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is bob overweight?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lez
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Lez

i noticed today that my piggies were looking a lot bigger, and they have appeared to have gone through another growth spurt, so i decided to weigh them again.

i was beginning to worry about munchie as he hasnt put weight on for months but was still growing, but am happy he has finally put a bit more on.

Bob however, who is now 1 years old and isnt growing so much, has yet again put weight on, and apart from looking quite chubby now, he now weighs almost 1.3kg.

is this weight ok? i read somewhere that 1.2kg should be max weight for a piggy, so wanted peoples opinions if he's heading towards being overweight?
 
It depends on how big Bob is! Sorry, that's not very helpful, but it's true. You wouldn't want to see a particularly large specimin conforming to the average weight (eg I'd expect to see a large boar being heavier than 1.2kg), nor a small one at the top end of the 'usual range' if you get my meaning. All of my sows are heavier than some of the quoted averages. But having said that, Pippa - quite an average sized sow - was weighed by the vet last week and, at 1.1kg, the vet commented that she was a lightweight! But my rule of thumb is that if they are eating, sleeping, exercising, peeing, pooing and generally behaving normally, I don't worry too much unless their weight shows an unexpected increase or decrease.

And, of course, if I was ever worried about the pigs' weights, I would take them to the vet for checking.
 
he has suddenly put the weight on, as i weighed him last week, but i think its because hes started bullying his housemate to get first priority to food, so hes eating more than usual.

i dont really know if hes a big piggy or not, as they are my first piggies, but comparing him to munchie who is a bit younger, when he was munchies age he was bigger than munchie is now. I'm just a tad worried as hes starting to look quite chubby, i know piggies are meant to be chubby, but hes beginning to look a bit fat.
 
If he's stealing / guarding food, you'll need to do something about it so that Munchie doesn't become malnourished as well as Bob getting fat! Do you put the food in two separate piles so that Bob can't guard both and eat at the same time? I once had this prob with three boars who lived otherwise happily together and ended up putting bricks and a low shelf in one side of the hutch so that I could easily make three separate piles. Worked just fine! Everyone was happy and they all went to their own pile at feeding time. They also had three bowls and two water bottles.

The other thing you could do is remove them from the hutch at feeding time and manage access to the fresh food yourself. But that's quite drastic because it takes away their 'natural' way of selecting and eating.

In the meantime, if you are worried, I would get the vet to check Bob.
 
i tried having 2 seperate food bowls but i found that bob will only eat from whichever one munchie is trying to eat from. most of the time they share fine, but lately bob has been very stroppy over food.

munchie is still growing and gaining weight ok, i sometimes watch them eat and if bob steals too much, ive started taking it out and letting munchie eat seperately for now, as i dont want him to be underfed.

ill keep a close eye on their feeding, and bobs weight, i usually weigh them every week and wait and see. if he puts on anymore weight ill take him to the vet and see what they say
 
It sounds as if you're being very attentive to detail and your pigs are lucky to have you! Bob sounds like a bit of a character ;). Do you have pictures?
 
thanks, i probably worry too much, but shortly after i got them bob had a lot of illness problems so since then i watch them very carefully to make sure they are happy and healthy :) bob is definately a character, i got him from a friend of my mums who has loads of piggies, and there his dad was the dominant male, so it looks like bob has definately got his daddy pigs personality!

i dont have any up to date pics of bob since his weight gain, but ill get one up sometime later today.

DSC00422.jpg

heres them together about a month ago though. bob is the black one
 
Monitor their weight to make sure no one is losing weight. The weights sound fine at the moment but I can't see the pigture. Some pigs weigh less because they're 'shorter'.
 
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