So you have done your research on what a mini pig really is and decided it is the right pet for you. The first thing you need to do BEFORE you even bring your pig home is make sure you are 100% ready with all of the necessities for your pig. You also need to ensure you have found a vet that will treat your pig, spay/neuter your pig, and do any needed vaccines and rabies.
When thinking of the necessities for your pig you might not know where to start. Don't worry I am going to list everything you need to have prior to bringing your pig home to ensure an easy transition. This post is only on the essentials you need to prepare for your pig. If you want to learn more about basic mini pig care for food click here.
Food
Pigs love to eat! It is a known and true fact. But you need to make sure you are feeding the proper food to your pig to ensure healthy growth, healthy weight, and an overall healthy and happy pig. Winnie is on a pellet diet, fruits and vegetables, and various other snacks. They make commercial pellets specifically for mini pigs and if you don't think you are ready to attempt to go on a raw diet and make your own pig feed, I recommend going with a commercial pellet diet. Make sure you get one for a mini pig because hog feed is very different than mini pig feed and is not what your mini pig needs. I recommend Purina Sow and Pig from Tractor Supply, Sharp's Mini Pig Feed, or Manna Pro Potbellied Feed. You can purchase it at Tractor Supply or your local feed store. You will also need a Children's Flintstone Multivitamin with Iron once a day. Iron is very important for a pig's health and since inside mini pigs are not outside rooting in the soil all day it is essential to give them a multivitamin to ensure they are getting the proper iron and nutrients needed. Fruits and vegetables are also a part of Winnie's diet but more vegetables than fruits. Fruits are high in sugar and more of a fun treat for mini pigs so save them for training sessions, or in the beginning when you are bonding with your pig. Winnie is not too keen on eating vegetables right now but as she grows up she will start liking them more. Snacks, who doesn't love snacks! Winnie's favorite snacks are raisins and cheerios. Again save these for training sessions, bonding time, or putting them in a rooting mat inside to encourage her to root and get out some energy.Keeping a pig on a healthy diet is great for ensuring you do not produce an obese pig and that your pig is as healthy as a pig can be!
Housing Inside and Outside
Before you bring home your mini pig you want to make sure you have the perfect set up both inside and outside for your new baby. When you first bring home your pig you are going to want to have a playpen set up inside so you can put your pig in there and let her get comfortable in her new surroundings before you even attempt to bond with her. See my post on socializing a mini pig here to know how to bond with your pig from the start as it is a process. Just put her in her playpen, try to keep the house calm if possible, and let her warm up and take in everything new. Her playpen should have toys, a bed and blankets, a food and water dish on one side, and a litter box on the other side. Here is a picture of Winnie's inside play pen.
You will see her bed (it is a cozy bed that she can crawl into, she loves it), her water dish, and her toys.
The first thing you will need is really two pens, one for inside and one for outside, or a good fenced in area outside that the pig cannot root under or get out of. A good pen is the North States 6 Panel Baby Super Play Yard from Walmart and you can buy additional panels to make it bigger as your pig grows. Then, for her inside pen, in a separate corner from her sleeping area you will need a litter box. Here is a post discussing all of the different litter box options. I use a concrete mixing tray with pelletized pine bedding from tractor supply and PDZ refresh to keep the pine smell at a minimum. Her bed is a dog bed that has a cover over it so she can burrow into the bed with her blankets and feel safe and secured. She loves her bed and I highly recommend getting a bed with a cover. This is a good bed, click here, and as far as the blankets I just got the Muslin Baby Blankets because they are big and easily washable, but she also has a super soft blanket and many more. Any kind of blanket will do but make sure you have plenty! Pigs love blankets, they love to nestle into them, stay warm, and root in them. Oftentimes they will bury themselves under the blankets. Toys, yay! Any toys will do from dog toys to baby toys. Winnie loves stuffed animals because she can root into them and cuddle with them. But as she gets older she will most likely rip stuffed animals apart ha! She also loves the baby teething toys and the baby piano. I recommend getting toys for a baby to toddler. Also the most important toys are enrichment toys for your pig that will help keep her mind busy and tire her out. I will touch on the enrichment toys later! Add a food dish and water dish, they always need access to water, good luck finding a water dish they don't tip over or spill but there are many options. The gravity water dispensing jug seems to do well for Winnie. And there you are all set for your inside pen!
But she also needs an outside pen until you have bonded with your pig! Even if you have a huge fenced yard, unless you want to be chasing your very fast pig around your yard, an outside pen is absolutely necessary. The North States Baby Play Yard will work as an outside pen as well because it is indoor/outdoor. We actually got two and put them together to make Winnie's outside pen super big for her to grow into. It helps with her not stepping in her poop due to a confined space. But make sure you stake your outside pen into the ground because if not your pig can nudge it up with their nose and slip right out from underneath it. Here is how we staked Winnie's into the ground:
Here is a picture of Winnie in her outside pen:
Winnie doesn't spend an enormous amount of time outside so her outside pen set up is very simple. She has her pen, and igloo and some timothy hay. Timothy hay you can purchase at Tractor Supply or your local feed store, it is fun for pigs to root in and fine for them to munch on. I always apply baby sunscreen for Winnie before putting her outside if the sun is strong and she is going to be out there for 20-30 minutes or longer. Since it is getting cold in Arkansas Winnie probably won't be outside very much for long periods of time, unless she likes the cold then she will get plenty of outside time. There must be a shelter so they have a place to get away from the outside elements. MiniPigInfo has a ton of outside house ideas you can find here. But since Winnie is an inside pig she only goes outside to get out some natural rooting instincts and to get nutrients from the soil. If you want to know why outside time for pigs is so important you can read my post here.
