Distressed pet piglet

[theponderossa]

We have a three month old kune kune piglet and have had her for three weeks. She was taken off the sow and bottle fed for I'm not certain how long. She's an outdoor pet. In the beginning she was relatively assertive, curious and checking us out. She's pretty much always had her hackles up, especially around our wee dog. She is a bit of a biter and swiper so I have been grabbing her wee snout and pushing her backward when she does this. I have also been shoving at her shoulders when she gets stroppy. All of this, I thought, was establishing myself as alpha pig. In all this I have also aimed to catch her doing good things and saying good girl when I can but she's just so miserable now that there's not much good behaviour to respond to. Something, somewhere went wrong and I don't know what it was and I don't know how to fix it. Any in input would be appreciated.

 

[jhm47]

Cats, dogs, goldfish, and parakeets are pets. Pigs are actually not well suited for "pethood", especially for people who are inexperienced in caring/raising large animals. They are omnivorous animals. Many will readily kill other animals and eat them. Most of them get quite large, and are prone to obesity and many of the diseases that accompany it. They are smart, and have the ability to outsmart many of their owners, especially the inexperienced ones.

I don't like to sound so negative, but it's usually best for pigs to be raised with others of their own species. They are not nearly as dangerous as the big cats, bears, venomous snakes, or some other things that people try to keep as pets, but they are still dangerous enough to cause painful, injuries, and I hate to see people and their pets suffer needlessly.

I probably wasn't much help, but I wish you the best, and good luck.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

I don't like to sound so negative, but it's usually best for pigs to be raised with others of their own species.

Totally agree. Pigs are not pets. They are herd animals & need to be with their own kind. I would suggest that your pig is lonely. Get her a pig friend & I'm sure she'll be much happier.

Liz

 

[Diamond Wire Farms]

This is extremely distressing behavior coming from a KuneKune. I breed them, and they are truly known to be well balanced and mellow pigs.
My worst behavior problems involve pigs that insist on belly rubs to the point of tripping you by constantly laying in your path. The behaviors you are describing sound like the piglet is possibly extremely fearful, perhaps because it was not socialized properly. Bottle feeding KuneKune piglets is rare, but I have not heard of it causing this particular issue.
If you PM me your approximate location/breeder of the piglet, I will try to put you in touch with someone that can help.