Lilcooppig
New Born Pup
Hi guys. I’ve used this forum for lots of things since bringing my piggies home but never posted. Sorry it’s going to be a long post!
I’m worried about my pig Merry. I have 2x sows Merry and Pippin, presumably from the same litter. They were the same size, same colouring, and together in the same pen when we bought them.
Pippin has always been the more vocal one, and although does not like being picked up (runs away) once she is having a cuddle she will happily sit with the kids and let them hand feed her, as long as the food keeps coming she will sit still.
Merry doesn’t stay still. She freezes when my hand goes in the hutch like she’s frightened so although picking her up is easier than Pippin, she definitely does not feel comfortable being handled, and once she’s out she’s constantly looking for a way to escape. She is very reluctant to accept food from a human hand.
Because of this, I purchased an open floor pen, which I let them both run around in and the kids can sit on the floor and watch, hand feed pippin, and occasionally stroke Merry without needing to handle her. She seemed much more content with this set up. The hutch has a door that opens downwards like a ramp so I tend to open that into the pen to allow Merry to walk down it cutting out the need for the kids to handle her as much as possible, I just wanted her to be comfortable and feel safe.
The hutch is 2 floors, with a door that closes off the access. I open the top doors, coax them both down the ramp, close it off, then clean the top. Once it’s all clean and ready, I open the door, coax them both back up the ramp, close the door again, and clean the bottom. Open the door to give them full access once it’s all clean. This means I have not physically handled Merry for a while (Pippin still comes out for cuddles).
They get hay and dried ‘kibble’ style pellets, fresh salad (lettuce, rocket, spinach, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber etc etc) every single day. I also give fresh grass when I can find them, dandelions.
Merry is long haired and mostly white and the other day I noticed hundreds of black spots covering her fur. Google said hay mites so I purchased some shampoo and conditioner, and a spray for their bedding. It all arrived and I prepped everything to get ready to wash her, however upon picking her up I realised she was EXTREMELY light and I could feel her bones. Weighed her and she’s only 535g!!! I have never weighed her before, the food I give is always eaten and they are very active, I never thought there was a problem. I have no idea how long she has been losing weight, she didn’t LOOK skinny but I guess that’s the long fur covering her up. I’ve weighed pippin and she was 774g which Google says is still really small except she feels really fat, not just compared to Merry, she’s a happy little piggy and constantly eats.
To try and help out Merry I have trimmed most of her fur back to reduce her drying time, I’ve washed her, put her in am open box near the radiator with lots of towels and food etc so she could dry out however she barely touched the food and just snuggled into the towels. Before putting her back in the hutch I tried to hand feed (never had any success before) and she actually ate several bites from the carrot, some leaves, and a few bits of kibble!
I’ve tried to handle her a little bit the last few days and tried to hand feed again, but she doesn’t want to take it. Once she goes in the hutch I see her eating, and she’s always the first one to run to the bottom section when I top up the kibble. I see her often at the water bottle drinking too. However I’ve weighed her this morning and she’s lost 2g. I’m just really worried, and feel awful for not noticing her weight loss until this point.
I’m just after some advice really. I avoided handling as I felt she really did not like it but now I’m wondering if I should keep trying with the hand feeding? Should I separate the piggies for a bit to see if Pippin is eating too much? Looking how much of a chunk she is it was my first thought but with her being ‘underweight’ too should they BOTH be fed more? There is a constant supply of a variety of food available to them, and often when cleaning the hutch I find uneaten food which I feel if they were starving they wouldn’t ever leave anything?
Their nails and teeth seem fine, they have plenty of toys and wooden things to chew on. Plenty of wet patches of sawdust and thousands of poops every day so I know they are eating but I’m just at a loss.
No specialist vet near me, and the shop I got them from is useless (it’s a chain, staffed by teenagers just needing an easy job and they have absolutely no idea about the animals they sell)
Sorry, thank you for reading this far
I’m worried about my pig Merry. I have 2x sows Merry and Pippin, presumably from the same litter. They were the same size, same colouring, and together in the same pen when we bought them.
