy 'Little Pearl') is on the runty side and feels on the sturdy side at just looking at 800g from below in the prime of her life.
Thank you Weibke, I am already doing all of the above in terms of her diet so I will carry on with the same and get her booked into the vet as soon as my PCR result is back, hopefully later today. She looks very healthy in every other respect so fingers crossed she is just a small baby.
Fingers crossed that she is just a wee thing. If she has a normal appetite and is lively, then please just feed her normally. Your general good care will ultimately carry the day.
PS: My Morwenna was only 40g when she was born to a newly rescued highly pregnant at-risk sow and needed a bit of a helping hand in her early days but she was always smaller than her two litter sisters. Nevertheless she is on course to celebrate her 8th birthday together with her remaining sister Mererid in two weeks' time and is currently equalling my Tegan's (the baby in my avatar picture on the left) record of being the piggy that has been with me longest. Just to say that a low birth weight doesn't necessarily mean a shortened life expectancy unless there are obvious genetic problems..
All the best for your PCR.
Hazel saw the vet yesterday and we are now awaiting fecal screening results to check for any under lying parasites - the vet agrees she is very small and skinny but she has gained 80 g in the week I have had her which is encouraging.... I am trying to remember what it is he is testing for, other than something beginning with c!
All the best!
That is a massive weight gain when you think that 20-30g is average for the first 3-4 months.
So please don't freak out if your little piles it on like mad for a few weeks but then suddenly has a phase without any weight gain at all at some point once the body has caught up with the deficit and needs to change how it works. In the end, your baby will reach their optimal genetically determined weight and size on a good hay based diet with preferably green veg and just 1 tablespoon of pellets once they reach the catch up point. That is also when you can stop with any additional alfalfa feed and switch to a normal adult long term diet and concentrate on quality over quantity for giving your little the best and longest possible life.
Merab
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Sounds as if this little one has landed on her little paws with you.
Hope the tests prove all is clear.
Hope the tests prove all is clear.
Bill & Ted
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Aw bless her, that’s an amazing weight gain, well done little Hazel x
Merab
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Great news.Just had the results back - no parasites - was probably one of smaller pigs in the litter, combined with a neglected mum who didn't have as much milk for her and now just needs time to chunk up
Thanks for letting us know