# Thinking about pigs



## SpotTheCat (Nov 26, 2021)

So we are planning to move to a house with about 4 acres, probably only 3 acres for livestock. 

My mother has made noises of we should get a pig for edible waste disposal. I have read on some thread on here that pigs quite happily eat people, are there ones that don’t do this? Is 3 acres big enough if we also want 3 sheep and maybe a horse? Do the need another pig to be happy? Is it actually worth it do get a pig for wast disposal if we aren’t going to eat it? 

Also I am in the UK and haven’t done any research in to pigs yet


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## Mini Horses (Nov 26, 2021)

SpotTheCat said:


> that pigs quite happily eat people, are there ones that don’t do this?


😁I'm sure you left a word out here...but, pigs will eat most all garden and meal leftovers!   How much of this you have is the determining factor.  Most will need bought feed at  some point.  They also eat grass, so lawn sweepings can be fed-- if not chemically sprayed.  KuneKune are least rooter but still root!  Maybe a pet pot belly would work.  Beware both of these CAN get to 300#.    Hope this helps.


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## Baymule (Nov 26, 2021)

If you are not going to eat it, I’d take a pass on the pig. Even the nicest most tame pig is destructive, it’s just their nature. Pigs root up the dirt, that means destroying grass that the sheep could eat. Also need to keep pigs separate from other animals. 

Chickens would be a better idea. They eat practically everything except onions and citrus. What they don’t eat gets scratched to bits. On a dirt floor coop, the vegetable waste gets mixed with dirt and chicken poop and makes compost for the garden. Deep litter with fall leaves too, chickens love that. And you get eggs! Win-win.


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## SpotTheCat (Nov 26, 2021)

Mini Horses said:


> 😁I'm sure you left a word out here...but, pigs will eat most all garden and meal leftovers!   How much of this you have is the determining factor.  Most will need bought feed at  some point.  They also eat grass, so lawn sweepings can be fed-- if not chemically sprayed.  KuneKune are least rooter but still root!  Maybe a pet pot belly would work.  Beware both of these CAN get to 300#.    Hope this helps.


Thank you! I don’t think I am missing a word, I meant humans, I read on some thread on here about people fainting in pig pens and getting eaten. Put me very much off having a pig


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## SpotTheCat (Nov 26, 2021)

Baymule said:


> If you are not going to eat it, I’d take a pass on the pig. Even the nicest most tame pig is destructive, it’s just their nature. Pigs root up the dirt, that means destroying grass that the sheep could eat. Also need to keep pigs separate from other animals.
> 
> Chickens would be a better idea. They eat practically everything except onions and citrus. What they don’t eat gets scratched to bits. On a dirt floor coop, the vegetable waste gets mixed with dirt and chicken poop and makes compost for the garden. Deep litter with fall leaves too, chickens love that. And you get eggs! Win-win.


Thank you! It would be separate from the other animals. 

I have chicken and they will not touch all most any of the scraps! But yes I don’t think there is much point to us having a pig, I like learning about animals so I thought I may as well ask


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## Baymule (Nov 26, 2021)

I raise 2 or 3 pigs every year for the freezer. I don’t make pets out of them and I am always on watch. I have my pig pen set up so I can feed and water from the outside. Some of them positively give me the creeps.


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## Mini Horses (Nov 26, 2021)

Pigs CAN BE aggressive...some breeds more so.  They will rush food.  My last pigs were AGH and far more agreeable.  They were freezer planned.   @Baymule  is correct that they are destructive -- even in their own pen.  For ME, none would be maintained beyond being raised for consumption.  🤷.  To each his own.

My chickens are pure garbage pits!


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## SpotTheCat (Nov 26, 2021)

Mini Horses said:


> Pigs CAN BE aggressive...some breeds more so.  They will rush food.  My last pigs were AGH and far more agreeable.  They were freezer planned.   @Baymule  is correct that they are destructive -- even in their own pen.  For ME, none would be maintained beyond being raised for consumption.  🤷.  To each his own.
> 
> My chickens are pure garbage pits!


Well now I can firmly tell my mother no pigs! We need more chickens instead


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## farmerjan (Nov 26, 2021)

If you are not planning on eating them, having pigs/hogs is not really advised.  Yes there are those that have pot belly pigs for pets.  They are still going to get big and very unwielding. 
 Yes, pigs will eat alot of the waste household stuff and eat alot of the garden produce that is not used or overripe.  But the purpose of pigs is really pork to eat.   They need to be treated as a food source animal.  I raised sows for the purpose of producing baby piglets for sale to others that wanted to raise a couple up for the freezer.  I NEVER tolerated a sow that was aggressive towards me... but did want them to be protective of their baby pigs.  

