Tea-cup pigs

Also called micro-mini and pocket pigs:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/popup?id=3731500
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...on/7044897.stm
http://www.pigplacementnetwork.com/microminis.htm

I must admit, they are cute.

Thanks for sharing those websites! We have never seen any pigs like that before

IMO unless the "mini" has more value then being "cute", I can't see creating them. The minitures cows are not only cute, easy to handle, but are perfect for a smaller farm family for their own dinner table.

DH and I agreed that if we get about 10 acres and build our own house in the future, then we will pick up 1-2 miniture cows for our own use.

If the mini-pigs are only cute and not for the dinner table, then my question is why?

they are cute

Potbellies exist and IMHO stop messing with nature... Now I would love a pot belly and can have one in my town or actually any pig under 300lbs

Won't comment on the potbelly pigs......

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

If the mini-pigs are only cute and not for the dinner table, then my question is why?

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They're for pets, obviously. Why should pigs only be for the dinner table? People eat chickens and rabbits. People also keep chickens and rabbits as pets. I can't see making a distinction for pigs. If you're OK with miniature cows, why not other miniature animals?

And the potbellies came about because of poor families who's only means of housing their very valuable meat source, was in the home with them.

They were never bred down that way on purpose, they came about as a convenience to those families and eventually, the pet trade picked up on them and kept them 'small'.
Small being relative as potbellies weigh anywhere from 90 pounds to 200 pounds.

As potbellies in most westernized countries are kept only as pets, I don't see anything wrong with keeping them as small as they can without compromising their health.

Ok I see your point. I bred pet dutch rabbits and would not eat them. I just wonder - if you own a mini pig, do you still eat bacon and ham?

I guess its more of "farm animals" thing with me - ducks, chickens, cows, horses, goats, pigs are all farm animals - not pets. Even if you own a pet horse, he still has more purpose then to just look cute.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Ok I see your point. I bred pet dutch rabbits and would not eat them. I just wonder - if you own a mini pig, do you still eat bacon and ham?

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LOL Good question

I've only ever raised one pig and he was supposed to be for food, but I loved him, he was probably the smartest animal I'd ever known.

I love ham, bacon and sausage, and even though my guy was eventually slaughtered and butchered, I could not bring myself to eat any of the meat.
I learned some time ago (while raising fryer rabbits) that if I know the animal personally, I cannot eat it.

They are adorable! I would have one. I have always wanted a pot bellied one too.

There was someone in the trailer court I used to live in that had a pot bellied pig and I loved it when they would let it outside...back then I thought that was soo weird.

Not to long ago I actually thought pot bellied pigs were much much smaller then they actually are. I would own own little piggies, or big piggies!! that makes me sad about eating them though (I stopped eating meat when I was little, I threw up when I found out what steak was made out of) and fryer rabbits ...ok moving on.....

oh my goodness, those are the cutest little things I have seen!! perpetual piglets!!

OMG those are the cutest freaking piglets!!!
They're so cute I could just eat 'em!

They're too skinny to make decent bacon.

Mini-anything's are adorable, but I'd never support creating them, or owning them, as much as I'd hate to say. Too many mini animals have too many health issues, and I think that if someone wanted that animals that badly, they should make arrangements to have the full-sized one, who they could probably find EASILY in a shelter. If they can't take a full-sized one, then they need to find another pet, not make a mini who could possibly live with deformities and internal health problems for it's entire life.

I feel that way about EVERY mini, even though I still fawn over them, such as munchkins, mini doxies, mini horses, mini...everythings.

Originally Posted by pushylady

OMG those are the cutest freaking piglets!!!

They're so cute I could just eat 'em!

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Originally Posted by coaster

They're too skinny to make decent bacon.

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low-fat bacon!

Oh my goodness I want one! My dad ran a pig farm and when they are little like that they are just so cute! They stay small and cute forever! AWWWW

A full-grown minipig, as I understand it, will weigh about 100 lbs., which is about as big as a large dog. Smaller than a commercial porker, but not all that small, either.

Yeah, and size notwithstanding, they won't always look like piglets.

Piglets, sadly, turn into pigs.