# Pot Belly Pig Expert NEEDED!



## HollyH8

Hi, I just recently rescued two pot belly pigs a brother and sister from a neighbor that was neglecting them. Unfortunately, I have a feeling the female "Penny" is pregnant but I can't say for sure. They are roughly 4 months old, so they're still babies. Anyways, penny has an extremely swollen vulva and it has been for the almost two weeks I've had them. Is she in heat, pregnant or does she have a UTI? Isn't 2 weeks a long time for a pot belly pig to be in heat? Also, she excretes a white/clear jello like discharge from her vulva, it almost resembles a bunch of tiny white balls clumped together and has a jello consistency. I have tried posting this on other forums such as backyard herds but I haven't received any replies. Thanks in advance!


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## Yvonne G

Sounds like you need to have a vet out to look at her. They reach sexual maturity between 3 and 4 months of age, so she's probably not PG, but she may be in heat. And maybe there's a complication.


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## ascott

http://www.pigs4ever.com/pot_belly_pig_information/pregnancy.php

*When to Breed?*People often ask when they "should" and when they "can" breed potbellies. The short answer is that it depends and that the two answers are different.

Like probably all creatures, it is healthier for the mother to be an adult as opposed to an adolescent so that her energies go toward her own development instead of trying to produce and feed a litter of piglets. Pigs in the wild, or in a wildflock system will breed when they decide. Usually that means as soon as the female comes into heat. There are many factors that are variables as to when puberty (the first time that she goes into heat) starts, particularly genetics and environment.

Many Potbelly breeders will tell you that some piglets will go through their first heat (females) or start mounting (males) when they are perhaps as young as two months. From the genetic standpoint, for the females this is a bad idea and in nature is self limiting. Those females generally die around the time that they would otherwise have given birth. Many pet breeders can not stand the thought of this and then take the sow to the vet and through extraordinary measures save the sow to breed again and bottle feed the piglets. This perpetuates that genetic predisposition. As a livestock, that is generally a trait that should be culled, either by letting nature take its course (if you want to give the sow a chance), or by butchering it (if you don't want to take the chance). Like it or not, humans intervening in livestock reproduction is a genetic selection pressure. In the case of premature puberty, intervention converts what would normally be a negative selection bias into a neutral one. Breeders who then sell such animals intact (not spayed) are perpetuating and spreading those genes.

If you want to give the sow a chance, you are not necessarily condemning it to a slow and painful death. Like all things in nature, there is a line of continuum between the lethal and the healthy. In short, there are shades of grey. Some sows will get pregnant a little too early and perhaps by instinct, perhaps by a sense of self preservation, will either abandon or even eat their young. If a sow does this, that does not mean that she will necessarily do it again. Most of the times that I've seen this, it was a onetime thing and only with the first litter. In severe weather like droughts and harsh winters the sows might also do this. That is Nature's way. If she does it a second time, and that time is in good weather, then I'd suggest putting her on the short list for dinner invitations.

Some will ask, "Why risk it? Why not just cull her in the beginning?" The answer is that we as humans don't know what we are selecting against, when we cull for any given trait. Perhaps genes for early maturity provide resistance against some other problem like some exotic disease? We don't know. I think letting Nature take its course is the best long term approach. The alternative is penning the sows from the boars until they are the age that you want. However, that again, perpetuates the genetic trait and in the long run can hurt the breed. In the short run it also seems to make for frustrated and probably unhappy livestock.

In an ideal setting it is nice if the sow does not get pregnant before the age of 9-12 months. Preferably, that is when her first heat is rather than having been penned, but we all do what we think is best in our given circumstances. Depending upon your food situation and the upcoming change of seasons some will choose to breed their pigs early, and some will choose late. What happens on your farm is your own little ecosystem and your selection pressures will be different from the farm down the road or across the country. You are the manager. You decide.


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## HollyH8

ascott said:


> http://www.pigs4ever.com/pot_belly_pig_information/pregnancy.php
> 
> *When to Breed?*People often ask when they "should" and when they "can" breed potbellies. The short answer is that it depends and that the two answers are different.
> 
> Like probably all creatures, it is healthier for the mother to be an adult as opposed to an adolescent so that her energies go toward her own development instead of trying to produce and feed a litter of piglets. Pigs in the wild, or in a wildflock system will breed when they decide. Usually that means as soon as the female comes into heat. There are many factors that are variables as to when puberty (the first time that she goes into heat) starts, particularly genetics and environment.
> 
> Many Potbelly breeders will tell you that some piglets will go through their first heat (females) or start mounting (males) when they are perhaps as young as two months. From the genetic standpoint, for the females this is a bad idea and in nature is self limiting. Those females generally die around the time that they would otherwise have given birth. Many pet breeders can not stand the thought of this and then take the sow to the vet and through extraordinary measures save the sow to breed again and bottle feed the piglets. This perpetuates that genetic predisposition. As a livestock, that is generally a trait that should be culled, either by letting nature take its course (if you want to give the sow a chance), or by butchering it (if you don't want to take the chance). Like it or not, humans intervening in livestock reproduction is a genetic selection pressure. In the case of premature puberty, intervention converts what would normally be a negative selection bias into a neutral one. Breeders who then sell such animals intact (not spayed) are perpetuating and spreading those genes.
> 
> If you want to give the sow a chance, you are not necessarily condemning it to a slow and painful death. Like all things in nature, there is a line of continuum between the lethal and the healthy. In short, there are shades of grey. Some sows will get pregnant a little too early and perhaps by instinct, perhaps by a sense of self preservation, will either abandon or even eat their young. If a sow does this, that does not mean that she will necessarily do it again. Most of the times that I've seen this, it was a onetime thing and only with the first litter. In severe weather like droughts and harsh winters the sows might also do this. That is Nature's way. If she does it a second time, and that time is in good weather, then I'd suggest putting her on the short list for dinner invitations.
> 
> Some will ask, "Why risk it? Why not just cull her in the beginning?" The answer is that we as humans don't know what we are selecting against, when we cull for any given trait. Perhaps genes for early maturity provide resistance against some other problem like some exotic disease? We don't know. I think letting Nature take its course is the best long term approach. The alternative is penning the sows from the boars until they are the age that you want. However, that again, perpetuates the genetic trait and in the long run can hurt the breed. In the short run it also seems to make for frustrated and probably unhappy livestock.
> 
> In an ideal setting it is nice if the sow does not get pregnant before the age of 9-12 months. Preferably, that is when her first heat is rather than having been penned, but we all do what we think is best in our given circumstances. Depending upon your food situation and the upcoming change of seasons some will choose to breed their pigs early, and some will choose late. What happens on your farm is your own little ecosystem and your selection pressures will be different from the farm down the road or across the country. You are the manager. You decide.



I am certainly not breeding especially since they are brother and sister but the people I got them from had them living together which is why it may be a possibility. I really hope she isn't pregnant since her litter would be inbred and it would be hard on her. I am just worried about how long her vulva has been swollen and how it shouldn't be for two weeks unless she has some sort of infection, which isn't good either?


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## ascott

Oh no, I did not think you were breeding them....I attached that purely for information purposes...perhaps the living conditions had not been as sanitary as they should have?


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