# Whethering a pot belly piglet



## Christina's Dream (Jun 14, 2011)

I'm getting a little piggy this weekend.  The breeder doesn't whether or de-tusk them.  He was born April 28 2011.  Can I tie off his nuts with the elestic band thing they sell at the feed store and wait for them to dry up and fall off.......  Or do I have to do it the loud screaming way....  

Also...the tusks...  The parent pigs have not been done and I have not seen them at all on them.  Soooo advice please


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## Theykeepmebusy (Jun 14, 2011)

Hi !!!, I'm new to pigs and I was just looking this exact same thing up, I think it's going to be different with piggy's. 
 Here's one video I found on youtube. I'm still searching for other ways, I'm a googleaholic. 




YourLinkGoesHere http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2dMkPGIOUw&feature=youtu.be


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## Christina's Dream (Jun 14, 2011)

Ok that was cool and looks easy to do but my piglet will be weaned... He is almost 2 months old so that won't work for me.  But ya looks so easy easy 

I'm realling thinking that rubber band type method I wish I had better termanology for it.


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## Theykeepmebusy (Jun 14, 2011)

Castration by banding?     Neutering by banding?


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## OatWheatMinipigs (Jun 15, 2011)

You can't band  a pig  They don't have a hanging nut sack like a goat its just  kind of poochy in the back!  Sorry but the only way is to cut and remove the tesicles.


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## Bimpnottin (Jun 15, 2011)

Wow,  it's SOOOOO much easier to do the teeth and castrate them when they are little.  Seriously, worked for a large hog operation during college and we always raised pids.  I would sit on an upside down pail, grab all the babies by the time they were 3 days old, use an offset pliers, cut the teeth, push their sack up, and cut out the testicles with two little cuts.  It was six cuts with the pliers and I was done.  And we never had any problems from it, and if we did, they probably weren't going to make it regardless of what we did.  I did this to 1000s of piglets and maybe lost a handful to this. Spray them with a little iodine or blu-kote and they'd be fine.  It is so much harder to do when they are older and so much more traumatic to the animals.


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## Christina's Dream (Jun 16, 2011)

So my basic thoughts are that my new little piggy will have to stay intact and I'll just have to live with it.  That kinda sucks.  

Anyone have another other ideas???


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## Bimpnottin (Jun 16, 2011)

Christina's Dream said:
			
		

> So my basic thoughts are that my new little piggy will have to stay intact and I'll just have to live with it.  That kinda sucks.
> 
> Anyone have another other ideas???


You can still do the castrating, but it will take two people.  One will have to hold the pig by the hind legs and lean into a wall to support him.  The other person will have to have a scalpel or brand new blade in a box cutter.  You push up on the bottom of the scrotum and you should see two distinct lumps for the testicles.  Slice over one in an up-and-down motion and push the testicle out.  Pull it out.  Then do the same to the other side.  You might have to regrab him, because the testicles can slide.  You might even be able to pull both out the same cut, but I wouldn't count on it.  The slice will have to be just a little bit longer than the size of the testicles.  Have iodine spray or blu-kote handy and try and keep him by himself for a little while, so the other pigs (if you have more than one) leave him alone.

I don't know what to tell you about the teeth, sorry.

If you aren't going to use him for breeding, you should really try and castrate him.  Barrows - castrated males, are much friendlier.  Boars - intact males, can be sweethearts, or hormonal monsters, so it's better to try for the calmer male.


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## Christina's Dream (Jun 16, 2011)

Sweet maybe I will give it a try...  He is only a pot belly so he can't be that big at 2 months old.  And as for the teeth i'm not toooo worried about them.  I just don't want a stinky piggy or even worse a stinky horny pig...lol


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Jun 17, 2011)

I actually recommend making the cut smaller than the testicle and pushing it out. They are bean shaped and you will want to make the cut near what (when it is upside down) will be the top but when right sided will be the bottom of the scrotum. 

The cut only needs to be a big as the testicle is wide. If it is too big then you are at further risk for infection and why make a bigger wound then you need to.  It seems to tend to gape a bit anyway after the testicle is removed so small = better in my opinion. 

 With an older pig you may find it is hard to just "pull" them out.  The blood vessel and seminal cord are larger and stronger.   We had one like this and I held the testicle in one hand to stretch out the cord and used the razor to abrade the cords until they broke.  We had limited bleeding this way.  Cutting straight across is what is bad.  

Hope this helps.


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