What are the Different Miniature Pig Breeds? Did you know there are more than 10 different miniature pig breeds? Here you will find a few and their description.
Choosing a pig can be very confusing. There are a lot of different breeders out there advertising pigs using a million different and fancy words: micro mini pig, nano pig, teacup pig, toy pig, miniature pig, etc. There is no association that has clarified what all these terms actually mean. These fancy words deal with the size of the full grown pig and each breeder has their own definition. There are only a few different breeds of small pigs. Many of the pigs being sold are crosses between many breeds, which is great and part of how there are so many great colors, patterns and sizes. Be aware that pigs are not normally full grown until they are 2-3 years of age. Pigs tend to do most of their main skeletal growing by 18 months of age. After that they fill out and add weight, but their height and length do not tend to change unless they become obese.
The mini pigs were first truly documented by the bio-medical research industry. According to The Mini Pig in Biomedical Research, Scientists started using pigs more frequently for research purposes in the 1940s. There were many advantages to using smaller pigs in a research setting, so they used some feral miniature pig breeds like the Yucatan, the Westran or the Vietnamese Potbellied Pig. However, most of the miniature pig breeds used ended up being creating by crossing many types of pigs. There were a lot of breeds mixed together throughout the years: Guinea Hogs from Alabama, Wild boars from Catalina Island, Piney-Woods Pigs, dwarf Ras-n-lansa pigs from Guam, Ohio Improved Chester Whites, Yorkshires, Tamworth, Landrace, Large White, Vietnamese miniature pigs, Palouse pigs, Feral Swamp Hogs from Louisiana, and many more that aren't documented.
Some of the above breeds have ended up in the hands of breeders and over time these pigs have been bred down in size. Since there has been no true documentation or registry for miniature pigs, no one really knows what breeds of miniature pigs are mixed in their lines. You must see the parents to have a good idea, but many breeders now have mini pigs, which are a mix of many of these smaller pig breeds, standing around 12-15" tall when full grown.
The mini pigs were first truly documented by the bio-medical research industry. According to The Mini Pig in Biomedical Research, Scientists started using pigs more frequently for research purposes in the 1940s. There were many advantages to using smaller pigs in a research setting, so they used some feral miniature pig breeds like the Yucatan, the Westran or the Vietnamese Potbellied Pig. However, most of the miniature pig breeds used ended up being creating by crossing many types of pigs. There were a lot of breeds mixed together throughout the years: Guinea Hogs from Alabama, Wild boars from Catalina Island, Piney-Woods Pigs, dwarf Ras-n-lansa pigs from Guam, Ohio Improved Chester Whites, Yorkshires, Tamworth, Landrace, Large White, Vietnamese miniature pigs, Palouse pigs, Feral Swamp Hogs from Louisiana, and many more that aren't documented.
Some of the above breeds have ended up in the hands of breeders and over time these pigs have been bred down in size. Since there has been no true documentation or registry for miniature pigs, no one really knows what breeds of miniature pigs are mixed in their lines. You must see the parents to have a good idea, but many breeders now have mini pigs, which are a mix of many of these smaller pig breeds, standing around 12-15" tall when full grown.