What is a miniature pig?
Miniature pigs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, they vary in colour and even in the breed. So, what distinguishes a mini as a mini if it’s no set breed, can have a straight back or swayed back and come in any colour? Generally speaking, miniatures are a wide set of miniature breeds, including the three most well-known, the Potbelly, Juliana and the American Mini pig. Each of these breeds has a long history, unfortunately, there has been no detailed documentation or tracking of any of their bloodlines and to our knowledge, there is no genetic DNA testing for miniatures at this time. What does this mean for you? It means no breeder can accurately and honestly tell you they know exactly what breed you get. If that’s the case how can a breeder be trusted for the advertised size? Multiple-generation breeding with tracked lineages and viewings of parents, grandparents, and half or whole siblings at different ages is the best prediction of size. The caveat to this is the parents must be a minimum of two years old, to understand this reason more check out The Growth of Mini Pig.
The Three Main Breeds of Mini Pigs
The American Mini pig is originally a laboratory creation. They were created by mixing a multitude of breeds including Black Guniea Hogs, Feral boars, and the Piney Rooter of Louisiana, Vietnamese Pot-belly among others. Want to dive in deeper? Check out What is American Mini Pig? The American Mini should stand 15-20 inches tall at the shoulder, presenting an athletic build, straight back, and small upright ears.
The Vietnamese Pot-belly foundational herd was imported into Canada in the 1980s followed by several more imports of over the following 10 years. There was a Potbellied Pig registry that was active for bloodline tracking but it was dissolved in the 1990s. Since then there has been no accurate bloodline tracking resulting in virtually no purebred stock, and no guaranteed purebred stock. Potbellies vary in size from 80-300 pounds. Their prominent feature is their potbelly and swayed back.
The Juliana is a small breed light in colour with spots. The base colour can vary from silver, white, red, rust, black or cream. However, spots must be present. They are usually black but can be red or white. Spotting is profuse and random. They should have a long, lean body with a straight back. Juliana pigs should stand no taller than 17″ at the shoulder.
But I want a Micro/Teacup Pig!
The terms micro, teacup and pocket pig are all terms simply used to describe the size of a miniature pig. They are not different breeds and are poor descriptions for these pigs. No pig regardless of the breed is that small full grown. As a piglet absolutely, however, pigs rapidly grow. To understand the accurate size of a full-grown miniature (micro/teacup/pocket) pig check out Mini Pig Size.
The piglet to the left is a seven-day-old miniature piglet weighing in at 7 ounces. He is now three years old and weighs 110 pounds.