If your chickens are not wanting to eat or pick through the over ripe produce or other household waste, maybe you are feeding them too much.  Chickens are scavengers.... they should be eating, picking though, and scratching around and making compost out of anything they don't eat.


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## SpotTheCat (Nov 26, 2021)

farmerjan said:


> If you are not planning on eating them, having pigs/hogs is not really advised.  Yes there are those that have pot belly pigs for pets.  They are still going to get big and very unwielding.
> Yes, pigs will eat alot of the waste household stuff and eat alot of the garden produce that is not used or overripe.  But the purpose of pigs is really pork to eat.   They need to be treated as a food source animal.  I raised sows for the purpose of producing baby piglets for sale to others that wanted to raise a couple up for the freezer.  I NEVER tolerated a sow that was aggressive towards me... but did want them to be protective of their baby pigs.
> 
> If your chickens are not wanting to eat or pick through the over ripe produce or other household waste, maybe you are feeding them too much.  Chickens are scavengers.... they should be eating, picking though, and scratching around and making compost out of anything they don't eat.


Thank you!


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## Alaskan (Nov 26, 2021)

My chickens eat truly almost everything. 

My chickens have pelleted food out at all times... so they aren't hungry....  but they rarely get any treats... burnt food and leftover foods are given to the chickens and they love that.

However,  it is my understanding that feeding kitchen scraps to livestock in the UK is illegal or at least restricted?

Might not be legal for any animal there in the UK.

I am sure however that you can feed them weeds from the garden.  My chickens love weeds.


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## SpotTheCat (Nov 27, 2021)

Alaskan said:


> My chickens eat truly almost everything.
> 
> My chickens have pelleted food out at all times... so they aren't hungry....  but they rarely get any treats... burnt food and leftover foods are given to the chickens and they love that.
> 
> ...


Thank you! I had no clue about that! I looked it up and yes, it is illegal to feed any kitchen scraps to livestock


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## Mini Horses (Nov 27, 2021)

I can't believe that!! I mean WHO thought that up?...kitchen scraps have been thrown to chickens and pigs for eons.   Thought the butcher your own limits were strict but this is just strange.   My chickens and goats love pumpkins and melons.  Many have been grown by farmers JUST for animal feeds.  Are those things restricted, too?      🤷


Glad those aren't rules where I am!   😁


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## SpotTheCat (Nov 27, 2021)

Mini Horses said:


> I can't believe that!! I mean WHO thought that up?...kitchen scraps have been thrown to chickens and pigs for eons.   Thought the butcher your own limits were strict but this is just strange.   My chickens and goats love pumpkins and melons.  Many have been grown by farmers JUST for animal feeds.  Are those things restricted, too?      🤷
> 
> 
> Glad those aren't rules where I am!   😁


I think if it is meant for animals its fine, as long as it doesn’t go in to the kitchen. I am allowed to feed plants from the garden as long as it doesn’t go in to the kitchen first.

“This is to prevent the introduction and spread of potentially devastating notifiable animal diseases, such as African and Classical Swine Fever, and Foot and Mouth disease. These diseases cause significant animal health and welfare problems and damage to the economy.”








						APHA warns not to feed kitchen scraps to farm animals because of disease risk
					

Feeding kitchen scraps to farm animals could spread disease.




					www.gov.uk
				




I wonder if I am even allowed to make chicken treats in my kitchen, probably not


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## farmerjan (Nov 27, 2021)

I don't know about over there.... but .... the not feeding scraps here in the USA was designed to not feed anything that could harbor things like trichinosis.  So there were some laws passed years ago that garbage from restaurants and such had to be cooked to a certain temp to kill off the possibility of immature trich worms.  So I would think that "cooked" treats would be fine because you aren't possibly spreading any diseases.


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## Mini Horses (Nov 27, 2021)

My take. -- no one says people can't eat what you cook.     Animal patrol is in overdrive.   
If I lived to feed it, it should be fairly safe...🙃.   Oh well, my girls love me.


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## Stephine (Dec 1, 2021)

SpotTheCat said:


> I think if it is meant for animals its fine, as long as it doesn’t go in to the kitchen. I am allowed to feed plants from the garden as long as it doesn’t go in to the kitchen first.
> 
> “This is to prevent the introduction and spread of potentially devastating notifiable animal diseases, such as African and Classical Swine Fever, and Foot and Mouth disease. These diseases cause significant animal health and welfare problems and damage to the economy.”
> 
> ...


