• Breed We Have
• What They Eat
• Housing
• Breeding, Artificial Insemination & Piglets
• Care & Maintenance
• Illness, Problems & Treatment

Breed We Have

We have a vietnamese pot-belly cross wild boar male, and two vietnamese pot-belly sows.

What They Eat

Virtually anything and everything – all cooked up together. We cook them up a mixture of potato skins, various vegetables and rice, and add any kitchen scraps to their feed bucket. They eat no meat products as it can cause foot & mouth disease.

Housing

Pigs are very fond of creature comforts – no draughts, plenty of shade, straw for bedding,  a pit close by to bathe in, and clean water keeps a happy animal.  Pigs are very clean and never mess inside their houses.

Breeding, Artificial Insemination & Piglets

Breeding: The gilt (young female) or sow (fully-matured female) comes into season (heat) approximately every 21 days. We will put her with the boar (or if he is impatient, will break out of his pen to get to her), and then it is a waiting game. You will notice bodily changes in her if she becomes pregnant: the teats extend and the belly swells and drops. About 3-4 days before giving birth, you will notice that the sack around the teats will swell with milk and drop to the floor – this means that as she walks, the teats are dragged across the ground and hardened, toughening up ready for the bitey piglets. She will start to build a nest – picking up piles of straw in her mouth and building a straw-wall in her house. You may also notice the vulva swelling before birthing – which they tend to do in the early hours of the morning.

Artificial Insemination: First of all, I would like to point out that we do not artificially inseminate our animals. If you don’t want to borrow a boar for a couple of weeks – or have no means of doing so – you can go down the artificial insemination option. There are a lot of helpful links on Google that will take you through the whole process – though it is advised that you have a professional do it for you.

Piglets: Once the piglets are born, they – like newborn humans – are unable to regulate their own body heat. If the outside temperature is below 25 degrees celsius, then they will possibly need a heat lamp added to their sleeping area. Keep an eye on them. Piglets are on the move from the moment they are born; running around instantly. Each piglet chooses their own teat when they feed from mum, and they will only feed from that teat until they are weaned. As soon as the piglets are weaned / matured (which is around 6 weeks old), they are separated from mum, and the gilts / boars are also separated. While they are young, the boar may be castrated to prevent reproduction, renaming it as a “barrow”.

Care & Maintenance

We check and clean their feet, young males are castrated and the boars’ tusks are removed to prevent injury to human and pigs alike.

Illness, Problems & Treatments

Not to seem lazy, I will be listing a link to show you the common illnesses of pre/post weaning pigs and breeders. We specialise in certain poultry at Olive Tree Farm, and have the most experience when it comes to birds. I am not a vet, and if you have any further questions then it is best to view the post and/or ask the people who run the page of this website.