Mini pigs are famous exotic pets. More individuals are crazy about having a pet pig. They look for micro pig breeders or mini pigs for sale online. If you have prior knowledge with breeding, you can actually do it on your end. However, there are certain things to consider and important details to bear in mind.
You will need the following:
Heat lamps
Bedding or straw
Breeding cycle calendar
Gilt female pig
Boar
Pen for gestation
If needed, insemination supplies
Here is how to breed micro pigs
- Get hold of pigs that are eligible to breed. A veterinarian can check your pigs if they are suitable or not.
- Wait for the female pig to come into heat. Inseminate the female pig from the boar or allow the boar to inseminate the female pig. 12 or 24 hours later, allow the boar to be with the female again. The mating process can take up to 10 minutes.
- Three weeks after, check the female pig for pregnancy. Repeat the processes again if there are no signs of pregnancy. Within 21 days that the female pig is not on heat, she is most likely pregnant.
- If the pig is already pregnant, the prescribed feeding process by the veterinarian must be followed. You should not forget the regular checkups as the pig might have some trouble with its pregnancy.
- During the delivery time, help the pig to give birth. They can become stress and can lead to difficulty in giving birth to all of its piglets. Call the veterinarian for any emergency as it may require a caesarian delivery for the piglets to be safe.
- Have the piglets socialize with other pigs and transfer to another pig pen those pigs that are not suitable for breeding.
- Continue the breeding process with the smaller piglets once they reach the appropriate age and passed the health checks.
It is important to consider the following:
- Make sure that in your area, you are allowed to own pigs. Number of municipalities will not allow livestock such as pigs.
- Choose gilt, which is in good health and registered.
- A female pig may be bred at the age of 6 – 8 months. The second or the third heat is recommended to breed the pig.
- With the breeding cycle calendar, mark the first breeding.
- Upon the delivery process, heat lamps or fan is needed to regulate the temperature.
- Avoid the female pig to be in contact with other animals or even with people. This can prevent from the spread of any diseases.
Remember, you are breeding for a micro pig. You will need to produce a smaller size version of the usual livestock. So when you breed, choose only the smaller but healthier pigs from the litters. Continuously following the process through generations, you will achieve to produce a micro size pigs and notice that the piglets are not healthy, discontinue that line.