[Laura Workman]

Well, I just purchased a breeding pair of potbellies to provide meat for our family. The boar is six months old, and the sow is a year old. The only thing is, these guys are TINY. I bet the boar doesn't weight 20 pounds, and the sow is maybe twice that. Is there a good way to get faster growth on the babies without letting them get obese? I will have plenty of goat milk and alfalfa meal available, if that would help. Any hints or information will be greatly appreciated.

 

[uncle Will in In.]

Our neighbor had one they kept in the house that weighed about 300 lbs. He almost needed a skate board under his belly to walk. Maybe that's why they call them pot bellied.

 

[marvella]

depends on what you got them for. if for meat, georgek has beeen raising them for a long time. i can tell you about making them pets, as can some others.

 

[GeorgeK]

PB's do most of their growing in the first 9 months usually about 60 pounds by then, and typically 100-120 by 4 years. Either these are midgets of the potbelly breed in which case you may have a VERY marketable pet variety, or they have been starved into failing to thrive by the previous owners, in which case their offspring will likely be better breeders for meat. Tiny sows cant feed many piglets. Feed them with some sort of high protein feed and see if they put on muscle or fat.