That law really seems insanely broad. Whatever it was meant to protect against - (parasites or maybe it came out of the scrapies scandal and they want to avoid same or related species canibalism?), they went overboard… I can’t believe they would enforce this for private individuals who just have some chickens for themselves…. maybe pigs if they go to a slaughterhouse, though. 
Oh, on the chickens not eating scraps - they are scared of anything new, even if it’s food. If you keep offering it, they will eventually try it and finally eat it up… first time I put a large Sunflower head in the chicken run it took them hours to approach… Helps if you have breeds that are said to be good foragers, they tend to be more curious and braver about new foods.


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## SpotTheCat (Dec 1, 2021)

Stephine said:


> That law really seems insanely broad. Whatever it was meant to protect against - (parasites or maybe it came out of the scrapies scandal and they want to avoid same or related species canibalism?), they went overboard… I can’t believe they would enforce this for private individuals who just have some chickens for themselves…. maybe pigs if they go to a slaughterhouse, though.
> Oh, on the chickens not eating scraps - they are scared of anything new, even if it’s food. If you keep offering it, they will eventually try it and finally eat it up… first time I put a large Sunflower head in the chicken run it took them hours to approach… Helps if you have breeds that are said to be good foragers, they tend to be more curious and braver about new foods.


My cockerel is quite brave when it comes to food, he happily grabbed the noodles and flung them around, which made the pullets exited about the noodles as well. But once they actually tried some and got bored of throwing the noodles around, they just left them


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## BarnOwl (Dec 1, 2021)

I've raised three American Guinea hog gilts as feeder pigs, a smallish heritage breed. I don't breed them and I've never had any boars or barrows. My current two are about 1.5 years old, and they are pretty agreeable. They can be pushy when food is around, but I've never felt threatened or afraid to enter their field at feeding time. I don't handle them often, but one of the three I have had is quite friendly and will roll over and let me rub her tummy. I feed them leftover fruit and produce, but somewhat limit other scraps as they have a tendency to get fat. They get grain once or twice a day, but I don't free feed them, again b/c of the weight gain. They do like to dig a wallow, but the rooting hasn't been terrible. They are a lot of fun. I probably wouldn't keep them just as pets or for eating leftovers, but I wouldn't judge someone who did. They are a slow growing breed and tend not to be processed until around 18 months, which I don't mind as I like having them around.

The kids and I had fun giving them our leftover pumpkins the other day.


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## LisaManahan (Dec 1, 2021)

SpotTheCat said:


> So we are planning to move to a house with about 4 acres, probably only 3 acres for livestock.
> 
> My mother has made noises of we should get a pig for edible waste disposal. I have read on some thread on here that pigs quite happily eat people, are there ones that don’t do this? Is 3 acres big enough if we also want 3 sheep and maybe a horse? Do the need another pig to be happy? Is it actually worth it do get a pig for wast disposal if we aren’t going to eat it?
> 
> Also I am in the UK and haven’t done any research in to pigs yet


If you're not going to eat the pig, then no. Get a composter and place all food scrapes in. After a while you can then mix with potting soil for plants.


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## BarnOwl (Dec 1, 2021)

Edit to add: To the best of my knowledge, pigs are happier when you have at least two, and three acres should be enough land. We have five acres, but the pig field is around 1/2 acre. I probably won't have pigs after this year as the breeder I get them from is taking a break from farming, and I'm most likely going to focus on just goats and chickens for a while. But if I was going to keep the pigs long term, I would probably divide the pig field so that I could rotate their field.


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## Muffin (Dec 1, 2021)

Pure kunekune pigs are very docile, friendly, and wonderful to have around. They are herd animals, so you’d want at least two. That goes with any herd animal. They are happier that way. Kunekune don’t root as much, but they tend to be more like grazers. I call them “little lawnmowers.” They also don’t need a lot of land, so what you will have would be enough.


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## Ridgetop (Dec 8, 2021)

The reason that the UK does not allow the feeding of kitchen waste to livestock is mainly from the huge "mad cow" outbreak some years ago.  It was discovered that a lot of livestock feed contained animal by products in it.  Animal by products in feed, when they are from infected animals can cause disease in the animals it is fed to.  Scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) disease is not killed by heat so the infectious agents are present in the milled feed if a diseased animal is rendered in livestock feed.  The BSE outbreak in the UK caused the loss of most herds and an enormous financial loss to British farmers.  Cattle herds were destroyed because unlike a ot of diseases BSE not be tested for without killing the suspected host animal and examining the brain.

