A wise man once told me: You're a butcher. Don't fall in love with the meat.

Plus, they may weigh "only" 50 lb.s today, but how much will they weigh by the end of the summer? And how much do you weigh? Not a good idea, IMO.

Points well taken. I have heard (though not seen) that a woman around here walks a chicken on a leash. That's what made me think of it.

Of course you can train a pig to walk on a lead, but the problem is, like Stone and Dibbit pointed out; 1) these are not pets and 2) they will be bigger and stronger than you in just a few months. I had a seventy five pound Chow/Lab cross and he was almost all I could handle when he got in a mood to go somewhere I didn't.

Now if you could take the three and train them to harness and pull, now that would be something. A three hog hitch!

Kevin

A chicken on a leash? HA HA HA! That's great! I give mine dye jobs with poke berries in late summer...that's as far as it goes for me.

Just don't name your pigs....but I get the feeling that since you are wanting to walk them and think they are cute! :)

Pigs do make great pets, if you can afford to feed them that is!

I have heard of people who keep pot-bellied pigs as pets walking them on a leash, but they stay MUCH smaller than a common pig....

And as Mersie said and Stone suggested, don't name them beyond a number or color - nothing cute or with personality. Hope this isn't too late, but you DID buy them to eat....

I guess I will add my "walking the pig" story here. I had a large old sow that frequently would become constipated after farrowing. I would let her out of her farrowing pen twice a day to get a little exercise for her "constitution". She knew where her babies, feed and water were, so she would just hang around the barnyard. One day, a pickup truck pulled up to the barn where I was working. Thinking it was someone looking for directions, I walked up and was surprised to see two very drunk men in the truck with an uncased rifle. I was quite nervous as DH was in the house sleeping and I was alone. The men just sat there staring and did not say a word (very impolite). Then, #8, the Grand Ol Dame" came around the corner and saw the strange truck and men, and charged the truck in the way that only a 450 pound sow with babies to protect, can do--snorting and spitting and running and bucking at about 50 mph straight at the truck. I kinda laughed and told the men "I would not get out of the truck if I were you." They just shook their heads, "No, we aren't going to get out." As it turned out, I just needed to give them directions to where the public game reserve area was. I suppose if they had not been so drunk, they might have realized they could have shot the sow, but luckily, it never crossed their minds.

Hoghaven, loved your pig story. That'll larn 'em some manners!

I used to have an email friend in the UK that had a ten-year-old pet sow... a huge Old English Spot, if you can imagine. This pig had a house in the garden, but used to come into her livingroom for coffee every morning, where it sat in it's own bean-bag chair. The woman used to take it for walks regularly, she said, but I don't think she needed a leash. She just loved that pig. I've lost touch with her, so don't know if she still has it or not.

I love your stories and thanks for the advice! Last yearÂs pigs were named, Hanz, Franz and Wilbur. This year I think they will be Sven (Danish for pig?), Porkus (Latin for pig?) and the girl is Porcine.
They would be way to too much to manage, even at this weightÂI watched the vet struggle to hold on to them to inject them. I wish I could let them "free-range" but have read many many stories about runaway pigs. They are very sweet now and a little shy. But by the end of summer last year at about 200 lbs. they could just about knock me over (just friendly, eager to see what was in the slop pail). So maybe I will just put a lawn chair in their pen, drink my coffe and visit with them from time to time. They do seem intelligent and so curious.