# When is it too cold for 2 tiny piglets??



## secuono (Dec 19, 2015)

I just got two tiny 1mo piglets in a trade, didn't quite think it through and forgot how small they would be. I would guess they are 5 pounds. Pink was shivering some, but it could of been from fear, they are quite scared of me. 

They are in a large metal dog crate, they have a little plastic cat carrier with a folded towel over the top to cover the slits on 3 sides. Filled the carrier and the crate with hay and gave them food. Covered the crate's top and backside to block wind and shade it during the day. 

Our low tonight will be 25F. Tomorrow's low will be 32F. 

Should I bring them into the house for these two nights? Other nights will be a bit warmer for a few days. 

What's the lowest temperature two tiny piglets can handle on their own? 

Should I set up a more long term shelter for them in the shed for them to stay the nights in until they are larger and fatter?

Pigtures or it didn't happen-


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## Baymule (Dec 19, 2015)

I would totally have them in the house. And my poor long suffering husband would totally have a fit. Then I would haul one out and cuddle it (it would probably scream bloody murder) and he would feel sorry for it.


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## secuono (Dec 19, 2015)

Baymule said:


> I would totally have them in the house. And my poor long suffering husband would totally have a fit. Then I would haul one out and cuddle it (it would probably scream bloody murder) and he would feel sorry for it.



The more I think of them...the more I'm getting the urge to set up a crate in the laundry room....The dog and cats will be so curious


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## Mini Horses (Dec 19, 2015)

If you bring them inside I would suggest you try to keep them in the crate they are in, they don't like change much.  
If they've been with littermates, probably used to more heat than just two.  BUT, with a lot of straw, they will snuggle up & make a bed.  Probably warmer than you may think.   LOTS of bedding and dry, good wind block and sounds like you've done that.  They will actually cover themselves with hay if enough there.   All around them and it insulates.


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## secuono (Dec 19, 2015)

I got too worried and brought them in. Don't have space for the crate, so in a large laundry bin. Black one is 6 pounds. 
I'll better insulate their crate tomorrow. But probably won't leave them out until the night temp goes up a little. Just too paranoid one might freeze...


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## goatgurl (Dec 19, 2015)

aren't baby pigs the cutest things.  i would have worried too but your new worry is how are you going to get them back out now that their in the house and warm for the winter.  as long as they are fed well, dry and out of the wind they should be ok.  mini horses is right, they will tunnel down into the hay to stay warm.  gotta post you a picture of one of my pigs and how he stayed warm.  i couldn't figure out how he had gotten out of the pen till he poked his head up thru the hay and said "here i am".   made me laugh.


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## secuono (Dec 19, 2015)

My others bury in hay, but they aren't tiny fresh weanlings.


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## Ferguson K (Dec 19, 2015)

My potbellies live outside from day one. No added heat. Lots and lots of hay to snuggle down in, an area big enough to house them where the wind can't get to them, and they do fine. Even at that age they should be okay as long as they can get out of the weather.

What's the temperature there? It doesn't really get "cold" here in my part of Texas. Even when its raining and below zero its only by a degree or two. Sometimes we get into the twenties in the winter. Even then pigs don't seem to mind.

ETA: my breeders live in a plastic trash can.  it was free!!! Does the job out in their pen until we can finish their new barn. All three pile up in it.


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## secuono (Dec 19, 2015)

Down to 25F tonight. It's been above 50 all fall really. So they're not used to it dropping this cold and now just being the two of them.


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## Ferguson K (Dec 19, 2015)

I'd have them inside, too then. Going from a litter and warmer temps to two and colder temps spells trouble to me.


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## secuono (Dec 20, 2015)

Pink one jumped out of the bin and wandered the laundry room last night. Glad I closed the door or I'd have a piglet roaming the house, terrorizing the cats. haha
She was on top of the bin's lid when I opened the door. Athletic! 
Stuffed more hay into the crate. But kinda impossible not to get the hay into their water..


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## Ferguson K (Dec 20, 2015)

Looks nice and cozy in there!!!


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## Baymule (Dec 20, 2015)

I had a pet pot belly once. She dragged the dog's blanket off the porch (why did I ever teach her to climb steps?) and took it to her favorite flower bed. She wrapped herself up like a burrito and stayed warm. We'd come in from work and the blanket would wiggle and grunt. When we moved (to our old house that we moved from in February) she made a nest under the dryer vent. She pushed up oak leaves, I supplemented with hay. On cold nights I covered her with hay and turned the dryer on for 30 minutes. She really liked that dryer vent.....


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## frustratedearthmother (Dec 20, 2015)

Ha, ha!  Pigs are so stinkin' smart!  My former _H brought home some small feral pigs once.  I intended to build them a shelter out of three hay bales in a U-shape with a plywood top.  It was really cold.  I took the hay bales out to their pen and went inside to warm up.  When I came back out a couple hours later those pigs had dismantled the hay bales and had dug themselves a hole.  They pushed all the extra dirt up in a U-shape with the extra dirt forming a higher wall-type formation to block the north wind and had lined the pit with the hay.  They burrowed down into that hay just like Bay's pig and you couldn't see anything but their snout!  Crazy smart...


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## secuono (Dec 20, 2015)

My others eat a lot of the hay as well as mix it with dirt and sleep in it. So I'm always adding more...They hate using their huts and rather sleep out in the open under some hay. lol


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## babsbag (Dec 20, 2015)

I don't think I could do pigs in my house. I raised two once and the smell of pig pooh was just   I know that there are very clean and will have a pooh corner in their pen and won't poop in their sleeping area and all of that, but what does a piglet do when it has to go pooh and it is in your house?


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## secuono (Dec 21, 2015)

babsbag said:


> I don't think I could do pigs in my house. I raised two once and the smell of pig pooh was just   I know that there are very clean and will have a pooh corner in their pen and won't poop in their sleeping area and all of that, but what does a piglet do when it has to go pooh and it is in your house?



Same thing! They pick a corner. Even newborn piglets will waddle off to potty away from mom. They travel further and further the stronger they get.


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## Ferguson K (Dec 21, 2015)

Our pigs use the lower most corner of their pen. They use that corner to poop and pee. Its easy to clean with a hose. They love it! Although it is quite raunch if I go more than a few days without cleaning it.


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## secuono (Dec 21, 2015)

Left them out last night.


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## Ferguson K (Dec 21, 2015)

They look snug!!


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## secuono (Dec 22, 2015)

Sorry, fixed the pics on here.


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## goatgurl (Dec 22, 2015)

those guys look snug as a but in a rug.  your crate stuffed with hay seems to have totally worked.


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## Ferguson K (Dec 23, 2015)

Upon closer inspection ( on my computer ) does the little black one have flakey skin? Skin flaking could be a sign of lice. Potbellies are BAD about contracting lice. Could also just be a white skinned black ( seeing as she has a white sister, the genetics are there. )


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## secuono (Dec 23, 2015)

? 
I think you're just seeing dust and seed from the hay?

Yea, I know all about PBs and their hellish lice issues...ugh, hate when they get it...


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## Ferguson K (Dec 23, 2015)

That's possible (probably definitely). I was just prepared to warn you that, glad you're aware! At least its easy to treat with a bath or two in prolate. Still not fun.


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## secuono (Dec 27, 2015)

This thread has ended up being a progression thread. Hope that's alright.


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## Ferguson K (Dec 27, 2015)

Cuties!


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