Micro Pig disaster...

Batgirl

Batgirl

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This morning I got to my yard to find out that next doors 'pet' micro pig had escaped and run amok on the yard. After an hour of trying to catch it it was eventually rugby tackled into the muck heap. My horse is absolutely terrified of pigs, when he was 5 he was attacked by one and ran through 5 sets of fencing trying to escape.

This morning he was sweated up to the eyeballs, pacing at the door of his stable, jumping at every noise and running round in circles. I eventually calmed him down by doing some gentle groundwork with him (He is not a fizzy sort at all normally)

Now I am really cross, the owner didn't apologise or thank the Y/O when they returned the pig and I am cross that my horse was distressed like this and worried that my horse could be injured if it happens again, do you have to have livestock insured? Is a micro pig even considered livestock?
:(:mad:
 
Weirdly a Micro Pig is a miniature breed of pig, they don't get much bigger than piglets (size of a jack russell). Hence a new trend of having them as pets.

I know I couldn't imagine being that rude!
 
yes livestock so should not leve premises without a movement record! and should have third party insurance you do for your pet horse or at least on thier house policy, we have £10 million on our farm animals. and insurance on horses.
 
Rude of them not to apologise. However if it's the first time it's happened there's every probability that it's a genuine mistake, if it becomes a regular occurence then I would start getting angry. Things like that can happen as a one off, I'm sure there's every chance of them ending up with a horse on their lawn as well - not through anyone's incompetance but just because things happen occasionally. Although it's unfortunate that your horse is scared of pigs at the end of the day that isn't their problem or business. Provided they secure it properly from now on I'd chalk it up to experience. Also, not sure what sort of insurance claim you could have against them anyway - unless their pig physically did something wrong like broke a gate and let the horses out, I don't think you could prove scaring as their liability.
 
It is actually a myth that they only grow to the size of piglets. 'micro' pigs do tend to grow smaller than commercial pigs but tend to be about 25kg at full size. Not sure about livestock insurance, but agree it is very rude not to apologise for the distress it no doubt caused the whole yard.
 
lq22 said:
It is actually a myth that they only grow to the size of piglets. 'micro' pigs do tend to grow smaller than commercial pigs but tend to be about 25kg at full size.QUOTE]

yes they were on about this on the news other week, people had bought them and they grew too big and didnt have the knowledge to look after them
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there is no such thing as a breed of micropig, all they are doing is breeding runt to runt and cross breeding for size. then selling to people as pets.

trouble is a lot grow bigger than they claim and some get enormous cos of crossbreed vigour. some are sold singly as pets which is extremely cruel as pigs like horses are social animals and need their own kind, keeping them alone would probably breach the 5 freedoms guidelines.

owners of any pigs including socalled micro pigs also need an agricultural holding number but since there is no min land size for granting one and some dont even apply, there are god knows how many of these things suffering with no disease monitoring or ability to exhibit natural behaviours. quite apart from running amok in your horses!

I would find out if piggywiggys home has a holding number for it. They dont have to insure it, but if they dont then any damages will be out of their pocket if it causes damage/injury

On the movement front, planned movements eg to market, new home or abbatoir require a movement record but straying ironically doesnt (and therefore doesnt impose a standstill period on the new holding. I can understand that it wouldnt be fair to penalise the poor farmer who has animals coming onto his land from elsewhere, but it does seem a bit odd from disease prevention).

You could contact Animal Health at your local council to advise of the straying (and get them to check on a CPH holding no being in place at the same time), they will be concerned if the pig is escaping regularly, maybe a one off onto a premises with no other agricultural animals they might not be so concerned.
 
I think I shall take a deep breath and smile and hope it doesn't happen again, and hope that this pig stays quite small! :)

If it happens again I will take advice about getting its # checked etc

Thanks Guys!
 
LatetohorsesLaura said:
Weirdly a Micro Pig is a miniature breed of pig, they don't get much bigger than piglets (size of a jack russell). Hence a new trend of having them as pets.

I know I couldn't imagine being that rude!
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However what breeders fail to pass on is that some where along the line was a real pig and everynow and again someone ends up with a not so little micropig. I prefer a nice old gloucester old spot my self. :D
 
Perhaps it would be a really good idea to use the pig to desensitise your horse to pigs - Letting your horse see the piglet in a controlled manner on a regular basis could be very useful if say a local farmer decides to keep a couple of pigs beside your favourite bridleway....
 
BonneMaman said:
Perhaps it would be a really good idea to use the pig to desensitise your horse to pigs - Letting your horse see the piglet in a controlled manner on a regular basis could be very useful if say a local farmer decides to keep a couple of pigs beside your favourite bridleway....
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This is a good thing to do - ours were scared of pigs until YO got a couple to fatten - they stopped caring after a couple of days, and have been fine since!
 
A good idea in principle and we actually tried it a few years ago, unfortunately my darling boy is 19 and a bit set in his ways, though I may try again as it is now next door! :eek:
 
Toffee44 said:
I prefer a nice old gloucester old spot my self. :D
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Shame you're not a bit nearer, we have got lots of spotty baby grunters at the moment, they are ace but the sows can be very stubborn (think naughty shettie x10)!! My horses are quite happy living next door to pigs, quite often chat through the fence to them ;)
 
we are quite lucky, next door has a pig, sheep and turkey roaming around, first time H my chestnut saw a pig was hilliarious it was an alien from out space, but now hes used to it thankfully.
 
Buddylove said:
Shame you're not a bit nearer, we have got lots of spotty baby grunters at the moment, they are ace but the sows can be very stubborn (think naughty shettie x10)!! My horses are quite happy living next door to pigs, quite often chat through the fence to them ;)
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My OH has tamworths but they are very fatty, once the stys are reconstructed we are having a couple of old spots. The tamworth sows are evil, I have a scars lol
 
LatetohorsesLaura said:
This morning I got to my yard to find out that next doors 'pet' micro pig had escaped and run amok on the yard. After an hour of trying to catch it it was eventually rugby tackled into the muck heap. My horse is absolutely terrified of pigs, when he was 5 he was attacked by one and ran through 5 sets of fencing trying to escape.

This morning he was sweated up to the eyeballs, pacing at the door of his stable, jumping at every noise and running round in circles. I eventually calmed him down by doing some gentle groundwork with him (He is not a fizzy sort at all normally)

Now I am really cross, the owner didn't apologise or thank the Y/O when they returned the pig and I am cross that my horse was distressed like this and worried that my horse could be injured if it happens again, do you have to have livestock insured? Is a micro pig even considered livestock?
:(:mad:
Click to expand...

I suggest getting thevet out to see your horse and sending the pig owners the bill. Bl***y people.
 
i bet vet bill would come back unpaid, cau you 100% prove piggy damaged your horse, my horse got in to next door horse leg injured, insurance stating as no one saw mine injur other cant proved she did it.
 
This is a micro pig! 700 pounds for this!:eek: Nuts, nice size for the freezer though;)

article-0-06B810C3000005DC-595_634x337.jpg


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218472/The-700-teacup-sized-pigs-latest-celebrity-pet.html
 
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