Explaining Pig Hoof Care and Routine Maintenance...

Sometimes a new blog idea comes to me in the strangest of ways! Sincerely, I have no idea how some of these topics come to mind! However, most of the topics arrive at my doorstep because of many passionate and dedicated pet pig parent's that reach out to me directly with questions and concerns for their piggies. Some I am able to answer or direct them to a better source for their specific problem and others really do need to seek advise from veterinarians, or multiple vets in some cases. With that said, this week I had a very honest and intriguing topic come up that I know plagues the pet pig world as much as it does farmers and commercial swine. As much as the majority of the "pet pig world" despises commercial hog farmers, there are things that we need to look for in their practices and carry them over in to our pet pigs health. Understand on some level, that hog farmers have been at this a lot longer than the pet pig community has. They know the ups and downs, they know health issues, how to best treat some and what will and wont work. Although there will always be some issues we hope to eradicate with commercial hog farmers, we also need to take a page from their book on other topics. Today's blog post is exactly one of those topics...

Even though pet pigs are a much smaller variation of the 800 plus pound farm hog breeds, their internal anatomy and bone structure are essentially one in the same. This can also be said for their hoof anatomy and required maintenance. Like all animals, even those with cloven hooves, the feet come first. If the feet are a mess and interfere with the animal's daily locomotion or movement, the quality of life diminishes rapidly. There are many factors that affect hoof health, from genetics, exercise, conformation and even nutrition. However, unlike many other animals that don't require restraints or don't put up much of a fight when it comes to hoof care, most pigs do. This is the biggest challenge that pet pig owners and farmers alike have with our swine companions. How do we alleviate stress in the pig (we all know that pigs can get stressed quite easily)? How do we keep up maintenance on the hoof or corrective trimming if the pig is not cooperative and possibly even poses a threat to its own safety and its handlers? How do we trim their hooves? What hoof diseases and ailments do we need to be aware of and look for? That is a very good topic and one that I see frequently in the pig community! At Pet Pig Education we do have a page dedicated to hoof trimming and other basic health care needs and you can view that by clicking on this highlighted sentence.


In smaller pet pigs, those typically under 150 pounds or close to it, it may not be overly difficult to trim their hooves and adhere to a good maintenance routine. If you have had your pig from a very young age or bought them as a piglet, you should be able to easily encourage the pig to cooperate with consistent training. You will need to slowly encourage your pig to let you touch all of their body, including the feet and ears. Go slowly and be patient, that is always my best advise. Make training sessions short (10 minutes max) and do your best to always end on a good note. If your pig is angry or you are frustrated, it is always better to end your session for the day immediately. Pigs are food motivated creatures by nature. Including a treat for good or desired behavior may be essential to success. If your pig rolls on it's side for a belly scratch and then lets you hold it's foot for maybe 20-30 seconds, stop and reward your pig immediately. Eventually start holding the hoof nippers in your hands while holding the hoof and reward when they allow the nippers to just touch them. The pig will come to associate these food treats with the desired behavior. Pigs are stubborn but also very smart! If you have the luxury of working with your pig from a young age or as I like to call it, a "clean slate" you will be surprised how much training and behavior modification is possible and easily attainable! As a side note- Always try and use healthy treats like Cheerios or some cut up fruits/veggies. Take in to account that if you have a pig on the verge of obesity, you need to compensate it's daily treat intake in to it's daily meal plans. Don't just throw tons of treats at your pig, even if they did well in their training session because an overweight pig can be half the problem when it comes to lameness and foot disease.

There are a few other hoof trimming options out there for pet pigs that we do want to mention. One of those is flipping the pig on it's back. For pigs that are not overly large and complicated, this may be a very realistic option. The pig WILL possibly squeal/scream loudly but placing it on it's back does immobilize the pig, allowing for exam and proper trimming. You may need a couple people to assist you with this, especially if you don't have a small stature pig. This is an older technique that a lot of people argue stresses the pig out too much but it is certainly a real tool to use in certain situations. It is important to mention that not all pigs get stressed at all when using this method, in some instances, it can actually have a calming effect. I have done this first hand and have seen this restraining method in use on farms multiple times. It works as long as you have your technique perfected. Those that don't know how to do it, may actually cause more stress to the animal than appropriate. If you are interested in this method, I suggest seeking an individual that has experience in using it. Many veterinarians, especially mobile ones, widely use this technique and have it quite perfected. We will include a YouTube video of an individual performing this technique at the bottom of this blog.

Another common option is taking your pig to the veterinarian. There are a lot of people who see their vet's on a very frequent basis for routine care and maintenance. If you have such a consistent rapport with your vet and your vet's team is able to properly restrain your pig to trim the hooves efficiently, we say... do it! This way, not only are you getting to see your veterinarian for any and all other health related issues but they will be able to asses your pigs health more frequently and be able to identify even the slightest health irregularity and address it immediately. This isn't an option for most pig owners and we recognize that, although it is a good option! Remember though, you never want to anesthetize a pig just to have it's feet trimmed. Of course a vet can couple trimming hooves with a spay or neuter procedure but that will only be a one time offering unless there are other health issues that require surgery down the road and that is never a given. Some pigs can and will have a serious reaction the medication used for common anesthesia practices. This is also why most spay/neuter procedures are NEVER performed in the field on smaller pet pigs or pot bellies. They must be in a clinic that has the ability to respond in an emergency situation if a pig does display a poor reaction to medication. So "putting your pig under" for hoof trimming is not really an everyday option for proper maintenance.

