Pigs Tofu, Fexi, Bine and Alf
Teacup pig – mini pig – it grows and grows – what now?
Did you know that apes, humans and pigs are all on the same level of intelligence? Highly developed, highly sensitive and intelligent animals – is that why some people keep a monkey or a pig in their home instead of a dog or cat?
Did you know that keeping animals has to do with responsibility, respect and ethics?
What people want, they can buy – but then …
Teacup pigs are modern
Mini pigs are still very much in vogue. At birth, the teacups fit into the size of a teacup, hence the name. The small pig enjoys great popularity because it has a “cuteness value” – it is tiny, likes to snuggle up to humans, can even be dressed up in little hats and dresses and is simply “just cute”.
A Teacup piglet weighs around 300 grams on the day of birth and the buyer doesn’t realise that this cute little piglet can grow into a full-grown pig weighing a good 100 kg and that it can grow to be between 75 cm and 1 metre long. The life expectancy of an adult Teacup pig is around 15 years.
Pig cuddling is great ….
But not everyone likes it. So now the cute little teacup piglet, which is getting bigger than expected, has a problem: it’s too big for the flat and can’t be tamed and has to go to the animal shelter.
One thing should be clear before you buy a pig: whether it’s a small or large breed, they all want a species-appropriate life and at least one companion. People cannot replace conspecifics and, in contrast, keeping pigs alone is not species-appropriate. A pig kept alone can become behaviourally disturbed and depressed.
On the keeping of Teacup pigs
- Social contact with conspecifics is – as for every pig breed – also necessary for minipigs. They come from the farm animal pig and want to live in a herd.
- Even if the mini-pig is kept as a pet in a flat, animal husbandry is subject to the Farm Animal Husbandry Ordinance, the Pig Husbandry Ordinance and the Livestock Traffic Ordinance. This means that a mini-pig must be registered with the veterinary office and kept in a stock register.
- Pigs must be identified by an ear tag and even a pig, however small, must be registered with the Livestock Disease Fund.
- The owner must be able to recognise and report notifiable diseases.
A pig is not a dog, but at least as docile as one
Pigs are as intelligent as dogs, they learn tricks, they can be house-trained, they want to cuddle and they want to be stroked.
Keeping a minipig indoors or in a flat and taking it for a walk on a lead every now and then does not meet the minipig’s needs.
A new home had to be found for Fexi and Bine, Tofu and Alf
Fexi (female, 4 years old) and Bine (male, 4 years old), are siblings and were handed over to a small rescue centre after the owner no longer wanted them.
Tofu (male, 3 years old) had been living in a flat and became a large miniature pig that was too big for the owner, so Tofu had to get used to a new home. Years earlier, the owner had received Tofu as a teacup pig as a birthday present.
Alf (male, 3 years old) had been sold to the new owner as a small piglet, as a Teacup pig. Alf was not happy being kept at home and so he was handed over to an animal rescue centre.
Fexi, Bine, Tofu and Alf met at an animal rescue centre that unfortunately had to close down. Time was of the essence and we quickly decided to take in the four friends at Gut Aiderbichl in Carinthia, even though our pigsties were full to bursting point.
They have settled in well and want to know everything…
Fexi and Bine, Tofu and Alf have many companions at the animal sanctuary in Carinthia, and they have settled in well and quickly.
The pigs Jörgele, Gusti, Leo and what they are all called have similar life stories to Fexi and Bine, Tofu and Alf and are now constantly letting the four “newcomers” in on the secrets of the animal sanctuary in Carinthia: Where is the best place to wallow and dig in the earth, where has Markus, the farm manager, hidden the best pig treats, etc. Since pigs are intelligent creatures, they will quickly have figured out their surroundings.
We wish Fexi and Bine, Tofu and Alf a long, carefree and protected life at Gut Aiderbichl in Carinthia.
The desire to keep an animal stems from an ancient basic motive - namely the longing of civilised man for a lost paradise.
– Konrad Lorenz
Von: Gisela Pschenitschnig, Gut Aiderbichl
