A house pig??

Although he denies it, my husband is usually the one who starts getting the family excited for our next pet. Sometimes it comes faster than we think, but it’s usually one we can all get on board with. Then 2021 happened.. This was the year that my husband decided to start a campaign in our house to get a mini pig. It didn’t take much for me to get on board, and I immediately started imagining the cute little hut that would be outside and the gated yard we could provide for said pig. Then my husband looked at me completely in shock, “It wouldn’t live OUTSIDE!” he says. I immediately protested. Why on earth are we going to add another animal that is completely new to us, and have it in the house? I was no longer on board and for the next 12 months he continued to sway each child to join him in convincing me that we need a piggy.

He won over 2 of the 3 pretty quickly. The third was a hardcore no, but now that she is a teenager she has pulled away from the farm life idea and would just appreciate being a “normal family”. Then there was me – the one who researches everything before committing. I made a list of 10 really good undeniable reasons why we do not need a pig. All of my reasons were met with “But I want one.” On the other hand, my good friend who raises these mini pigs continued to keep me updated on the next upcoming litter and assured me I could get first pick. Ugh.

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My downfall

After 12 months I finally broke. I decided if the family is trying this hard even after being educated on the reasons why this would cause our worlds to be turned upside down, then I should respect their wants and join this journey with them. At the same time I was coming to this realization, my friend writes me to tell me the litter was born! I saw in the pictures that there was a really small one that he told me was the runt. I knew this was it. If we were going to have a chance of this little “mini pig” staying small, it would be the runt.

So I claimed her. We named her Iris. That name just seemed too common in our lives not to take it. Derricks wonderful Grandmother was named Iris, we love Iris flowers, and the Goo Goo Dolls have a song named Iris and if you know me, you know I sure do love the Goo Goo Dolls!

The buddy system

Fast forward to when the little oink can come home. I had continued my research and was challenged with one pretty big question…. Does our Iris need a friend? Many of our rescues have come in pairs because it’s easier for them to have a buddy. I read many reasons why pigs enjoy a companion which I will highlight in my “things to understand before deciding to add a pig to your family” post. I also weighed the fact that if Iris is the runt she may come with even more anxiety and depression when leaving the safety of her family yadda yadda yadda – now we are getting two.

Pig number 2 was named Fern and was super easy to pick from the litter because she is the one who was ALWAYS next to Iris. They were bonded <3 (cue the “awwwws” all over the world). Because we made the decision to get the 2nd pig the night before we went to pick Iris up, we kept this a secret from the kids. We always love surprises especially when it comes to getting new pets. Check out the size difference – it still amazes me how small Iris was.

Time for pickup

Our prepping included some key steps:

  1. Finding the right food and milk supplement for the first couple of weeks
  2. Building a strong, homey pen that they can stay in (most people get a crate but we are extra)
  3. Collecting old blankets to make their bed all comfy
  4. Adding rugs to their space because we have hard wood in the area the pigs would be staying
  5. Building a secure designated space for outdoor time

We drove over two hours to pick up these little babies and the car ride was filled with talking about pigs, their behaviors, what to expect, and really prepping everyone for a couple of days where the pigs may be completely scared of us. The good news for us is we were getting our pigs from my friend Carl, that I trust with my whole heart. Many people who get a “Mini pig” are lied to from breeders who promise their pigs will stay tiny which just isn’t the truth but even worse- some of them are pot bellies and their mini pig turns out to be 300lbs! Then they try to rehome it because 300lbs is a whole lot of pig, and that pig comes with a whole lotta attitude!

So far I have monitored their food intake and their weight, and they have stayed under 30 pounds so far. The kids fell in love with them and really, our hearts are so full. Pigs come with a lot of challenges as they can be compared to dogs but there are some very large differences when it comes to behavior. Here are some pictures of the first couple of days when we picked them up.

It has been around 8 months that these bitties have been in our family and we sure have learned a ton, and we have a whole lot more to learn. I am going to compile the learnings from my personal experience over our first year, however in the meantime, please enjoy some pictures of these 25+ pound spoiled balls of ham lol.