03/01/2024
Happy National Pig Day!
How to put your pig on a diet if it REALLY REALLY needs to lose weight (CZolicani 10/25/14)
Weight loss involves proper feeding and proper movement.
A. how much to feed:
1. determine what your pig SHOULD weigh (this is, of course, an estimate). So, if your pig weighs 200 pounds, but should weigh 150 pounds, you should feed him a 150 pound diet.
2. for correct nutritional balance, your pig should eat 2% of his IDEAL weight per day. Get a scale for the food, you will need to weigh it. So for our IDEAL 150 pound pig:
150 X 0.02 = 3 pounds of food total per day.
If you do not have a scale, remember that a cup is 8 oz, or ½ pound.
3 pounds per day = 2 cups x 3 = 6 cups
So our 150 pound pig should ideally eat no more than 6 cups of food per day total.
3. what to feed:
3 cups of an elder or low activity pelleted food.
3 cups of fresh food – heavy on green leafy veggies. Light on fruit.
4. if you feed treats to your pigs, make sure these are included in his 6 cups per day.
B. how to make him move:
1. do not feed from a bowl – spread his food out so he has to hunt for it and walk to it
2. use a treat ball or other device to feed so that he has to move.
3. walk your pig for short walks several times per day
4. make him walk about a bit to get treats.
A little movement will go a long way
c. supplement:
a multivitamin once a day
a selenium/vitamin e supplement at least once a week (use a horse feed supplement that can be obtained at a feed store. Feed1 tablespoonful once a week
a 400 iu unit vitamin E capsule once a day
a 500 mg vitamin c capsule once a day
