Tea cup pigs, micro mini pigs, micro pigs, mini pigs, and miniature pigs, all of these are only referring to one thing, a piglet which weighs about 40lbs to 100 lbs. if you want to know where they originally came from, you will not believe it came from a pig that weighs almost 200lbs.
Tea cup pigs are about the size of a tea cup. The famous is the pot-bellied pig which is the first breed of pig used by Chris Murray for medical research. Together with him is his wife, Nicky Murray. The pets are originally named as Pennywell miniatures. It is the name of the farm where the first mini pig was born. Later, Chris realized that the little pigs also love coffees. He then renamed them with Tea cup pigs. They are not pigs in teacup but at birth, they do fit in a teacup in about 9 ounces.
The first teacup pig is named Tetley, because it exactly fitted of Chris’s teacup. It was hard work for nine years until they have finally brought the miniature pigs to existence. They have had errors and failures with their research. They first tried Iron Age pigs and wild boar, also English breeds such as Middle White, Gloucestershire Old Spot, Tamworths and Berkshire. Until the top cross, Kunekune, became successful. He has had prior knowledge with pig breeding but it was only all about rapid growth rate and good food conversion ratio. When the little pigs came, he decided to have them on his farm too. Visitors, especially adults, usually place the pigs in their laps for hours. The normal pig is a heavy creature to be placed on their laps. After being featured in different magazines and news, they had a waiting list of around two years from people around the world who want to own a Pennywell miniature pig.
Fully grown little pigs of about 2 years can weigh an average of 65 lbs. They are expensive because of their high demand and are usually sold in pairs. More people are getting interested of buying one. The pigs are intelligent and affectionate animals. Pet lovers who are allergic to fur have a choice to keep a pet pig since it has no hair. They do not have fleas and are clean. However, naïve owners are not sure how big they can grow and vicious they can be. This is the reason for the increase of abandoned pigs. Breeders and sellers usually have commitment plans to prevent this event to happen.
Chris is delighted for the success they have achieved, thanks to Tetley. Their farm was given a big boost of visitors after he and Tetley was featured in television. He has achieved the key for any tourist attraction, to stand out from the rest. Now you know where the little pigs came from, why not try adding a new pet at home with a little creature like a mini pig? Tea cup pigs are cute and tiny at birth but bear in mind that they do grow big.