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My Pig is Not Eating: Causes and Solutions
Pigs are known for being voracious eaters â after all, youâve likely heard the saying, âhe eats like a pig!â However, when your pig suddenly doesnât want to go anywhere near the feed trough, you might start to panic.
Why isnât my pig eating? When a pig doesnât eat, itâs usually due to dehydration. If your pig has plenty of clean, cool water, then your pig might be bored with their food. Pigs can be picky eaters too. Changing up their food can often help. In rare cases, your pig might be dehydrated, sick, overheated, or suffering from a parasite problem.
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Why is My Pig Not Eating?
Healthy pigs should eat daily and consistently. If your pig isnât eating, watch for these common issues.
1. Dehydration
The most common reason why a pig wonât eat is that it is dehydrated. Pigs need water to digest food. Eating while dehydrated will cause a pig to become even more dehydrated. As a result, pigs will stop eating as they get more dehydrated.
If your pigs wonât eat, refill their water with clean, cool water. Make sure you have enough watering troughs for your pigs so that even smaller, weaker pigs lower on the hierarchy can have access to water.
2. Picky Eaters and Food Issues
There are some foods that individual pigs will like, and others that they wonât. First, check to make sure the food is not moldy or spoiling. Your pigs will show preferences of their own and you may have to adjust your feeding strategy to accommodate those preferences.
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There are some foods pigs arenât naturally fond of, such as artichokes, cabbage, onions, corn husks, and cauliflower.
For the most part, you shouldnât have trouble getting your pigs to eat favorite foods like cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, milk, and a formulated feed ration. They love sweet treats, too, though these should always be fed in moderation.
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3. Illness, Injury, or ParasitesÂ
If your pig is suffering from any kind of ailment â be it an illness, injury, or parasite infestation â thereâs a good chance that her appetite will suffer. Deworming, even if it is with a natural solution like garlic or apple cider vinegar instead of a chemical dewormer, can be helpful.
Other diseases that cause pigs to go off their feed include, but are not limited to:
Hog cholera
Swine dysentery
Intestinal parasites
Uterine infection
4. Stress, Depression, or Boredom
Pigs are creatures of habit â and they are prone to more mood-related problems than you might think.
A pig might stop eating if it is stressed, has had its routine changed, has been transported recently, or is depressed. Pigs can become stressed from losing companion pigs. Sometimes a pig will even stop eating if it is bored, preferring instead to lounge around in the mud all day.
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Uneating lethargic pigs are usually sick (1)
How Do I Get My Pig to Eat?
Here are some tips to help you convince your pigs to chow down.
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Adjust Watering Routine
If your piglets are struggling with their water (a common issue since they tend to flip over their watering buckets to play in them), try using a bottle drinker. These have large rubber nipples so that the piglets can get used to the idea of drinking from something that looks much like a mama pigâs teats.
You may also want to try providing a cleaner source of water. Pigs wonât drink water if itâs dirty or foul-smelling. If thereâs lots of food, algae, or bacteria in the water, clean it out and replace it. Ideally, you should replace the water every day or set your pigs up on an auto drinker that will provide them with fresh water at all times. That way, you donât have to worry about them running out because they flipped the tub to play in the mud.
Change the Feed
There are a few hacks you can try to âtrickâ your pigs into eating more. For example, you might:
Put water in the feed to make it softer and more palatable
Sweeten things up with molasses or a bit of honey on top of the regular food ration
Offering food in automatic feeders instead of feeding by hand (so that all pigs have equal access to the food throughout the day)
Try treats like peanuts, eggs, vegetables, milk, or bread (calorie-laden foods should be used only temporarily and in moderation to prevent any ill health effects)
Check for Illness or Injury and Treat Accordingly
Itâs impossible to detail all of the possible injuries and illnesses that might befall your pigs. However, if you suspect that this is why your pigs are not eating, itâs important that you do a thorough examination.
Check their temperature and weigh them. Look for injuries from top to bottom. Is your pig vomiting? Does the poop look strange? Is her breathing raspy or shallow? Make a list of any symptoms that are accompanying the lack of appetite and write them down. Then, make an appointment with your vet.
Administer Vitamins
There are certain vitamins that pigs need in order to stay healthy. You may want to consider giving your pigs a vitamin B12 supplement â you can also use a multi-stock solution thatâs meant to be poured directly into their food.
Lysine is another nutrient (an amino acid) that pigs need. Without it, they wonât put on weight well. Make sure your pigs have a diet rich in lysine (itâs found in dairy products) if they arenât eating as they should.
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Provide More Activity
Some people are hesitant to add more activity into their pigsâ daily routines when they already seem as though they arenât getting enough calories. Why would you want them to burn more?
The truth is that increasing your pigsâ activity level is a great way to lessen feelings of boredom and depression and to improve their appetite. Often, a clean barn and some fresh air outside are all that your pigs need in order to feel like eating again!
Whenever possible, give your pigs access to the great outdoors. Keeping pigs cooped up in a barn is a surefire way to kill their appetite.
Add Friendly Competition
Sometimes, single pigs can get depressed and lonely, which will make them go off their feed. Thatâs because pigs are herd animals and do best with other pigs. If your pig isnât eating, consider adding more pigs. This is of course something you should put some thought into. However, pigs who are raised with other companions often eat more and gain weight better than those who are raised individually, since the friendly competition for food encourages them to eat.
Provide High-Calorie Treats
If your pig is refusing to eat, it can be hard to convince her to do so even after youâve addressed the underlying issue. If she was sick, she may associate her food with the unpleasant symptoms and be unwilling to eat as a result. She may also just have no appetite.
A good way to encourage her to eat again â and to help her get her appetite back â is to provide plenty of high-calorie treats. This will enable her to put back on any weight she has lost while also enticing her to eat her regular feed ration.
You wonât want to continue with these high-calorie treats forever, but temporarily feeding foods like molasses (poured on top of the regular feed), cakes, and cheese can all be helpful in encouraging your pig to eat normally again.