I agree that if you don't plan to eat them do not raise pigs.  If you want to have something that will eat your kitchen garbage use chickens.  We have raised a lot of hogs over the past years for the Fair and for home consumption. Pigs are omnivores and will eat everything you choose give them including meat scraps, dead rabbits, chickens, etc.  In the 20's and 30's a lot of gangsters are reputed to have kept farms as well as other businesses that would cover up the disposal of human remains.  Hogs _will _eat people.  When my children were small they were forbidden to go into the pig pen particularly when we had multiple hogs in one pen.  If you have only one pig they get fairly friendly.  However, they grow fast and are hard to handle if you have no experience due to the fact that there is nothing to grab hold of on a hog.  The best, and time honored, way to grab and pick up young pigs is by the back legs.  If you are removing them from the mother to give shots, notch ears, etc. when held upside down by the rear legs you have control of their bodies and they stop the ear splitting screaming that so enrages the mama. They are over 300 lbs. at slaughter time which can be as young as 3 months after buying your weaner pig just off it's mother so can not be grabbed that way then.  A standard pig will keep growing forever - the "giant" hogs you see at carnivals are just hogs that have been kept for years and have kept growing to 900 to 1000 lbs.  We don't like pork enough to raise hogs for ourselves now.  

Chickens will also eat meat scraps, including dead chickens, rabbits, etc.  I used to throw any rabbit kits that died to the chickens and they would eagerly gobble them up.  If your chickens are not interested in scratching through your kitchen scraps, you are probably overfeeding them.  Cut back on their feed and they will eagerly gobble up the kitchen scraps.  You will also cut your feed bill a bit too by decreasing the amount of chicken feed you feed.


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## SpotTheCat (Dec 9, 2021)

Ridgetop said:


> The reason that the UK does not allow the feeding of kitchen waste to livestock is mainly from the huge "mad cow" outbreak some years ago.  It was discovered that a lot of livestock feed contained animal by products in it.  Animal by products in feed, when they are from infected animals can cause disease in the animals it is fed to.  Scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) disease is not killed by heat so the infectious agents are present in the milled feed if a diseased animal is rendered in livestock feed.  The BSE outbreak in the UK caused the loss of most herds and an enormous financial loss to British farmers.  Cattle herds were destroyed because unlike a ot of diseases BSE not be tested for without killing the suspected host animal and examining the brain.
> 
> I agree that if you don't plan to eat them do not raise pigs.  If you want to have something that will eat your kitchen garbage use chickens.  We have raised a lot of hogs over the past years for the Fair and for home consumption. Pigs are omnivores and will eat everything you choose give them including meat scraps, dead rabbits, chickens, etc.  In the 20's and 30's a lot of gangsters are reputed to have kept farms as well as other businesses that would cover up the disposal of human remains.  Hogs _will _eat people.  When my children were small they were forbidden to go into the pig pen particularly when we had multiple hogs in one pen.  If you have only one pig they get fairly friendly.  However, they grow fast and are hard to handle if you have no experience due to the fact that there is nothing to grab hold of on a hog.  The best, and time honored, way to grab and pick up young pigs is by the back legs.  If you are removing them from the mother to give shots, notch ears, etc. when held upside down by the rear legs you have control of their bodies and they stop the ear splitting screaming that so enrages the mama. They are over 300 lbs. at slaughter time which can be as young as 3 months after buying your weaner pig just off it's mother so can not be grabbed that way then.  A standard pig will keep growing forever - the "giant" hogs you see at carnivals are just hogs that have been kept for years and have kept growing to 900 to 1000 lbs.  We don't like pork enough to raise hogs for ourselves now.
> 
> Chickens will also eat meat scraps, including dead chickens, rabbits, etc.  I used to throw any rabbit kits that died to the chickens and they would eagerly gobble them up.  If your chickens are not interested in scratching through your kitchen scraps, you are probably overfeeding them.  Cut back on their feed and they will eagerly gobble up the kitchen scraps.  You will also cut your feed bill a bit too by decreasing the amount of chicken feed you feed.


Thank you!


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## Lizzy733 (Dec 28, 2021)

Muffin said:


> Pure kunekune pigs are very docile, friendly, and wonderful to have around. They are herd animals, so you’d want at least two. That goes with any herd animal. They are happier that way. Kunekune don’t root as much, but they tend to be more like grazers. I call them “little lawnmowers.” They also don’t need a lot of land, so what you will have would be enough.


I wish my two were little lawnmowers - they are surprisingly picky eaters and have turned their nose up at fresh fruit, veggies and herbs.

They love their kibble and clover, have free access to the outdoors, but prefer to stay underfoot. 

Our boys are still babies, so hopefully they'll expand their palate a bit. We bought them to help with the orchard windfall, but they seem to enjoy pottering around the house and garden so far.


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