When the  hoglets are born their eyes are closed, they have no fur, no quills & look similar to a pinky mouse. (not too cute when they are first coming into the world..but they get much more cute with time!)

The hoglets depend entirely on their mother for food, cleaning & warmth. The hoglets will develop VERY fast as at 6 weeks they are weanable & ready to leave the nest.

They slowly develop quills that become more & more prickly.. then slowly are able to move about on their own. A few weeks later they are fully furred, have their 'baby quills'  & their eyes open. It really is a very NEAT experience!

Once this happens they are ready to explore & they start running around the cage. (this tends to upset mama & she runs around trying to keep them in the nest.) Just let her do what she has to do as long as she is not being overly aggressive to them.

The hogs start to eat & drink on their own at about 5 weeks & at the age of 6 to 8 weeks they are ready to move out of the nest & into a new loving home. I personally wean at about 6 to 7 weeks, depending on the hog itself. You as the breeder needs to make the call whether or not they are eating & drinking on their own well enough to let them go on their own.

At about the age of 3 to 4 months the hoglets start to become hogs. They start to quilt & loose their 'baby quills' & develop harder more colorful ones. At this time you may have a grouchy hog on your hands, but wouldnt you be if you had quills growing out of your skin? Just give them time alone as handling them may be painful for them. They will soon be happy again & look better than ever.. Watch your feet since they will loose them everywhere & they hurt to step on.

Watch that they are not shedding the quills due mites or fungus!

After getting their new adult quills they shouldnt loose many at a time again.. just here & there like we do with hair.