# Help, Overweight Potbelly



## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

We were just given two potbelly pigs. They are both grossly obese, but the female especially. I need to put these pigs on a diet, but I need to know the best way to do this. They just arrived this morning and today they got nothing but hay since they had been fed before they arrived. They were being fed a combination of mini pig food and horse feed. The owner told me that they had backed them down to one feeding a day which appeared to be about a quart of feed each. They have plenty of room to move around, but don't have much inclination to do so since they are so overweight and need a good hoof trim. Tomorrow we are going to try to trim their feet and get them de-wormed. Anything else, especially about their diet. Thanks, Kat


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

I wouldn't give them any grain at all and I'd go out there a couple times a day and force them to get up and moving. Actually, that's not true... _I_ would put them down, but if you really want to keep them that'd be my advice to you. Honestly, you're fighting a losing battle.


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## Rogo (Jan 1, 2006)

Are the pigs for pork or pets? Regardless, feed them like pigs, not the mini pig or horse feed.

I realize we all feed/tend different. My Potbellies are for pork. I feed Bermuda hay (always available), oats, barley, eggs from my poultry, and 100% food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) - 28 trace minerals.

No confinement here. The pigs roam the acreage with the rest of the critters.

Experiment with menus/amounts and see what works best for you. Give each time to work. If it doesn't, try something else. Nothing's in cement and can be changed!!


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Never, repeat NEVER feed commercial pig food to a potbelly. Grossly obese is the result. Put those two out on graze and give them nothing else but water, and maybe a small hand fed treat each day, like maybe an apple. Never feed them corn, or bread. Carbs = fat. 
Our boar, we only ever fed when there was snow on the ground. The rest of the year, he grazed and rutted his food. Our sow is fat, but not dangerous fat, and she gets about a half gallon of feed a day.

A mish mash of kitchen yuck, weeds, and low protein slop that our big pigs get.


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> Never, repeat NEVER feed commercial pig food to a potbelly. Grossly obese is the result. Put those two out on graze and give them nothing else but water, and maybe a small hand fed treat each day, like maybe an apple. Never feed them corn, or bread. Carbs = fat.
> Our boar, we only ever fed when there was snow on the ground. The rest of the year, he grazed and rutted his food. Our sow is fat, but not dangerous fat, and she gets about a half gallon of feed a day.
> 
> A mish mash of kitchen yuck, weeds, and low protein slop that our big pigs get.



Mine eat commercial hog food and they are short and lean.
Don't blame the food, blame the people who over fed them.


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

Today, the pigs had free choice bermuda hay and I took some alfalfa pellets and put little piles all around their pen so that they had to move around to find them. They only got the pellets in the morning, otherwise it is hay. We have a breeding pair of potbellies coming in Thursday that have been pasture raised. We are hoping to be able to use one of these pigs also, but don't know how well that will work. I am thinking of keeping them separate until I can see if she will be able to lose any weight. I can put the other two in the big pasture and keep these two in the little pasture. Anyway, thanks for the advice and please keep it coming.


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

Oh and Rogo we are going to be using the potbellies for pork. We just got talked into taking these two as a favor and thought that maybe the sow could be used. Don't know right now if that will happen or if they will just wind up in the freezer. Oh, well.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

What I actually meant was the store bought feed for potbellies, rather than commercial hog feed. ANd you are right, most people over feed..WAY over feed. A potbelly can look at feed and get fat.


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

Yeah, if they were getting a quart of feed a day, no wonder they're huge! Mine, when at proper weight, got a cup or so per day. 

Your female will get thinner. Don't be too anxious to breed her, though. Wait until she's been fit for a while, then give it a try. I had one that came to me very fat. I put her on a diet, and when she was about there, bred her. When she farrowed, she had a single piglet, which she promptly squashed. Tried again, same thing. Tried a third time. This time she had three, and tried to be a decent mom, but wouldn't let her milk down. All three died. She'd been a cherished pet, so I found her a pet home. Otherwise, I would have eaten her. Your girl may do better, but don't be too disappointed if she doesn't.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

To take weight off of any kind of livestock safely, figure out what end weight you want and how much feed they will use at that weight. Then feed for the desired weight and the fat will slowly come off your pigs without disrupting their blood sugar levels or their calcium phosphorus pump.

Increase their exercise slowly to get them into better condition.


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

Pigs have been getting plenty of vegetables from the garden. We are giving them a mix of oats, calf manna, and alfalfa pellets in the morning soaked in whey from making cheese. They have all the hay during the day that they can eat and only get a small amount of grain in the morning. They both are beginning to get more active. For about the first week, they would hardly move around. Now, everytime I go by their pasture the girl is moving around doing what pigs do. The barrow in with her moves more at night, he is a bit of a night owl. But even he is beginning to be more active in the mornings. I am hoping that they are on the road to better health. They seem to be as they are acting more like pigs and seem to have more energy. We will keep on keeping on and see how they do. Thanks everyone, Kat


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## Lee Rogers (Jul 12, 2020)

secuono said:


> Mine eat commercial hog food and they are short and lean.
> Don't blame the food, blame the people who over fed them.


How much do you feed each pig?


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