Creating a concrete slab in a pasture or pig enclosure is another option to naturally wear down the hooves. You can sprinkle the pigs feed on the cement to get it to walk across the slab on a routine basis or even feed them their daily meals on the slab. If you have a predominantly indoor pet pig, taking them for consistent walks outside on the sidewalk or asphalt will also work. For some pigs, this may be a very good option and will wear the hoof down enough to make a difference. But in other instances, it may prove to be not enough; your pig still may need trimming. This is a good option to explore though. If your pig is in a pasture the way mine are and you have a good area to lay down a small slab of concrete, it will minimize the trimmings needed to keep your pig healthy, keep them exercised and help ward off lameness.

There are a lot of us out there, including a lot of rescues that do not have the luxury of working with our pigs from a young and impressionable age. Some are so scared from previous neglect and abuse, that asking them to lie still while we trim their feet may never be a reachable goal. I always recommend in pet pigs, even in neglect situations, to try and modify the behavior through training first but if that is not a reality, we need to find other options. Ignoring it and doing nothing about proper hoof care is never an option. If you leave a pigs feet unattended for it's entire life I guarantee you, you will eventually run in to major health problems and it may even lead to euthanasia. Not trimming a pigs hooves will cause major bone structure and ligament damage and in turn, cause the animal arthritis and major locomotive issue. For large farm hogs or even pet pigs that are of the commercial breeds, we run in to this issue a lot more than one would think. Yes, even farm hogs can be trained but the reality that they weigh 800 pounds or more, can always pose a safety risk to both them and owner if not done properly. 

While doing more research for a specific individual that actually has a very large commercial breed companion pig, I ran across a company that I was pleasantly surprised by! They were originally a farm animal nutritional supplement company but what I ran across was even better! I ran across their Swine, Feet First Team. The more I read, the more impressed I was and the more I realized that the pet pig community needed to see this. They have ultimately devised a one of a kind chute to place the pig in to and humanly lift it gently off the ground so a proper exam and hoof trimming can be administered; the pig literally does not struggle at all or seem to care. The chute is a neat item for sure, although I am almost positive it costs a fortune and would only be a possibility for hog farmers with high production rates or veterinarians that treat swine. But nonetheless, it is a fantastic piece of equipment! I would honestly highly recommend finding someone in your area that my have a similar chute or one of these if you ever run in to major issues with trimming your pigs hooves, even if it is a pet pig. We have been using chutes on farms and in zoos for years. They allow us to properly treat and care for animals that are so large or normally would not lend themselves willingly to routine healthcare. We use chutes with cattle everyday and in zoos to protect the safety of the animal and the handlers. I know chutes may look like an intense piece of equipment at times but they are actually serving a very real need in animal care and husbandry. They are not always a form of torture!

The Zinpro company also boasts a very well put together website with loads of great hoof care information and tutorials! One of my favorite videos that they have up is of a Tennessee veterinarian actually trimming a sows hooves while in the chute, very informative! My second favorite videos are examples of their locomotion scoring system for swine. Here they place the pig on a matted and level surface and ask her to move from one end of the barn to the other. It shows us each pig at a different stage of scoring (1,2 or 3, 3 being excessively lame). It helps assess how well your pig is moving and from there, what you may need to look for in the hooves or corrective veterinary action. I think that the information provided by this team of researches is invaluable to the swine community and I applaud them for having that info out there! Thus, we want to in turn share it with our community as a guide and reference tool.

Zinpro Feet First Team

The Feet First® Team is an international collaboration of researchers, veterinarians and nutritionists whose mission is to further advance the swine industry through the identification and prevention of lameness.

Feet First team members include:

• Dr. Cathy S. Carlson (University of Minnesota)
• Dr. John Deen (University of Minnesota)
• Dr. Christoph Mülling (University of Leipzig, Germany)
• Dr. Christof Rapp (Zinpro Corporation)
• Dr. Marrina Schuttert (Veterinair Centrum, The Netherlands)
• Dr. Kenneth Stalder (Iowa State University)
• Dr. Jerry Torrison (Zinpro Corporation)
• Dr. Sarel van Amstel (University of Tennessee)
• Dr. Rob van Barneveld (Barneveld Nutrition Pty Ltd, Australia)
• Dr. Terry Ward (Zinpro Corporation)
• Dr. Mark Wilson (Zinpro Corporation)

Lameness in Swine:  http://www.zinpro.com/lameness/swine

Swine Lesion and Disease of the Hoof Guide: http://www.zinpro.com/lameness/swine/lesion-identification

Videos that provide an excellent example of the methods we touched on...

An example of working with your pig or training it to be comfortable with routine, non restrained, hoof trimming.

An example of putting the pig on it's back to trim hooves and administer vaccines. Done by Dr Christina Wilson DVM of Equiheart Veterinary Services out of New Jersey. Video posted here with permission of Dr Wilson. (2015)

http://equiheartvet.com/Pot-Bellied_Pig_Vet_Care.html

This video is presented by Zinpro Corporation. It is a hoof trimming of a sow, in the Feet First Chute. Please visit their website video library for further educational guides and materials.

http://www.zinpro.com/video-library/feet-first-videos#/videos/list