Another thing to think about is where your pig is going to sleep at night. Is she going to sleep in her pen or do you want her in your bedroom with you, or maybe in a crate? All are great options, but if she is going to sleep in your bedroom then I recommend not allowing your pig to sleep in your bed unless you are prepared for a 150lb pig sleeping in your bed as well. Winnie and Nel sleep in a crate together right next to my bed. The first night they slept peacefully all night long until I woke them up in the morning, they didn't wake up once to use the bathroom or to play.
So that is what you need to have the proper set up inside and outside for your pig! Make sure you have her pens all set up and ready before you bring her home so you aren't scrambling to get things ready when you get your pig home. You want it to be as stress free as you can for your new pig so having a pen set up prior to make an easy transition is key!
Proofing Your House
Pig proofing your house is very similar to baby proofing your house because pigs are basically toddlers who get into anything and everything they can. So you need to make sure as many items are picked up as possible so your pig can't get into anything she isn't allowed to. Make sure you put baby locks on the cabinets and outlet plug covers on all outlets not being used. Pigs are notorious for opening cabinets and you don't want your pig accidentally opening the cabinet of cleaning supplies because that could be fatal. Baby gates are key for when you start letting your pig explore because you will want to limit the areas she can go. Try to keep her in the same room that you are in so you can keep an eye on her. Once again they are like toddlers so out of sight they could get into trouble. The last thing that you will need to do before you bring your pig home is only if you have hardwood floors or tile. Pigs have hooves and therefore cannot walk on hardwood floors and tile. They slip and this could be very dangerous for your pig, harming them or causing walking issues in the future. So if you have hardwood floors or tile you will need to put down an ample amount of rugs, mats, runners, or anything else for your pig to walk on so she doesn't slip. Since Winnie and Nel are so young right now they is baby gated off in whatever room I am in so I know where to have rugs and runners so they can walk around. Here are some pictures of my rugs and runners that I purchased as Target. Here is a not so expensive 5 x 7 area rug but there are so many you can pick whatever one you want! Just remember your pig will root in your rug so a shag rug is probably not the best option.
I have more runners throughout the house and rugs in both rooms Winnie is allowed to explore. As she grows I will have to invest in larger rugs so she has more room to play but for now these do the trick. She is smart and stays on the rugs and runners for the most part because she knows she slips if she is on the tile or hardwood. Other than that the biggest thing is just to proof your house like you would for a toddler!
Toys
Toys are the best part of preparing for your mini pig to come home! There are SO many toys you could go out and buy but hold off until your pig gets comfortable and starts opening up. Some pigs like toys and some don't care for them. So before you go out and buy a ton of toys wait to get to know your pig a little and then decide what would work best! But with that being said, buy a couple toys to have for your new pig to make her feel more at home and give her things to play with if she wants. There are a few that I highly recommend. The first is a stuffed animal of some sorts that is of a decent size or the same size as your mini pig. They will root into the stuffed animal and cuddle with it because they will miss their siblings. Baby toys are usually a hit with pigs. The ones I recommend are teething toys like this one, and a baby piano like this one. Winnie played her piano the first day! And teething toys are awesome because they are sturdy and you don't have to worry about pieces breaking off your pig could ingest. Dog toys are great too but try to stay away from rubber toys that easily break off because your pig will ingest those pieces. Rope toys such as this are great! Ok so there are the fun toys I recommend but what you really need for your pig are enrichment toys. These are toys that engage your pigs mind and gives them an out for their natural rooting needs. Pig are so intelligent having toys that make them work and think are the best toys you can have. If you have a baby piglet I recommend getting the OurPets IQ Treat Ball from Amazon. If you are getting a 6 month or older piglet I recommend getting the StarMark Bob-A-Lot Interactive Dog Toy from Amazon. Both toys are interactive treat ball toys that make your pig work for her pellets or treats. Your pig has to push the ball around to get the treats out. This helps get some of those natural rooting needs out and makes them think and work for what they want, food! The Bob-A-Lot is a bigger, heavier toy so it is best for older pigs. Winnie loves her IQ Treat Ball. The last thing I recommend, and the absolute BEST toy you can get for your pig is an inside rooting mat! Take a look at Winnie's.
This is the one Winnie has but I will say it is very small so though it is a perfect size for her now, she will outgrow it. Here is another one that is bigger and great for any mini pig. This is an amazing enrichment activity that lets your pig root on something she is allowed to root on! Winnie will root on this mat for an hour then be so tired she goes right to sleep.
So if you only want to buy some essential toys to start then maybe get some more, I recommend the enrichment toys! Pigs are so smart and get bored easily. A bored pig is a pig looking for trouble, so having these enrichment toys will help keep your pig occupied. If you want to know more enrichment ideas for your inside pig check out my post here!
There you have it! Everything you need to be fully prepared to bring home your new mini pig. I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy your new bundle of joy.
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