What to feed an orphaned wild hog?

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Hi, just a quick question. I have about a 3 day old wild piglet that was left behind by the mother. I have hand fed so many other animals in the past but never a hog. Can someone tell my what I am suppose to feed this little guy. Had a wild hog growing up that was the best pet I have ever had, so I want to make sure to save this one, he is so cute. Thanks for any of your advise!!

-- Tara (sweetara74@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002

Answers

TARA....CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL VET AND GET PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.BUT I WOULD THINK IF YOU COULD FIND A PIG WITH A LITTER.YOU WOULD BE WISE TO HAVE HIS TUSKS REMOVED AS THEY CAN BE DANGEROUS AS THE HOG AGES. I SUSPECT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A JAVELINA[SP]

CORDWOODGUY

-- CORDWOODGUY (cordwoodguy@juno.com), February 02, 2002.


"wild" as in feral ?? then feed it corn,, makes great tasteing chops and bacon,, bout the only thing there are good for

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 02, 2002.

Tara,

Check with Wild life experts to see if you can even raise it. Since it's so small you certainly can't feed it corn. Do you have any info about hand raising regular pigs? When ever I have anything that needs a bottle I always use goats milk. I suppose you have no way of knowing if it has nursed and had first milk from mom? Any one who has raised regular pigs should be able to help you with a formula. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Linda

-- Linda (jlsam@ccrtc.com), February 02, 2002.


Goats milk will work fine. You did not tell us if this porcine critter is in fact a javalina or just a domestic breed of pig, or feral as mentioned above. If it is indeed a javalina you do need to check with your Fish and Wildlife people to see if it is even legal to be fooling around with it. Most native species are protected by law and if rehabed must be raised by someone with knowledge of that species' needswith the aim of releasing it back to the wild. And keeping one as a "pet" is illegal and you are facing a stiff fine if caught. Little pigs are just about as cute as they can be aren't they? Grown however is another story. Good luck, some my favorite youngsters on our little ranch were the piglets. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 02, 2002.

From the Jan/Feb 2002 Countryside issue.

Formula for orphaned piglets:

Mix together one quart of milk, one egg and six teasspoons of sugar. Bottle feed it a first, but they'll quickly learn to drink from a pan.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 02, 2002.



Actually the pig is a female. We live in a very wooded area. There are several people who live near us that have domestic pigs that roam free, none of which have had any piggies lately. I am assuming that it is some sort of domestic pig. Thank you all for your help.

-- Tara Albritton (sweetara74@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002.

Cordwoodguy, the vets will tell you of the danger of attempting to remove a pig's tusks; it usually breaks the jaw and the critter has to be put down. Some folks periodically trim the tusks. My pet hog is almost 4 years old and I've left his tusks alone. I realize that not everyone has a hog between 700-800 pounds that likes to cuddle!

If Tara's in Texas, she's probably not talking about a javalina. We have over 2,000,000 wild hogs running rampant here and doing a lot of destruction. It's open hunting season on them all year around. I shot one not long ago that wandered onto my property.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.


I have fed baby pigs goat's milk with a regular human baby bottle.

-- Lela R. Picking (stllwtrs55@aol.com), February 04, 2002.

I raised 2 piglets from about 2 days old on cows milk , an egg and molases. I prefer the molases as it has iron in it .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), February 04, 2002.

Ooops forgot to mention as they got bigger I started adding wet cornmeal {cornmeal soaked in the milk }

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), February 04, 2002.


There's nothing better than a 'football sized' ham... Pineapple and garlic over mesquite and oak coals; mmm... mmm... good!

-- Keith C. Gordon (kcg@nuwavenet.com), February 04, 2002.

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