Pippin has always been the more vocal one, and although does not like being picked up (runs away) once she is having a cuddle she will happily sit with the kids and let them hand feed her, as long as the food keeps coming she will sit still.
Merry doesn’t stay still. She freezes when my hand goes in the hutch like she’s frightened so although picking her up is easier than Pippin, she definitely does not feel comfortable being handled, and once she’s out she’s constantly looking for a way to escape. She is very reluctant to accept food from a human hand.
Because of this, I purchased an open floor pen, which I let them both run around in and the kids can sit on the floor and watch, hand feed pippin, and occasionally stroke Merry without needing to handle her. She seemed much more content with this set up. The hutch has a door that opens downwards like a ramp so I tend to open that into the pen to allow Merry to walk down it cutting out the need for the kids to handle her as much as possible, I just wanted her to be comfortable and feel safe.
The hutch is 2 floors, with a door that closes off the access. I open the top doors, coax them both down the ramp, close it off, then clean the top. Once it’s all clean and ready, I open the door, coax them both back up the ramp, close the door again, and clean the bottom. Open the door to give them full access once it’s all clean. This means I have not physically handled Merry for a while (Pippin still comes out for cuddles).
They get hay and dried ‘kibble’ style pellets, fresh salad (lettuce, rocket, spinach, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber etc etc) every single day. I also give fresh grass when I can find them, dandelions.
Merry is long haired and mostly white and the other day I noticed hundreds of black spots covering her fur. Google said hay mites so I purchased some shampoo and conditioner, and a spray for their bedding. It all arrived and I prepped everything to get ready to wash her, however upon picking her up I realised she was EXTREMELY light and I could feel her bones. Weighed her and she’s only 535g!!! I have never weighed her before, the food I give is always eaten and they are very active, I never thought there was a problem. I have no idea how long she has been losing weight, she didn’t LOOK skinny but I guess that’s the long fur covering her up. I’ve weighed pippin and she was 774g which Google says is still really small except she feels really fat, not just compared to Merry, she’s a happy little piggy and constantly eats.
To try and help out Merry I have trimmed most of her fur back to reduce her drying time, I’ve washed her, put her in am open box near the radiator with lots of towels and food etc so she could dry out however she barely touched the food and just snuggled into the towels. Before putting her back in the hutch I tried to hand feed (never had any success before) and she actually ate several bites from the carrot, some leaves, and a few bits of kibble!
I’ve tried to handle her a little bit the last few days and tried to hand feed again, but she doesn’t want to take it. Once she goes in the hutch I see her eating, and she’s always the first one to run to the bottom section when I top up the kibble. I see her often at the water bottle drinking too. However I’ve weighed her this morning and she’s lost 2g. I’m just really worried, and feel awful for not noticing her weight loss until this point.
I’m just after some advice really. I avoided handling as I felt she really did not like it but now I’m wondering if I should keep trying with the hand feeding? Should I separate the piggies for a bit to see if Pippin is eating too much? Looking how much of a chunk she is it was my first thought but with her being ‘underweight’ too should they BOTH be fed more? There is a constant supply of a variety of food available to them, and often when cleaning the hutch I find uneaten food which I feel if they were starving they wouldn’t ever leave anything?
Their nails and teeth seem fine, they have plenty of toys and wooden things to chew on. Plenty of wet patches of sawdust and thousands of poops every day so I know they are eating but I’m just at a loss.
No specialist vet near me, and the shop I got them from is useless (it’s a chain, staffed by teenagers just needing an easy job and they have absolutely no idea about the animals they sell)
Sorry, thank you for reading this far
it sounds as if she had (please don't take this the wrong way) a beautiful final day in this life before crossing. To be surrounded by those who love her and to have her sister right beside her must have reassured her.