handeling young potbellies

[justin]

I recently got 2 young female potbellie pigs, they are still scared of me and I have to Chase them to catch them but they will let me get about a foot away before they run. Should I try to catch and handle them or or just sit and talk and give them time to come around? They are outdoors in a large caged in are with lots of room to run and I hate chasing them around because I know they are scared but I'm afraid they won't ever be tame if I don't handle them.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

first off, you are going to have a LOT of fun with them. Baby pigs are great. Love love love watching them run.

Food is a great lure. Most animals can be gentled by food. It's a miracle worker. Pigs don't really like to be picked up in my experience but in March we picked up four 12 week old pigs that had NEVER been touched except when they were caught by their ears to be picked up and thrown over the fence to us so they could be chucked in the truck bed crate. (Not fun to see or do)


1 month later they are super excited to see people, 2 months later they will let you pet them and 3 months later they would eat of our hands like a dog. It CAN be done. Don't chase them, don't force it.


Animals remember stuff like this but since they are young hopefully they'll be fairly forgiving and come around sooner. The goat babies are playing with me 3 days after I disbud them, the adults are giving me dirty looks for 3 weeks after being wormed. Just remember that you are going to have these animals for years and years and it does take time to build that relationship.

Just go slowly and start with sitting on the ground and feeding them near you. After a couple days, start petting them while they eat, stuff like that. Just take it slowly and you'll be fine.