I’m often asked if pigs get along with other animals. It’s an unqualified yes. We have pigs that live with dogs, cats, birds, goats, horses, cattle and even llamas and alpacas. They are friendly and have very little fear of even large animals. They are not by nature aggressive and would rather avoid a confrontation than stand their ground.

The problem is that some dogs will attack the pig. Since a mini pig will run if they get scared, dogs will sometimes think it’s playing and the situation can rapidly get out of hand. Pig skin is thick but very difficult to stitch and it doesn’t take a large dog or even an aggressive one to quickly grab a pig and mortally wound it. When introducing a new pet pig, be sure you supervise the interaction until you are sure your pet will accept the new arrival.

Many farms have mini pigs that live in the barn and roam the pastures or barn area. They stay around and are good at eating grubs and small insects. Again, the major problem here is that you need to be sure and keep feed out of the reach of a pig. They will eat any feed for any species. From cat food to alfalfa cubes, it’s all great and it all puts on weight. We have a retired female and we let her roam the property. She is very sweet and she will come up and great the lessons when they arrive. Unfortunately, she learned she could go around the back side of the barn where a board was broken on the feed room. She would squeeze herself through the opening and help herself to feed, including tipping over metal containers if they were light enough for her to move.

We have a mini pigs that live in with goats and chickens. They don’t have a smell that humans can detect, but they have enough for predators to smell. Since full size pigs can be very aggressive and tough, coyotes, fox and other smaller predators avoid attacking goats or chicken enclosures where they identify the pig smell. In most cases the mini pig is a deterrent.  Unfortunately it does mean that precautions need to be taken so the goats or chickens are fed up in the air where the pig can’t reach the food.

Pigs can become very attached to their friends. Many of our pigs sleep with their dog or cat friends. One outdoor pig slept every night with three chicken roosting on him. Cats seem to be a little less inclined to cuddle up with a pig but I suspect that is more on the part of the cat than the pig.

Small animals and animals in cages are not a problem, but again, a pig left alone with a hamster cage that smells like hamster food may decide to nose around and tip over the cage. Pigs don’t have a lot of natural predators and they are not afraid of bunnies, hamsters or birds walking over to them or even running over them.